A trip to Tampa, Florida (Part 1)

Took a trip down to Florida with my dad and my buddy Jamie for a week. We had to rent a car cause there was only one car at the house. I usually try to rent a convertible, cause you know, vacation. And it's also Florida, hot and sunny. And finally, we're photographers and you never know when you might have to hang out of a of a car traveling at 35mph struggling to photograph a pelican that is flying what seemed to be at arms length. Cause that happened.

We called the car rental company to book our rental before leaving Chicago and the rental company didn't have any convertibles which was a bummer. 

The flight was good, but was stuck in the middle seat during the most insane cloud formations and colors I've seen from the sky to date.

Touched down, got to the rental garage, and they told us to pick any vehicle with the trunk open. I spotted a bright red jeep with it's hatch swung open way down at the other end before the man could even finish that sentence. Score! And people think I need glasses.

The doors and roof came off that next morning and so did part of my skin the day after that because we forgot sunscreen. But before the doors came off, we needed to run to Home Depot for a ratchet and hex tool. By the way, don't expect to be let through airport security with a ratchet. Something about it being a metal object and the length of it. The hex tool thingy is a T50 and there are two screws per door. Upon walking out we noticed a storm between us and home and left part of the roof at home. So we got rained on.

Jeep doors off (1 of 1).jpg

A Quick Trip to Tampa, Florida

Took a recent trip down to Tampa with my dad for the week after Christmas. Like always, I didn't really have a plan for stuff to do while down there so on the first day I went to hang out at St. Petersburg. I tend to visit St. Petersburg on every trip down to see what has changed. They're still disassembling the pier that I believe they started last year? I liked that pier, although I never got to explore it, I did get a pretty cool sunrise shot of it a few years ago.

St. Petersburg 2014

St. Petersburg 2014

Although the pier is no longer with us, the wildlife is probably why I keep coming back. Pelicans, seagulls, squirrels and occasional dolphin fins. 

Equipped with the new Nikon D850 and the 70-200mm f/2.8E, I'll sit on that ledge all day.

St. Petersburg 2017

St. Petersburg 2017

There was a lot of pelican activity the day that I was there... Just on the other side of the harbor...  My luck.

I decided against moving and shot photos from where I was sitting, the same ledge that I always sit at. Remembering, it's a game of patience. 

Are they getting all the good shots?!

Are they getting all the good shots?!

I've been spotted!

I've been spotted!

These two guys were getting closer and closer so I decided to step back a little bit. 

Tyler Harney Photography-St.-Petersburg-Pelican.jpg
Tyler Harney Photography-Petersburg and pelican.jpg
Laying in the grass, army style, about 15 feet away.

Laying in the grass, army style, about 15 feet away.

I can't stress this enough when shooting wildlife, or any animals for that matter, you really need to get eye level with them. Not only will that fill your frame but it will also make you feel like you're actually there in front of them. You also have a perspective of what they see.  So next time you're shooting photos of your pets, take a seat and start snapping away.

Tyler Harney Photography-Petersburg woman pic and pelican.jpg

Anyway, that was St. Petersburg. Here's another example of getting eye level with you're subject. Sorry for the quality as it was a screen grab from one of the 120fps videos I shot while there.

Tyler Harney Photography-Petersburg and squirrel.jpg

The following are a few other photos I shot while down there. I used the new Nikon D850 with the 24mm 1.4G and 70-200mm 2.8E.

You can check out the rest of my gear here: https://kit.com/TylerHarney/photography-gear-list