I Saw Orlando Bloom. Seriously! - IMRAN™

I Saw Orlando Bloom. Seriously! - IMRAN™, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

This iPhone 4S photo, taken at just past 4AM, after a long night of driving, waiting for the gates to open at Orlando Airport, during my recent Florida trip, is being posted more for word play than artistic merit. But, I hope you will enjoy it all the same.

After completing almost 2500 miles of driving along the entire Florida coast, I drove late into the night to arrive at the airoport several hours too early for my 7AM flight.

Since the security gates weren't open to go to the airline gates area, I had to pass time in the spacious terminal.

I saw several Disney character figures displayed there, including Snow White… a testament to the traffic the theme parks generate.

But I saw nothing, at least where I looked, from Pirates of the Caribbean, another Disney franchise.

Though I did not see Johnny Depp, I did find something to remind me of another well known actor in that movie series… this flower at the airport…. an Orlando Bloom, literally! :-)

© 2012 IMRAN
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Haze Engulfs Gulf Sun, Bird Dives To Devour Prey At Sunset - IMRAN™ [SOOC]

Haze Engulfs Gulf Sun, Bird Dives To Devour Prey At Sunset - IMRAN™ [SOOC], a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

SOOC. Image colors absolutely unedited and untouched. (Only frame and titles added in Photoshop with 1.8 degree straightening). Just a 4MB JPG from the Nikon D300 at ISO200 0EV f/13 1/640 seconds 170 mm zoom handheld shot.

I have been coming to Florida since I moved to USA in 1989. But I had never been to the Gulf coast. In 2012 I decided to embark on a nearly 3 weeks long trip driving along the entire Florida coastline.

I flew from Long Island into Orlando and started there. I first drove to Cape Canaveral as a salute to those who have traveled much further than I can imagine traveling. From a trip to the NASA turf, I moved on, going on from Merritt Island, and Titusville, I drove North to Jacksonville, then West all the way across the state's width to the edge near Alabama.

Then, I headed East again... I drove along the coastal highway, everywhere from Pensacola, Navarre Beach, Destin, Panama City Beach, Carrabelle, Crawfordville, Deadman's Bay and Steinhatchee, the Cedar Key area, on to New Port Richey, Tampa Bay, and Apollo Beach.

I went by Naples on to the Keys (where I have flown to before and posted pictures of) and then on to attend a great party in Miami for the weekend. Miami was my third home for about 3 years until my Father's death in Pakistan.

I then went to Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach (see the YouTube video at youtube.com/imrananwar ) & then on to Palm Beach (dinner and shopping are unmatched on Worth Avenue) and on to my favorite second-home place - Singer Island. (Some of my earliest photos on Flickr are from my 37th floor condo balcony there). I then drove back up to Merritt Island, past Stuart and Hutchinson Island (where I had started my second-US-home search 10 years ago, before buying on Singer Island), finally completing my more than 2 weeks and more than 2000 miles full coastal trip of Florida.

This was my first sunset capture on the Gulf of Mexico. I was driving along the coastal highway (98) after seeing some Blue Angels fly by, as I watched USAF fighter jets practice high speed chases while other jets flew around behind me at Tyndall Air Force Base. My FaceBook status update says it best....

2 Blue Angels pass me tree level port side, 2 USAF fighters heading straight at me Tyndall Air Force Base & I just saw F15 bank hard starboard behind me!.... I have visual. iPhone is active. Switching to Nikon. Nikon active. Flipping to auto. In range. Beep! Beep! [whirring]... I have Focus. I have tone. I have lock. I shoot! Got him! Shoot again... Got both.... Awesome! This Maverick is heading home!
:-)

(Sorry, I'm a kid when it comes to planes especially Air Force!)

After that aerial excitement, it was time to continue my land based journey along the waters of the United States' Gulf coast.

As I approached Mexico Beach, I realized that the sun would set soon. It did not look like a particularly exciting day for a sunset, seemingly too clear, with no clouds. But I remembered how the best sunset photo I ever took in my life was taken on a very boring day in Miami.

So, I pulled over, went to a local food place, grabbed a sandwich, with a soda, and settled in on the beach. A light haze was visible in the distance. I took my iPhone 4S, the Nikon 6200 and the wonderful Nikon D300 expecting an average sunset, and almost tempted to leave when it appeared to only show typical light yellowish overexposed skies about 30 minutes prior to the full sunset. But, I chose to stay on, sacrificing some coastal scenery in the drive ahead of me, for an instinctive feeling that something special could still happen.

Little did I know that the almost invisible layer of haze would lead to one of the most spectacular sunsets I have ever captured, as it almost turned into a black frame around the sun. This is the moment I was able to capture.... the Haze enGulfing the sun as a bird prepared to plunge into the Gulf waters to catch and devour its prey, as the day fell victim to the swooping night. Sun/Bird… enGulf & Devour.

© 2012 IMRAN
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Stunning Ocean & Beach Day At Pompano Beach Florida - IMRAN™

Enjoy this stunning "winter" day at Pompano Beach fishing pier in Florida. Check out Lighthouse Point and the pelican sunning it's wings. Please view in full size / HD to enjoy the stunning colors. Stunning colors captured by the iPhone 4S, placed into iMovie on iPhone and uploaded without any kind of color editing or processing.

Full Fall Fills Floor Of Forest Under Falling Sun - IMRAN™

Full Fall Fills Floor Of Forest Under Falling Sun - IMRAN™, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

I was fascinated by the shape of the twisted tree, and the endless carpet of fallen leaves walking through a relatively unknown but surprisingly lovely water surrounded park opposite the Moriches Inlet, in New York.

