postaweek2012

Small Falls

/ Michael Glover / 15 Comments

On Saturday I went to one of my favorite Florida State parks to take some pictures. Rainbow Springs State Park in Dunnellon. Around this time of year the azaleas are in full bloom and this park is loaded with them. It is absolutely beautiful to see it in person. There are several pathways leading around the park to see these flowers as well as the springs where you can go swimming. Also they have three man-made waterfalls from the days when it was a tourist attraction before it became a park. The waterfalls are a bonus when you live in Florida! For this shot I decided to experiment a little bit. I used a specialty lens made by Lensbaby called the Composer. By tilting the lens at different angles it allows for a small area to be in focus and gives a nice blur around the rest of the image. In creating this shot it has the appearance of being a miniature waterfall.

To find out more information about this park please visit this link: http://www.floridastateparks.org/rainbowsprings/default.cfm

Dolphin Resort

/ Michael Glover / 12 Comments

On Wednesday February 29th in celebration of Leap Year, Disney’s Magic Kingdom put on an event called one more Disney day. The park opened at 6:00 am Wednesday and closed at 6:00 am Thursday. 24 hours at a theme park? Awesome!! I decided I wanted to spend the daytime hours taking pictures and the nighttime hours enjoying the park with no camera. I walked around different areas for a while taking pictures here and there until I was satisfied that I accomplished my goal. This is one of the shots from that day.

Situated in the Walt Disney World area just outside of EPCOT and Disney’s Boardwalk sits two hotels across the way from each other. The Swan and Dolphin Resorts are architectural marvels. The design is something amazing to see. You kind of just stand there a few minutes taking it all in. I was standing on the beach area beside the hotel to set up for this shot. The clouds were more than cooperative for me hanging around all day so the sky would be more interesting. I am really drawn to reflections and this angle did not disappoint.

The 2012 Book of Lists Party – My Favorite Night EVER!

/ Michael Glover / 24 Comments
I just had the opportunity to be involved in what was probably the most exciting evening of my life. I had an invitation to an exclusive party at the Tampa Bay Times Forum to celebrate with the people who made it into the 2012 Book of Lists – a book published annually by the Tampa Bay Business Journal. Months back I had entered one of my photographs in the books yearly search for artists. They wanted pictures representing the Tampa Bay area. I entered a picture that I had taken of beautiful downtown Tampa looking across the waterway. I was so excited in October when I found out I was one of the 13 artists chosen to be in the book! As time got closer to the publish date I could not WAIT to see it. The book was scheduled to come out on December 23rd. On December 22nd I received a call from the production director and she said she wanted to congratulate me personally because I made this years cover! I had no idea – it was a complete and awesome surprise! The party was incredible. Close to 800 people comprised of the executives who made it in the book of lists and their guest attended the party. There was tons of delicious food and drinks at every turn. The entertainment included an aerial artist, a band called the Vodkanauts – who were great! – a magician, and an ice carver just to to name a few. I got to walk the red carpet and pictures were taken of all the guests with fresh fake snow! Haha! The book cover was displayed everywhere and the highlight for me was seeing it displayed on the Jumbo Tron right in the middle of the forum through the entire night. It was truly a magical evening I will never forget. I am honored that I got to be part of such a wonderful night. This is definitely something to go down in my memory book.

Click on first picture to view gallery:

Reflections

/ Michael Glover / 21 Comments

On Sunday I got to take a long overdue break and relax for a day at Disney! I started out at the Magic Kingdom and ended the day at Epcot. I always enjoy the fireworks show Illuminations: Reflections of Earth. It’s usually a challenge to try and find a new spot to shoot from to keep it fresh. I had scouted out a spot the last time I was there. On my way to that spot I caught a glimpse of the water and the idea of getting the fireworks reflecting in the water got to me. I walked around to find the best place to stand to get what I was looking for. I really like the colors in this and the way the streaks kind of look like wheat stalks blowing in the wind!

Dreaming of Snow

/ Michael Glover / 8 Comments

For my first post of 2012 I decided to start with a winter scene. This is a shot from my archives. I took this in 2008 but never did anything with it. Located in Louisville, Kentucky is a place called Historic Locust Grove. On this day it was snowing like crazy and extremely cold. For a Florida boy who had never seen snow it was an amazing sight to see. The photographer in me said I had to brave the chilly temperature in order to get the pictures I wanted – so I did! This was my one and only time seeing snow and I can’t wait to see it again!

Enjoy the photo and as always comments are appreciated!