So, I Met A Guy...

[sm4him]

Putting this in the Wildlife section since it does contain a "teaser" photo for more pics to come, but it's mostly not about wildlife.

I did something totally out of character for me: I took a vacation, alone, down to Florida for a week after Christmas. It was an absolute blast, and also a bit of a whirlwind. Started on the Gulf side, worked my way over to mid-Florida, then spent the bulk of my time on the Atlantic side, mostly Merritt Island and Cape Canaveral. Saw lots and lots of birds, I still haven't even looked through all the photos! I'll probably spend the rest of the winter processing them!

Anyway, in addition to bird photography and sitting on warm beaches, I also met this great guy while I was down there. Two guys, actually!

The first was the infamous former TPFer, Charlie Gipson and his girlfriend. We met for dinner in Lakeland on Sunday night. It was a lot of fun; we mostly talked about a lot of stuff that had nothing to do with TPF.

Then on...umm...Tuesday evening, I think (the days all started to blur together at some point), I met TPF Mod Extraordinaire, Pixmedic, Pixmedic Wife, and Pixmedic Jr.!!!
By that time, I was on the Atlantic side and really tired of driving back and forth across the state, so they graciously met me about halfway between where they live and where I was staying. We had dinner and talked about ALL of you...heehee!! Well, maybe not ALL of you, but a few of you!
Jason was pretty much exactly what I expected from my interaction with him on TPF--in other words, every bit as nice and interesting as I'd anticipated!

As I process photos, I'll start a thread, or two. But here's one, just for a "teaser"--not the best picture I took (I hope!), just the first one I came across when I was getting ready to post this, so I just grabbed it and did a very quick processing job.

I have NO idea how many different species of birds I saw while I was there, but it was quite a few. I can't wait to start sorting through them and see exactly how many there were. I also got pictures of a few non-avian critters, which I'll talk about as I get those pics processed.

It was great fun, and I'm pretty sure I'll be repeating the venture next New Year!

 

[shefjr]

Sounds like you had a blast! My aunt and cousin live in Deland. There is a lot of wonderful birds down that way. I miss Charlie. I don't think he ever came back after his temp ban. Can't wait to see more photos.
You take any fun group shots? You know pics or it didn't happen? Lol.

 

[terri35 7]

How fun! Sounds like a lot of adventures rolled up into one. Glad you were able to meet Charlie and Jason, too - I've no doubt they were both delightful. I envy you!

I'm sure you'll have even more fun going through and editing all your pictures - can't wait to see them as you post them. Happy New Year!

 

[The_Traveler]

I hope you told Charlie how much he is missed.
Is Jason's mustache real?

 

[Hunter58]

Plenty of birds down here. If you were in Lakeland I hope you made it to Circle B Bar Reserve.

 

[sm4him]

Sounds like you had a blast! My aunt and cousin live in Deland. There is a lot of wonderful birds down that way. I miss Charlie. I don't think he ever came back after his temp ban. Can't wait to see more photos.
You take any fun group shots? You know pics or it didn't happen? Lol.

I completely forgot about taking a picture with Charlie. I did take a picture with Jason and his crew, but it turns out that I am not really capable of "selfies" and it's pretty blurry, so it may just have to remain on my phone as a private reminder of an enjoyable evening. Plus, it includes his son and I didn't get a release to publish a photo of a minor.

I hope you told Charlie how much he is missed.
Is Jason's mustache real?

Lew, I didn't actually tug on it or anything, but it certainly did LOOK like it was pretty attached to his face! LOL

I did tell Charlie he was missed, by SOME of us anyway!
And shef, no, he didn't ever come back after that. I don't think he will be back, but it's not because of the ban or anything like that. I think he's just in a different place in his life right now, and not really even doing much photography at the moment. Who knows, maybe one of these days, he'll start doing more photography again and decide to pop back in.
Next time I go, I'm going to try to arrange enough time for us to go shoot together somewhere.

 

[sm4him]

Plenty of birds down here. If you were in Lakeland I hope you made it to Circle B Bar Reserve.

Yep, Circle B was the reason I was in Lakeland; what an incredible spot THAT was!! I definitely want to visit there again next time; I'd forgotten you were down that way, so maybe if I get down again next year, we can meet at Circle B and do some shooting!

 

[pixmedic]

we need Charlie back to help handle the flood of newbies.
we can make him a mod.

for the record, Sharon totally could have tugged on the stash if she had wanted to.

 

[baturn]

Lucky lady! Florida is next on my bucket list.
Nice first look at what I hope is lot of critter photos.

 

[astroNikon]

we need Charlie back to help handle the flood of newbies.
we can make him a mod.

for the record, Sharon totally could have tugged on the stash if she had wanted to.

Wouldn't Charlie start banning the mods and admins though ??

He was nice to chat with. I think he removed his Flickr account too.

Sounds like a great vacation. I was thinking of doing something like that too though to drive to Florida from here is quite a hike.

 

[robbins.photo]

Then on...umm...Tuesday evening, I think (the days all started to blur together at some point), I met TPF Mod Extraordinaire, Pixmedic, Pixmedic Wife, and Pixmedic Jr.!!!

Their's a pixmedic jr? Huh. Cool. I can just see him playing in the backyard giving CPR to GI Joe.. lol

Congrats on the trip, and great shot as always!

 

[pixmedic]

i would also like to say, listening to Sharon is a real treat.
there's just something sexy about a southern accent.

 

[pjaye]

I am so glad you had a great trip and so jealous you and LinkedIn got to meet each other. You both seem like really great people and I really want to see the stache.

Cat wait to see the pictures.

 

[tirediron]

i would also like to say, listening to Sharon is a real treat.
there's just something sexy about a southern accent.

If she's southern... what are you???? I didn't think North Mexico got much more 'south' than Florida!

 

[ronlane]

i would also like to say, listening to Sharon is a real treat.
there's just something sexy about a southern accent.

If she's southern... what are you???? I didn't think North Mexico got much more 'south' than Florida!

There's a BIG difference between a Southern accent and a Florida accent. "Southern Belle" or "Southern draw" is distinctive like no other.