The falling (winter actually) sun (seen by its shaft of saturated golden light on the right and leaves on the bottom right) was in starl contrast to the almost turquoise colored growth on the dark dead wood with some evergreens providing a dash of color.

The range of color depth in this otherwise seemingly one-colored photo made this a 13.1MB JPG!

© 2012 IMRAN
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Golden Eye. Stunning First Full Moon 2012 - IMRAN™

Golden Eye. Stunning First Full Moon 2012 - IMRAN™ -- 500+ Views!, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

Now THIS is a Full Moon.

I used 3 cameras to take pictures of the *First Full Moon of 2012* at Fire Island beach, NY. Each caught surreal colors of the sky as the supersized full moon appeared before the sun had set behind me, so the sky was lit in amazing pastel colors at the Atlantic Ocean beach at Smith Point, NY.

The boardwalk gives you perspective of how large the Moon was. Previously posted was an iPhone 4S shot (posted on my FaceBook page, facebook.com/IMRAN.TV ).

This is the Nikon D300 handheld shot, 450mm eq telephoto at 1/80 seconds. Click to see real beauty. Another shot is at twitpic.com/878z4e

Even more fantastic tham the spacescapes of James Bond movies, this literally Golden Eye glancing at us mortals on the beach, almost seemed rolling on to ride the rolling waves of the ocean, that themselves were rising up to its pull even as they tried to lay themselves down to worship its power.

© 2012 IMRAN
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Mission I'm Possible: Do Buy Dubai Sky High - IMRAN™

Mission I'm Possible: Do Buy Dubai Sky High - IMRAN™, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

I was in St. Paul's High School, in Karachi, Pakistan, in the mid-1970s when the Middle East boom started. I first arrived in America 25 years ago.

In those years I have always taken direct JFK flights to Pakistan, usually on PIA, even when Emirates Airlines offered some nice options. A direct flight was always better to me than a few hours stopover in Dubai.

This time they made me an offer I could not refuse. A nearly full weekend day and night in Dubai, en route to my Lahore home. I took the offer.

I was finally ready to savor the experience that Dubai is, as it now had enough of a spectacular skyline to make a lifelong Manhattan resident feel blown away. And, after seeing the latest Tom Cruise movie, Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, which has possibly among the best aerial views of Dubai, I was ready.

Meeting up with an old Aitchison College, Lahore, Pakistan classmate, Zaigham Haque, long settled in Dubai, after 33 whole years was a delight. As was meeting an old Pakistani-American Manhattan neighbor and friend Askari Chandoo. And introducing these two to each other was a bonus.

Later that night, after seeing most of the main sights of Dubai, and preparing for my onward flight to Lahore, I was enamored by the magnificent views of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.

The steamy, cloudy, dark and dreary sky actually provided an even more dramatic backdrop to take this handheld photo (I could not fit a tripod in my carry on luggage).

I had to take a dozen shots, quickly chnging the ISO settings, with people jostling around me, because I could not be sure if the discreetly lit, magnificent structure would stand out brightly enough to be captured in a good photo, without being blurred from a handheld shot. (This is ISO1000 f/3.5 1/6 second at 18mm),

I am certain I can take many more photos to do more justice to this amazing feat of human engineering, but here is the only one I had time for. If I straighten the tower, the top gets cut off and the lower level structures get too skewed, so I kept the camera level to the surface I was standing on.

Evem as the skyline rose higher, and the real estate market collapsed deeper and deeper in Dubai, I had a feeling, the time had come to say, Do Buy Dubai Sky High Views At Down To Earth Prices.

I hope you enjoy this view.

© 2012 IMRAN
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(Like A) Virgin / Snow (White) - IMRAN™

(Like A) Virgin / Snow (White) - IMRAN™, a photo by ImranAnwar on Flickr.

I tend to stay up late in general. It gets even more likely I will stay up all night when traveling abroad. Janary 21, 2012 had a forecast for snow pop-up after I had already purchased my tickets.

To make things worse, the snow arrived earlier, wetter, heavier on a colder night making roads icy. It was a Saturday early morning so there was not even enough traffic to melt the icy road surfaces. I left even earlier for the airport than was required on normal days.

One of the most boring things in the world, besides listening to idiotic talking head hate mongers on TV, is waiting four hours prior to departure on what is already supposed to be a nearly 24 hours long pair of flights.

Seeing the snowflakes raining down heavily coating everything in a heavy white fog, mist, coat and cover was making the day even more dreary.

Then, I saw her… a beautiful princess asleep, awaiting the arrival of her prince captain, as dwarf-like machines and minions gathered to de-ice and prepare her, before awakening her engines into a mighty roar of passionate power, that would carry her over the oceans on the invisible flying carpet of jet propulsion.

But until then, there she lay, silent, unmoving, on the cold slab of frozen tarmac, her frozen white body and fuselage merging in color with the iced surface, and the snow-filled sky.

But, like beautiful, lust and love filled red engorged lips, her tail cone proudly lifted in the air, right above an orange traffic cone below.

She shone, proudly showing her seemingly shut rear entrance, next to the bright red steel lips and tips of the tail and rear control surfaces, overcoming the frigid moment, promising the warm embrace of her seat to the chosen pilot taking command of the joytstick or yoke….

(Like A) Virgin / Snow (White)…..

Silently saying, "Come, take me, ride me and fly me, to blue skies, leaving a contrail of sighs, Captain Of My Soul."

© 2012 IMRAN
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