February 28th, 2022

I can hear you thinking..."Oh geez, more dang flowers".  Actually I just needed some sort of picture for the top and taadaa, here is a photo.

Today I'm writing about the hike Joy and I did last Thursday.  We didn't go to a preserve or forest or ranch or any of our usual expeditions.  Nope, this hike was dedicated solely to one thing.  The Contest.  So this photo safari report will be called, obviously, the Contest Hike.

For those of you who do not know I will nutshell an explanation for you.  The City of Venice Florida (where Tim and I live) creates a very pretty desk calendar every year with photos taken from all around our city.  This year, there is a contest being held for those photographs.  Joy and I intend to enter that contest.  It's all very exciting.  We do not honestly think any of our pictures will be chosen, but it's still fun to try and good to stretch outside of our normal routine.

There are rules to be followed of course, there are in any contest.    The photographs must be taken within the city limits, they must be landscape and not profile in aspect and of a specific size.  People cannot be the subject of the photo (although they can be background) and very little manipulation can be made to the pictures.  Those are just some of the rules. 

It seemed to Joy and I that of course the people who make the decisions about the selections made would gravitate toward photos of things that are specific (though not necessarily unique) to Venice.  So a picture of yellow flowers, such as the photo at the top of the page, while an okay photo (kind of meh really) doesn't say anything about the City of Venice.  

So with all of those things in mind, we set out.  I've never gone on photo safari with such a specific set of rules before.  Normally I just shoot what appeals to me.  I don't really question the instinct.  Just, I'm drawn to something, up comes the camera, I do whatever fiddle necessary to get the shot and then move on.  This time it was not like that at all.  And in a very short time I found myself feeling very stifled.  

We first walked over to the train station.  It's very "Venice" and rather picturesque.  We even got some decent photos:

And then I realized that almost everyone of these pictures was taken Profile. ARGH!  I make the decision on how I shoot depending on the subject and the background.  How can I capture this best?  In fact, it's not even a conscious decision. I just.....do it.  But dang.

Ok, fall back and regroup.  Take a breath and move on, try to remember all of the dang rules.  We moved on to the Urban Forest which is a very pretty area that runs along the intercoastal that the City of Venice has allocated for protection of wildlife and restoring the natural eco-system.   It's only in it's infancy but already it is a beautiful addition to the area. 

Of course first we had to cross the Venetian Waterway Trail to get there which is a walking/biking path that follows the Intercoastal. Watch out for the bikes.  Most of them are very courteous calling out, "On your left". But you know what would be helpful?  If they said, "On your left" and then the number of people in their group.    When a group of bicyclers are coming up from behind you and you move over to make sure they can get by (since we are all travelling in both directions!)  if they said, "On your left 4" or something like that, we could mentally count all 4 passing from behind us and then safely move back  without constantly turning around to see what's coming!  Just a thought.

Eventually we crossed back over the bridge to the island.  But there were a few things worth snapping on the way back:

Next we just walked through town a little bit.  It was nearly impossible to get photos of the downtown area just because, right now, it's so very populated with visitors so we sought out quieter spots  We found little pocket parks and hidden entrances, larger more established parks that, for whatever reason, at that moment were nearly empty. And somehow, ended up at the beach.  Everybody does here. Perfect.

By the time we reached the beach we were hot, thirsty, tired and footsore.  We had covered more than 5 miles and had barely scratched the surface. Dang.  Obviously it's going to take far more than one hike to get any photos worth submitting.  Frankly, I'm not sure any of these fit the bill.  Ratz.   Maybe next hike.

Meanwhile, we still had a good time, some good exercise - both physically and mentally (following the rules!  ARGH!) and great company.  

So there you have it.  The first Contest Hike.  Not particularly successful, but a good start. Even if it's just knowing what Not to do.  heh.