Tampa's Downtown On Ice Experience

Holiday cheer has spread to Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. An outdoor ice skating rink surrounded by the Glazer Children's Museum and the Tampa Museum of Art drew many Floridians including my family to this white wonder.




Tampa's Downtown on Ice will only be satisfying the "Peggy Fleming" and "Kristi Yamaguchi" inspired for a short time until January. Overlooking the Hillsborough River with the University of Tampa in the background, you can ice skate for just $10 for 90 minutes. That is 80 minutes longer than my chunk legs can tolerate.



It has been two years since my daughter attempted her first ice skating journey. It has been over 25 years since my "Disney On Ice: Chubby Boy with Ice Skates" performance. My subconscious guided my weak ankles on the ice and my death grip on the skate rink wall assured my confidence not to crash into innocent bystanders. I thought I could inspire my daughter to hit the ice again after two years with my thin test of courage. No luck. After $10 admission and ten minutes of lacing up her skates, she refused to get on the ice with me. Who could blame her?



Only the "gifted" can tread on this icy treat. The park's fountains and open space will entertain my ice skate deprived children for now.



I photographed this experience with the Canon EOS Rebel T2i with the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS lens.
You can view more pictures in my Tampa's Downtown On Ice 2010 Gallery.

Glazer Children's Museum Experience

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio envisioned a downtown fusion of culture, arts and better living along the Riverwalk. My family completely agrees with this vision after several visits to the Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, The Tampa Museum of Art and The Tampa Bay Riverwalk over the past year. The revitalization of downtown added another gem to the Tampa skyline, the Glazer Children's Museum.



When my son and daughter saw the early construction of the kid's museum, they had as much excitement and anticipation as their father. We already enjoyed the park and all the events along the Riverwalk and the Glazer Children's Museum just made a great place even better to bring kids to play.



The Glazer Children's Museum has a plethora of exhibits to choose from their two floors of fun. The Play and Discover Area are filled with a water Kidsport, a Publix Super Market, a Fire House and even a Kids Network with a weather green screen just like on Television.



The family enjoyed the museum so much we became official members, so we can go back unlimited times for the next year. I highly recommend the Family Basic Annual Membership because the price of two museum visits for a family of five will pay for the whole year. What a bargain !



You can view the entire experience shot with the Canon EOS Rebel T2i/550d in my Glazer Children's Museum Gallery.



You may see ChadSorianoPhotoBlog shooting the Full HD 1080p video in the next couple weekends. If you happen to catch me in production for my next Youtube Video at the museum, please come over and say hello.

Summertime Fun !

The peak of summertime doldrums hit a roadblock with water time fun in the backyard. Slip N Slide fun came into HD DSLR fruition with the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and my anxious children.



Art Camp also filled my kid's itinerary this summer. Arts and crafts with other attention starved youths kept them busy. The first day of school is soon approaching and the fun will come to an abrupt end.



Canon has fallen prey to the Summertime Blues. No fabulous product announcements or releases in early June like in previous summers. (Like the Canon EOS 1D Mark III in June 2007 and the Rebel T1i in May 2009) Patience is a virtue. The Canon Expo 2010 is soon approaching. Mark your calendars for the first week of September for the latest Canon product announcements.

Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park

Combine a warm spring day with a lazy Sunday afternoon and you get playful family time in Tampa's Riverwalk. My family are not strangers to Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park which is embraced by the new Tampa Museum of Art in downtown Tampa.



You can plainly see how much fun my son and daughter had by the huge grins on their faces. The atmosphere in the park was perfect. Good weather and no crowds proved to be a perfect recipe for fun and photographs. My son's mood turned for the worse earlier in the day and the remedy could not have arrived soon enough. As the picture above illustrates, the medicine worked well.



My daughter was glowing with victory this weekend because her youth soccer team won their first season game despite consecutive losses. Go Cheetahs! You can see her team rise to fame in my recent youth soccer post.



My son will have to wait one more year before he can tear up the turf. He has adopted one of my daughter's pink soccer balls to practice for himself and has no intention of giving the ball back to her sister. The only exceptions would be if there is soda, ice cream or Happy Meal toy for exchange, of course.



The stained glass mural behind my daughter in the photo is from the upcoming Glazer Children's Museum which is next to the Tampa Museum of Art. Every young boy and girl will have to wait until the Fall of 2010 before it opens to the public. I will be one of the many excited families first in line. For now, we can only gaze at the half empty building when we play in the adjacent Tampa Riverwalk.



I am not a fortune teller or a tribal shaman, but I can surely predict my family will be back to this wonderful park many times over. I am optimistic about Tampa's plans for its downtown to attract development, the arts and culture. My wife met the Mayor of Tampa, Pam Iorio, when my family went to the grand opening of the Tampa Museum of Art back in February. We told her personally we are looking forward to the upcoming improvements to downtown.





I will end this post with two HD DSLR videos above. The first one displays the water features of Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. The second video showcases the Tampa Museum of Art Experience.

View more of the Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park in The Tampa Museum of Art Gallery.

View more HD DSLR Videos and photos in the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV Video Test Gallery.

A Day in the Park

We cannot get enough of the Tampa Museum of Art. Ever since the grand opening in February, my family and I went back to the Tampa Riverwalk to enjoy the Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park and the playground by the museum. As you noticed in the video above, the lure of water features became irresistible for the kids as well as another opportunity for a Canon EOS 1D Mark IV Video Test.



The water relieved the kids because we were at my daughter's Youth Soccer Game all morning and I wanted to take a nap on the luscious grassy field by the waterfront. We could have not asked for better weather to play ball in the park and for me to take a sleepy bear nap.



Do not mind my son's flip flops and the pink soccer ball. I guess he watches his sister play soccer too much and wants to try it out for himself. He might be the next Filipino Beckham! Believe me, harmony grew short when the "this is my ball" argument began with his sister. My tolerance for whining grew thin and resorted to the water features of the Riverfront. Problem solved!



If you have not seen already my The Tampa Museum of Art Experience, you should check it out because I put another Canon EOS 1D Mark IV Video Test together about the museum. It is a sight to see, especially at sunset.



Here is my Day in the Park Gallery to check out the pictures and video.

Tampa Museum Of Art Experience!

Saturday had a busy itinerary. The grand opening of the Tampa Museum of Art in downtown Tampa and then the Florida State Fair with two impatient kids. We got to the museum with a stop to McDonald's drive thru. The exterior was just as nice as the interior. The look,layout and feel of the place felt modern. Something out of the ordinary for Tampa, to say the least. With a quick breeze through the Matisse Exhibit, we made it to the new kid's playground outside with a surprise for the wife. The wife met the Mayor of Tampa, Pam Iorio. My wife was a little giddy but I assured her she is a very down to earth person. A side note, I followed Pam Iorio during her Mayoral campaign years ago with then WTVT Fox 13 News reporter, Jan Thornburg. I was so embedded in her campaign that I videotaped the Iorio family having dinner at their South Tampa home. Hmmm...
Well, here is picture of the Mayor of Tampa and my wife.



To see more Pics and Vids of the Museum click here...

Tampa Museum of Art 2010

Tampa Museum of Art Opens Today!

Today marks two big occasions. The first is the official opening of the Tampa Museum of Art in downtown Riverwalk. The second is the first official start of my own photography blog. It is the blog site to my www.ChadSorianoPhotography.com
It is a work in progress so be patient. Thanks!