Here is a picture of the stilt sandpiper birds that are one species of stilt bird found in ponds at the Celery Fields park, Sarasota, Florida. These birds are in the pond most of the day. The sandhill cranes are usually there only in the hour before sunset. This is a well known birding spot with a lot of cameras and scopes waiting for sandhill cranes. There’s not much interest in the stilt birds, but, they are photogenic, too.
Stilt Sandpiper birds at ImageKind
We are off now to photograph on Siesta Key, Florida. Today is the first warm day after a week of cold and wind.
For the first time in my life I saw newly hatched loggerhead turtles emerge on a Florida beach. What a privilege to see those wonderful creatures on their first day of life. The babies are so small they fit in the palm of your hand and grow to be bigger than you could lift. Here is the picture we made using the inexpensive zoom lens camera we keep in the car. No tripod or add on lenses. It is not too sharp focus because the baby turtle was covered with sand. We did not see if the turtle made it out into the Gulf of Mexico. It had a lot of beach to cover and there was a lot of wave action. 
On a trip to Veracruz, Mexico, we photographed local people at work. A mask maker invited us into his home where his workbench had the rough beginnings of a face mask. Bracing up against the bench with an old Leica camera Derk squeezed off a few shots. Then another mask maker posed holding some of the wood masks that would be used in Mexican festivals.
In the blacksmith shop we looked through the open door where the smithy was working. Our photograph caught sparks flying off the hammer as a glowing iron rod was beaten. The hot furnace can be seen in the background.
The most unusual work we encountered in Veracruz was a man who chiseled salsa bowls out of rock. He proudly lifted a finished bowl. We photographed it through his barred window.
In the cities people walking the streets all became photo ops. We photographed a meat market, shoe store, churches and more. It was surprising to see a Nintendo store. And homes with barred windows close to the sidewalk gave glimpses of daily life. All are available on ImageKind as posters, prints or framed prints.
Our beautiful picture of the London, England, icon, Big Ben has found a new home on a flip mino camcorder. Cafe Press has a new product. The pocket-sized Flip Video Mino camcorder has a USB arm that flips out and hooks up to a PC or Mac. This charges the battery, and has built-in software to view, edit, and upload video and photos to internet sharing sites.
We are busily adapting our photographs to the new product format. So far we have the following flip mino camcorder designs available: Big Ben, exit graffiti, Irish shamrocks, kitty cat, and several abstract fractals.
As of October 26 we have a section of 25+ flip mino camcorders. Take a look . 
We had a nice sale last week at ImageKind. Eight pictures in all bought by an unknown buyer. The picture above is one of the two pictures purchased. The buyer took 4 each of 2 water pictures. The images were made in San Diego harbor. An artist friend suggested the images are so peaceful and soothing they will probably be hung in a spa. The order was originally made for framed and matted prints, but two days later changed to only the prints, no frames or mats. With frames it would have cost 5x more than only prints. Shipping would have cost more too due to the weight of wood frames. We are doing well at ImageKind with 804 fans, too. Unfortunately, although I made the first cut for their last contest, I did not win it.. But, you can’t have everything, can you?
We just returned from several days in and around Pine Island, Florida. While there, we stayed at the Bokeelia Tarpon Inn, a friendly bed and breakfast. We hired Captain Jim Welch and the “Lady Bokeelia” a 25 foot boat to take us on a hunt for dolphins and water birds.
Our inventory is now full of fresh Florida images including anhinga, ibis, sea hawks, dolphin, boats, and palm trees.
We have been busy photographing animal pets.
A cat show was quite interesting. The prizes were just baskets of cat care products. One cat breeder said she traveled across the state to attend the show, just for the pride of winning. She also said it does not help stud fees much even if you have a blue ribbon winner.
I went to lunch in Punta Gorda, Florida, with some friends and stumbled upon a great shop featuring every imaginable product with dog designs. There were night lights, floor mats, key rings, socks, t-shirts, and more. A bakery counter held treats for dogs. The owner allowed photography so I came home with increased picture inventory. Never leave home without your camera!
We drove to Lakeland, Florida, to work in a reptile store and in a store selling birds and tropical fish. Both store owners were present and both were very cooperative. We made hard to get pictures of birds being hand fed from what looked like a baster.
We spent a week working in Tucson, Arizona, too. While there we photographed in 2 large pet stores with all kinds of animals, an aquarium store with large zero edge tanks, and a reptile shop. Birds and lizards were also photographed at Tohono Chul Park, Saguro West National Park, and at Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
Here is an example of the fascinating banners we photographed in San Diego’s Little Italy last week. John Travolta broods on his banner above the downtown neighborhood sidewalk. You can see the image in our ImageKind Gallery, too.
This image would spice up a travel brochure for San Diego, California. It exudes the Italian ethnic feeling of the area.
We started our work day up in the San Diego neighborhood known as Little Italy. The area has changed a lot since we photographed it three years ago. Many buildings have been re-painted in bold colors.
There are many more street murals. Almost every blank wall has a mural. They are not graffitti. There are also interesting banners or flags decorating each lamp post with pictures of famous Italians. They are more decorative than the usual “eat, drink, live in Little Italy” banner.
Later today we plan a trip to Ocean Beach, pier, and traditional Wednesday Farmer’s Market. Hopefuly we’ll get a good sunset over the Pacific Ocean, too. We have seen several sunsets, but, no clouds which add a lot of interest to a photo.
Last year my Ocean Beach sunset included a sailboat!
Readers wanting to see a larger sample of our photography can visit us at kphotos.imagekind.com where we have uploaded 328 images. Photo subjects include birds, flowers, winter, animals, tropical fish, New Orleans, San Diego, San Francisco, Washington D. C., and London.
We continue to make sales from that site to people who want posters, prints, and framed prints. There is a large selection of frame types and mats, too. Visitors can leave comments about individual images.
