Treasure Coast Tourism Showcase

This looks like a fun and worthwhile local event. Thank you to St. Lucie, Indian River & Martin Counties for pulling this together. Below are the details.

Play tourist in your town at the Treasure Coast Tourism Showcase! 

Join us for the Treasure Coast Tourism Showcase on Saturday, May 20th from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Havert L. Fenn Center located at 2000 Virginia Avenue in Fort Pierce.

This is the first-ever “Treasure Coast” Tourism Showcase as St. Lucie, Indian River & Martin County team together to present all of the unique things to do and see in the area such as hotels, restaurants, tour guides, attractions and more! Door prizes and a staycation packages will be given away to lucky winners! The event is FREE and perfect for families, so come find out more about the things you can do right in your own backyard.

This year, some exhibitors include Lady Chris Deep Sea Fishing, Treasure Coast Seaplanes, Captain Hiram’s Resort, The Children’s Museum of the Treasure Coast, The Lyric Theatre, The Sunrise Theatre, Perfect Drive Vacation Rentals, The Residence Inn in Port St. Lucie, Walking Tree Brewery, Heathcote Botanical Gardens, and so much more!

Enjoy special entertainment and presentations from Treasure Coast Newspaper Outdoors Writer, Ed Killer, art in motion by the Florida Highwaymen and legendary treasure hunter, John Brandon of 1715 Fleet Queens Jewels.

The Beauty of Florida - Year In Review 2016

The Beauty of the Treasure Coast

Last year I vowed to get out more and photograph the beauty of my new home here in Florida. Unfortunately, most of my travel plans which included a trip to St. Augustine, Florida and a return trip home to California were postponed because of health issues with my dog Logan. (He's making great progress but he is getting older).

The year started off with a trip down to Fort Lauderdale for a couple nights. While I was visiting I had the opportunity to check out Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and Pampano Beach. Both have terrific piers. One of my highlights was dining at Casa Fida Mexican Cuisine. If you haven't checked it out, it's worth a visit. Very good eats and vibe.

Most of the year was spent photographing local area locations that I've found along the Treasure Coast since relocating from California. Some of my favorite go-to spots are in Sebastian (Sebastian Inlet State Park), Wabasso (Rock City Gardens), Vero Beach (McKee Botanical Garden), Fort. Pierce (Fort Pierce Inlet State Park), and Stuart (House of Refuge & Bathtub Reef Beach). Below is a round up of images taken this year that I haven't added to the portfolio page plus a couple newly processed images. Hope you enjoy!

Wishing you and your family a Happy New Year!

Why I Started In Photography and Why I Love It... Again

At 12, I got a camera for my birthday. I believe it was an old Kodak 110 with a flash cube on top. Remember those? I used to love taking photos but at that age, didn't really know what I was doing. I did practice, or at least that's what I thought I was doing. Waiting on film to be developed from the local drug store was torture. It seemed like an eternity waiting 3 or 4 days to get the final pictures into my grubby little hands. For the life of me, I never remembered what camera settings I had used, nor do I think I really cared. Ok, to be fair, I think the old Kodak 110's were fully automatic, but I did have to decide between which film speed to use.

At about the same time; guitars, dirt bikes and cars entered the picture. All this took cash and with a limited allowance and savings, I had to narrow the field of my fun a bit. At the time, guitars won out over photography. Most of my money went towards the purchase of my first guitar, amp and strings at the age of 13. Shortly after this, I switched from guitar to bass guitar.

I played in several local bands in the Wichita, Kansas area; Trinity, Critical Mass, MJ Project, The Dark and 69 Slam. Of which, The Dark had the most success during this time period if you want to call it that. The Dark placed 4th in the MTV Battle for the Basement Tapes. After the MTV Battle for the Basement Tapes in Wichita, several members of the band "The Dark" moved to Los Angeles and set our sights on the big time. Well, "The Dark" as we knew it never quite materialized in LA as we envisioned, but the drummer and I were able to land spots with the band "300". At the time, they were getting some airplay on the World Famous KROQ. The band "300" went through several personnel and name changes over the years; 300, The Local Group and finally, The Attachments. The band "The Attachments" showcased regularly at The Palomino, Bogart's, Club Lingerie, Madame Wong’s West, The Roxy, The Troubadour and even toured Europe for a short stint.

