I'm Not Scared...Really!

So after work yesterday I downed a large bowl of spaghetti before I headed out to Downtown St. Pete. I figured I could walk it off while I scout the area for some hopefully amazing shots. As I headed towards St. Pete the sky was perfectly blue with just a tinge of orange from the oncoming sunset. But as I got closer to the downtown area my heart dropped slightly. I could see the clouds brewing in the distance. No, I am not scared of clouds, rain, thunder or even the lightning. Well, maybe the lightning. You have to admit that we have some crazy lightning storms here in Florida. I could see flashes of light here and there across the murky ominous gray of the clouds. I didn't want to be caught in the rain, but if I wanted to be a photographer I would have to learn how to work through any condition. At least to be the kind of photographer I wanted to be. Sigh.

My first stop would be the Holocaust Museum. I use to live in downtown St. Pete and absolutely loved the area. I use to walk by the Holocaust Museum endless times and although I couldn't afford to pay to get in (I was a starving student at that time…$5 was even too much for me) there was an outdoor installation on the back of the building covering the electricity meter that took my fancy.

As I turned in to the back parking space I noticed that they had moved the installation higher out of reach of most hands. I parked my car and being the only one there, of course, the security camera followed my every move like slimy anemone fingers constantly gliding over my body recording the slightest bodily function….(take a deep breath) and now you know where I stand on big brother. Anyway, I grabbed a few shots of what I call 'Caged Hands'. This installation consist of multiple black bodiless metal hands grabbing at barb wires. Very telling of the past years of torture and genocide in our worlds history. You would think as humans we would learn from such historical atrocities, but we don't and we doom ourselves to repeat the hell.On a lighter note, I spotted a couple of colorful buildings over to my left. Very artsy design with stenciled logos next to the door that I took as a signifier of the business type. I didn't bother checking to see if that is what it was as I was more taken by the motif of the building.

As soon as I heard the thunder I hurried into my car. I briefly contemplated heading home but decided to go ahead and charge into the storm. It would be cool to get some shots of those dark clouds and the feel of the breeze from the storm was so welcoming after enduring the heat during the day. Of course, I totally underestimated the 'breeze'. When I got to the beach, the breeze turned into strong wind. I'm a petite girl, so trying to stay steady while snapping the pictures got a tad bit difficult. I managed to anchor myself on a palm tree. The cloud and lightning show over the bay was amazing. Its too bad I wasn't able to catch any lightning shots. It seemed like it struck only when I put the camera down. As I sat there my fear subsided and watching nature at work brought me a temporary inner peace.