Beach Days Are Back Again!

My family cannot resist the lure of the sandy seashore. Floridians rejoice with the warmer weather despite the cold snap that plagued the sunshine state in January. What would kick off Easter better than a trip to the coast.



The weather was perfect. Eighty two degrees,no clouds and a slight breeze were the ideal ingredients for the splendid day at the beach. Warm enough to swim and cool enough not to pass out from heat stroke.



It is ironic that I enjoy the beach so much now. When I was in middle school, I could care less about the beach. I grew up surrounded by water on all three sides and I did not even notice the ocean paradise.



Enter Lido Beach in Sarasota, FL. An hour drive south of Tampa, FL leads you to St. Armand's Circle, an exclusive collection of shops and restaurants adjacent to Lido Beach.



Do not think for a moment that there would be no camera gear review or test. This is only one of three PhotoBlog posts evaluating the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM. If you have not already noticed or read, the version II of the Canon lens workhorse (EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM) is more expensive and heavier than its predecessor and I will give my Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens review and test in an upcoming PhotoBlog post. Stay tuned!



A trip to the beach would not be complete without a brief HD video and a Lido Beach Photo Gallery. Check it out and stay tuned for my practical Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM review and test.



Here is a blast from the past. My fascination for the ocean began almost 9 years ago. Check out my Hawaii video above. Yes, that is my daughter in the video and the video is 4:3 standard defintion. Sacrilege! How time quickly dwindles away and your kids grow up right in front of your eyes.



Here is one more fabulous beach video shot with the Canon EOS Rebel T1i. I used Nikon AF-D prime lenses with a Fotodiox lens adapter as a workaround to defeat the full auto exposure function. AF-D lenses are wonderful because they still have the aperture ring to manually adjust the f-stop. The current Nikon "G" lenses have the aperture ring missing.

Check out the Canon EOS Rebel T1i Gallery.

Happy Wedding Anniversary !

My beautiful wife achieved "Sainthood" for putting up with me for 9 years of marriage, giving birth to our children and especially sharing the same passion for photography. I am a lucky husband. Too bad she did not share the same passion for motorcycles (Rode a Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Classic for 10 years), but I will not dig up past wounds. I will look toward the future of mini-van cruising.(Honestly, I like my family truckster.Shhh! Don't tell anyone.)



This is my wife's clone, our first born daughter. She is in 2nd grade and loves anything pink. She currently a fan of Miley Cyrus and saving her Piggy Bank pennies for the 4th generation iPhone.



My clone needs no introduction. He looks like me, acts like me and most importantly he eats like me. Enough said.



This is our latest family Holiday photograph taken last Christmas at the University of Tampa campus. Why am I not smiling, you ask? I literally had a minor stroke getting the picture taken before the "Magic Hour" faded away in the horizon. My son was not cooperating, it was a rather cold twilight evening and I was racing against time setting up my strobes with a light meter before the sun went away. It was a perfect recipe for disaster, but disaster was averted because the picture you see above came through successfully.



I would like to end my post with a peaceful Canon EOS 5D Mark II Video of Hawaii. We celebrated my wife's 40th birthday by heading to Kauai and Honolulu for a family vacation. You can see pictures in my Hawaii 2009 Gallery.

Mahal Kita Kasey!