Sand Key (click on image for larger view)

This photo was taken from the Clearwater Pass Bridge located just across from Clearwater, and South of Clearwater Beach.  There is a park just South of the photo with great long beaches to walk on to your hearts content.  However just across the Boulevard from Sand Key Park is a beach with free parking.

Sunshine Skyway Bridge

The Skyway Bridge is always a great subject for the photographer for it's one of the longest bridges in the world, but also one of the most beautiful.  There are two piers, the North and the South Piers, but the South Pier is 1.6 miles long and is not as popular as the North (.6 mi).  This photo was taken from under the South Pier just before you go on to the Pier.  A most difficult place to reach unless you know the area.

Sunshine Skyway Bridge

Landscape photography may be the hardest of all with the weather, sun, and the physical part to deal with.  Most good shots require walking, climbing, and in some cases crawling.  Beyond that you are at the mercy of the weather, and the timing of the shot to get the right light.  In this shot I had to be there around noon or a little later, and hope it wasn't hazy that day.

Sunshine Skyway Bridge

This shot was taken from the North Pier, just before you enter the park.  I climbed up the embankment to the bridge, and placed the camera on the cement railing.  A difficult place to shoot from for the trucks about blow you off the embankment every time they go by.  Because the Skyway Bridge is one of my favorite subjects I have come to love it like an old friend,

Sand Key

A pirate ship that cruises up and down Clearwater Pass and under the bridge a few times a day.  They provide music and dancing while on the cruise.  Sand Key Park is located South of Clearwater Pass a short distance.  Parking as I recall is about one dollar per hour (:>(.  On the other side of the street is free parking.

Chestnut Park

In Chestnut Park you always find something of interest to shoot.  Many of the alligators crawl up onto the bank and sun themselves for hours each day, except during the summer.  The fall and winter months are the best times to catch them on the banks of the river.  The banks along the river are mowed each week and make for a nice walk.  Along the banks are swings and picnic tables to stop and relax.

Sunshine Skyway Bridge

You can see the weather changes very quickly from one shot to the other, for the clouds have blown North and left me a clear sky.  As you look at these photos you can see the big sweep the bridge makes to the South as it finally reaches land.  When you are at the top of the bridge the view to the South is mind stopping with the sweep to the South, and with the South Pier shooting out from the shoreline.

Sunshine Skyway Bridge