My wife and I had the privilege of joining our good friends on a  trip to Siesta Key, Florida in late April. It was the first vacation for us in a while, and my first trip to Florida in nearly 25 years.

To say that I was excited is an understatement.

Our flight from Pittsburgh departed in an icy slush storm.  Good riddance.  Within an hour, we were treated to a sunrise above a sea of clouds. I love seeing the clouds from above.

We landed in Tampa, secured a rental car, and headed out in search of breakfast. Along the way, I spotted a sure sign that we were, in fact, in Florida. The Elvis manatee mailbox had confirmed that we were in the right spot.

As my travel companions settled into the beachfront condo, I scrambled to run out to the beach, camera in hand, to capture the first moments of paradise. It had been a while since I had been to an actual beach with waves and nothing but blue for as far out as the eye could see.

Beach sunsets are a wonderful thing, especially to photographers. Capturing that Cartier-Bresson “decisive moment” though, is difficult. I found myself struggling between this frame and that one for “the best” shot. A daunting task when looking through 40 frames of a gorgeous sunset.

One day of the trip was set aside for fishing out in the Gulf. The weather was nearly perfect, and we caught a few really nice sized King Mackerel.

We were greeted by a flock of pelicans when we arrived back at the dock. They had heard through the grapevine that we had a successful trip and they were eager for their cut of the spoils.  There was a bit of a battle.

Our third day found us in Lake Myakka State Park. Deer, Limpkin, Cranes, Egrets, Anoles, and of course, Alligators. Oh, and a canopy walk complete with a tower rising 74′ above the surrounding forest.

That evening, we were treated to a thunderstorm and lightshow over the Gulf.

My photographer companion and I visited a pier on Anna Maria Island to cross a long desired shot off of my bucket list.

While there, we happened to catch some dolphins.

The next day we hand fed squirrels at Coquina Beach, fed the gulls, and I shot way too many images of the surf crashing against the rock wall.

The moonlight on the evening of the last day allowed me to do a fun portrait shoot with my wife. Moonlight beach portraits are super fun.

As much as I enjoyed being out of the Western PA area, It did feel good to come home, especially being greeted by this view of Pittsburgh from the plane!