I never have regretted my pursuit of music. Those were some of the best times of my life... in fact I still play and perform occasionally to this day. I do, however, regret not simultaneously learning about photography. I realized that I couldn't concentrate fully on both. In my head, I made up the thought of not being able to afford both film for my camera and strings for my guitar. That gave me an out. I'm sure that I could have, but hindsight is indeed 20/20.

Fast forward to 2007; my Golden Retriever "Logan" was born. I purchased a Kodak Easy-share and started taking photos of Logan. This sparked the passion of photography that I remembered as a kid and has carried over to what I know and still learn today. I started taking Logan to Cambria, California which is a few hours drive north of Los Angeles. During Logan's first 5 years we visited Cambria, California about 4 or 5 times a year. Locals told me about a fairly secluded beach near Hearst Castle on San Simeon State Beach in San Simeon, California. My passion for ocean and seascape photography began. After receiving several positive comments about my photos of Logan at the beach, I dove in and began upgrading my camera gear. Not only was I having a blast with Logan, I started to realize how much I enjoyed photographing seascapes and being near the ocean. This time around, I learned more about my camera, shutter speeds, ISO, composition and light.

To this day, ocean, seascape and nature photography is "where it's at" for me. Of course I do the occasional real estate or event photography shoot which is great too, but experimenting with long exposure and intentional camera movement photography without much pressure, is the fun part of it now. This is a different thing for me and I feel something that I have never felt before. I am at one with my camera and what is an always changing canvas that is Mother Nature. Not only does it energize me, I feel a connection spiritually and being somehow in sync with Mother Earth. This experience is "me, myself and I" with nature at it's best. There is no one else to count on. I never have to worry about the drummer or guitarist not showing up for rehearsal or to a show, it is all on me. Don't get me wrong, I do miss the guys in the band, those were some great times, but with photography it's at a pace that I enjoy, which makes me happy and if people enjoy my work, all the better.

Mulligan's Skim Jam - The World's Largest 1 day Pro/Am Skim Contest

The 9th Annual Mulligan's Skim Jam competition happened today at Mulligan's Beach House in Vero Beach, Florida. The event was hosted by Shore lb. [shore pound - def: surfer slang used to describe how waves crash directly on the beach] out of Ft. Pierce, Florida. Unfortunately, I was only able to stay for warm ups but it was a great way to kick off the first day of the long Labor Day weekend.

Congratulations to the winners:

Pro division Winners

  1. Zach Carter

  2. Ryan McFarland

  3. Troy Rhoten

  4. Derek Shenton

I'm Turning Pro Tommrow

  1. CJ Lugo

  2. Nicholas Seire

  3. Brandon Rollan

  4. Ryan Mietz

I'm Better Division

  1. Tyler Ferris

  2. Jake Grigas

  3. Jacob Carter

  4. Perry Cohen

I'm Good Division

  1. Shane Antalick

  2. Ryan Hooker

  3. Kolby Taylor

  4. Corey Kiltz

I Suck Division

  1. Nathan Carter

  2. Code Katz

  3. Sterling Myers

  4. Eli Barin

The First year Ever - The Shore lb. Triple Crown Winners

  • Pro Tomorrow: CJ Lugo

  • I'm Better: Tyler Ferris

  • I'm Good: Corey Kiltz

  • I Suck: Nathan Carter

Next up is the 4th Annual Regular Joe Surf Festival in Sebastian, Florida on September 17-18. Then, the Atlantic Surfing Championships - October 8-11 also at Sebastian Inlet State Park, Sebastian, Florida.

Below is the full Florida - Atlantic Surfing Federation schedule:

  • September 10-11, 2016 (Paradise Park / Melbourne Beach)

  • CHAMPIONSHIPS October 7-9, 2016 (Sebastian Inlet)

  • November 12-13, 2016 (Spessard Holland / Melbourne Beach)

  • December 3-4, 2016 (Paradise Park / Melbourne Beach)

  • January 14-15, 2017 (Fort Pierce / Fort Pierce Inlet)

  • February 11-12, 2017 (Spessard Holland / Melbourne Beach)

  • March 11-12, 2017 (Paradise Park / Melbourne Beach)

  • April 15-16, 2017 (Ponce Inlet)

  • May 6-7, 2017 (Sebastian Inlet)