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Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Florida Vacation Photos: Part Ten

One day it was really cold and windy and foggy at the beach.


It was so bad I couldn't really even photograph anything outside.


So, we hit the welcome center of the hotel and saw that there was an Aquarium that was very reasonably priced to go to within 10 miles of the hotel.


I grabbed my camera, and off we went.


I didn't know if the glass on the tanks would give me difficulty in taking photos there or not.


Sometimes it did.


But other times, I got some shots that looked like I was scuba diving and was in the water myself.


The tanks had all kinds of plants at the bottom and beautiful fish, even though it was very small.


I loved this one, it reminded me of a sea cactus:



And this one looked like a bunch of bubble stems:





I wanted to stick my hand in and feel these!:
I wondered if they were rubbery or soft....



Then this yellow cutie swam by:



When the water moved, the edges of this ruffly plant danced, it was so fluid and beautiful:






More of the bubble plant.
Don't you want to reach in and POP them, like that plastic stuff that protects packages?:




Spotted fish!
Curious as to what I was doing:





These purple spikes swayed back and forth like grass in the wind:
There is just so much beauty in the oceans that most of us will never see.


Tomorrow I will have the last set of pictures from the aquarium for you to see....

25 comments:

Merisi said...

Such gorgeous images of life at the bottom of the oceans, so beautifully captured!

Hard to imagine a cold day in Florida. I was out in the streets at 5am this morning and it was several degrees below freezing and if I would have thought of Florida, I would have imagined some warm sun rays, to say the least. ;)

rainfield61 said...

You went digging the wonder of marine life!!

Wanda..... said...

Ahhhhhhhhhh.....
Your photos are beautiful Joan, that first one caught me by surprise and made me gasp!!!

Jeanette said...

Wow! Those pictures really do look like you were in the water with them!

DJan said...

Breathtaking! And the curious polka dottie fish, I've never seen or even imagined one like that. The anemones are so beautiful. What a treat!

Kearsie said...

As usual, I bow down in homage to your mad skillz as a photographer. Also, it's always been my secret wish to live under sea, I'll be there is a whole lot of stuff we've never seen down there.

Unknown said...

You have a way with that camera!

The Retired One said...

Meresi: Thanks! I was pleased I was able to shoot through the aquarium glass without too much reflection. Hey, I hope you are going to enter my photo contest...you have until Jan. 31st midnight to submit a photo of "something rusty"...I have been waiting to get an entry from you!

Rainfield: Yep, and I was so glad to find some! Where is your photo entry? You have to send me a photo of "something rusty"! and enter!!

Wanda: Thanks! I LOVE making people gasp with my photos. ha I was glad to be able to take photos of things from Florida other than birds and flowers and beach. :-}

Jeanette: Thanks! That is what I was hoping for.

DJan: Thanks! I wanted to capture some more of Florida other than birds, flowers and beach! I was happy the reflections of the tank didn't get in the way too much.

Brian Miller said...

oh my these are amazing! i love to see life that we usually are oblivious to. we used to go to the aquarium in baltimore all the time when we lived there. great textures to the shots as well.

L. D. said...

I really like to visit aquariums. I think the live plants and all the rock formations are very colorful. Thanks for sharing your warm visit on a cold windy day.

Bernie said...

A polka dot fish.... honestly I only thought these were in coloring books.....I love learning new things and your photo's Joan, just breathtaking....I could even feel myself swimming in the warm water with a scuba tank....I can't believe it, you just get better and better with your camera. So glad you visited Florida giving us all the chance to enjoy this wonderful State.....:-) Hugs

Insanitykim said...

OOOOO I love taking pix at aquariums! Great shots! Wouldn't these be fun, blown up in a kid's bathroom...heck MY bathroom! :)

The Retired One said...

Kearsie: Can you believe it? I have never scuba dived...It makes me a little claustrophobic. I want to keep trying though.

Eva: Thanks!!

Brian: Thanks so much. As I told Kearsie (above), I want to try to learn to scuba dive. We go to Mexico or somewhere tropical every year and I look down and see the most gorgeous fish...but when I put the mask on, it makes me panic!
I will still try though..then watch out..I will have to get an underwater camera!

L.D.: Me, too...I usually have my face pressed against the glass like a little kid..it looks so gorgeous in the water!

Bernie: I hope to someday be able to scuba dive and get some real ocean photos of some of the tropical fish..we have been to some gorgeous coral reefs areas and I never have gone...scuba diving and snorkeling kind of scares me...but I am determined to someday learn and maybe take some underwater photos there!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Fabulous pictures of the aquarium, Joan... The pictures you took are totally AWESOME.

Love that little yellow fishie!!!
Hugs,
Betsy

Jientje said...

Beautiful! I visited the aquarium in Chicago, but i don't think my pictures are as clear as yours are, very well done!

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

Oh I love aquariums. It is pretty amazing to think about what is in the oceans that we never will get to see. I think your pictures turned out great!

Sara said...

Hi Retired One
At first before I read anything, I thought you did some scuba diving those pics turned out very well!
Did they have anything that you could touch?

I went to an aquarium and we ended up touching baby tsing rays, they were so cute, but kinda scary

Loev your pics!!

Lucy said...

Now this is something most of us will never get to see first hand. Thanks for taking them for us!

The Retired One said...

Insanity Kim: They were a lot of fun to take too. I think the staff at the little aquarium, (which fit in one room) thought I might have been nuts taking my camera in there. ha

Betsy: The fish moved so fast, I had a hard time capturing them, but I caught a few!

Jientje:Thanks so much. The reflections are hard to combat, right?

Catherine: Thanks! I was the only one with a camera in there. The staff probably thought I was nuts. ha

Sara: We swam with stingrays once on a tropical vacation and got to pet and feed them...they were really cool. At this place, we could touch a hermit crab, but my pix of him turned out a bit blurry, so I didn't post it.

Lucy and Dick: You are most welcome! I was happy to be able to take some photos there and so happy that the reflections of the glass didn't ruin them...some did not turn out good, but most of them did.

Rick (Ratty) said...

Really beautiful pictures. I love seeing underwater things like these. I keep wanting to go to the zoo to get some of my own, but I never get the opportunity.

Loree said...

There is a lot of beauty and colour at the bottom of the ocean. You're right, at first I thought you had gone scuba diving (I always look at the pictures first).

SquirrelQueen said...

Wow, beautiful shots. I am always amazed at how much life there is in the oceans. My favorite is the last one, it does look like purple grass in a breeze.

The Retired One said...

Ratty: it is a nice alternative to being in the snowy woods sometimes.

Loree: You are like a little girl reading a book...looking at the pictures before reading the story!
ha But that takes some of the suspense out of it...you need to try to read the stories as they unfold sometimes. :-}

SquirrelQueen: I loved the colors, the textures and the movement as I was taking the photos..just amazing scenery under the sea, isn't there?

grannyann said...

Those are some great pics. Things at the bottom of the sea are really fascinating and beautiful.

The Retired One said...

Grannyann: Thanks so much..yes, there are beautiful things on the bottom of the sea!

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I retired in June 2008 and started my blog in November 2008. I worked at several jobs as a Registered Nurse prior to retirement. I LOVE being retired! Blogging has offered me a whole new venue to start writing again and to share new hobbies such as gardening, birdwatching and sharing my nature photography. If you like my blog, PLEASE click on "follow this blog". Having a lot of followers reading my blog gives me incentive to continue to do photography and to continue to write. I also LOVE comments, so I encourage you to leave me a comment after you read my posts. Thanks everyone, for taking the time to read me!!

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