Just Take the Picture

When I started to get serious about photography back in Junior High School, I learned that film was precious and that each photograph you take should be a keeper. Frame it correctly, make sure the light was right, and most importantly, choose a subject that was important to you. Well, in the digital age, the motto has become "Just Take the Picture!" (I have left out the colorful adjectives.) So I do that and let me tell you, I spend way too much time sorting through the crap. The good thing is I still have a lot of the training from those early years, so I do frame it, I do check the light, and I try to choose a great subject.

Some of these photos have already been shared on Facebook, but I like to tell the story behind the photos. My nephew Brandon lives in Melbourne too, and he had his friend Rob visit from Vermont. Rob had the last day free before his flight back so I took him to the Port. Of course, we stopped at the Rising Tide Tap & Table for some food. Rob, a chef in Middlebury, immediately noticed the bottle of Whistle Pig. he says it is distilled in Shoreham Vermont. My Friday hangout place the Whiskey beach Pub also had two flavors on display.

My cousin Pam and I took her Uncle Jimmy out to eat. I drove them to, the Rising Tide Tap & Table. I took this photo of the side salad with a slice of watermelon radish. As a Local Guide on Google Maps, I posted the photo.  It has gotten over 1100 views in two weeks. How do you like them tomatoes?

Of course, April is the time for the Masters. I watched and then took this photo of my TV. Why? No idea.

Then it was time to head back to the Port for an Atlas launch. As I was pulling in the Disney cruise ship was leaving. As you can see, they hug right up to the edge and restaurants.

I wanted to get something to eat, so I headed over to this new restaurant called the Rising Tide Tap & Table.
The menu used to only have tortilla soup on the menu and I asked why they did not have any chowders being at the port which was known for seafood. Well, the new menu has added a seasonal chowder. This was New England clam chowder, and it was delicious...

I took a photo of the sign so I would remember the name of the place, River Rocks. No, that ain't right!

After my chowder, I usually head out the Jetty for the launch photos. This time, I wanted to be different so I headed to another restaurant called Grills. I got a beer at the Tiki bar and went out on the deck to wait. I met lots of people and took many photos. There was sailboat sailing by a cargo ship, pulling something...

On closer inspection, you can see it is three girls in bikinis behind the sailboat. Okay, great subject matter.

There were two young boys fishing off the docks near the fishing boats. They were catching blues and amberjack. Some were a good size. I did catch one myself...in a photograph!

The Atlas V did launch on time. I caught this photo from the dock at Grills.

Since it was a Saturday, I knew the traffic would be heavy so I waited around for a while to let the traffic clear. I took this sunset from the fishing docks.

Then on Monday, there was a SpaceX launch scheduled. This time I went to the Jetty but the launch had been scrubbed and rescheduled for Wednesday. I did get a great picture of a rock with a pentagon. Nature doing weird things...

There was also a butterfly fluttering around. Check out the blue tips on the antenna...

On Wednesday, I went back to Jetty Park. Channel 9 was set up for the launch and one of the Navy ships was leaving the port. One guy, retired Navy, told me it was a "spook" ship.

Then the rocket launched, SpaceX Falcon 9...

I need to go back to work, retirement is killing me...