jsimp3 Loc: Tennessee

Greetings fellow Hogs,

I have the opportunity to spend 3 days in Tampa Bay this week. I love shooting night skylines... I am looking for any photo suggestions from those who know. I will try to sneak out for one morning... perhaps a whole day, otherwise I will have the early morning, and late nights available. I did look at some images for the zoo send my new D500 through the paces, but thought I'd look for other suggestions.

Thanks in advance

BassmanBruce Loc: Middle of the Mitten

Check the moon phase, you might get a shot of the moonrise over south TB skyline and a sunset from the Courtney Campbell Causeway, there is plenty of parking.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

You live in a wonderful state, I worked in Nashville for a year and was in awe at the thru the hill cuts along the expressway... and no loss for green areas. Odd as it may sound, one has to search for classic Florida landscape. There is a water retention area north end of the Target parking lot north Dale Mabry near junction with 41. It is small swamp area with old trees and water plant growth. Removal of a few power lines in the background will be needed. If you are not far, it is worth a few shots. Also Tampabay area has many parks.

I googled "skyline photos tampabay" and there are many many to give you ideas.

Indeed the Causeway is a great place for photography... parking areas allow you to take your time rather than doing a drive by shooting. Do enjoy your self.

larrywilk Loc: Palm Harbor, FL

Some off the top of my head, as mentioned, Courtney Cambell, also Ballast Point Pier, Phillipi Park in Safety Harbor, Upper Tampa Bay Park in Oldsmar and Cypress Point Park at the end of Cypress Street. Of course several locations for the magnificent Skyway Bridge and don't forget our Riverwalk.

If you enjoy hiking, try here http://www.tbep.org/enjoy_tampa_bay_responsibly-great_places_to_hike_in_tampa_bay.html

Enjoy!

nimbushopper Loc: Tampa, FL

The roof of the main terminal at the airport will give you a great panorama of the whole area, bay, downtown, etc. For people/historic shooting visit Ybor City, a few miles east of downtown. For the best flora/fauna, go to the Circle B Bar preserve in Lakeland(40 min east off Rt 4), then there are all the many beautiful beaches, Ft DeSoto, Honeymoon Island, Clearwater, etc. Without knowing what you like to photograph best makes it harder to be more specific.

I would have agreed to meet you but I'm leaving this morning for a road trip to West Virginia for the week.

Here's a sample of what you'll find at the Circle B, where you can shoot for several hours easily and it's free.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37991479@N08/albums/72157633095236003

The Tampa zoo is also very nice, as is Bush Gardens, where you can get close to the animals.

gwong1 Loc: Tampa, FL

Tampa Riverwalk at night is second to none. The moon may be in your favor as well, full moon towards the end of the week. Post some images. Gary http://floridaphotomatt.com/2015/03/30/new-section-of-the-tampa-riverwalk/

boomer826 Loc: Florida gulf coast

I live in the Tampa bay area. If you get lucky you may encounter some of our evening thunderstorms, and have a chance to shoot some lightning photos.

jsimp3 Loc: Tennessee

Many thanks for all the suggestions. I'm more of an environmental, wildlife and nature photographer. As many of you know very often we settle for what's available. When I'm on these short business trips, night shooting allows me more time. I am a birder but no time for stalking, this is why I thought of the zoo. I have enjoyed viewing everyone else's image post, but I've never uploaded any myself. Perhaps I'll do that upon return and get some feed back from all of you.

Thanks again

BuckeyeBilly Loc: St. Petersburg, FL

Welcome to the Tampa Bay area. In the northeast section of Tampa is an area called Ybor City which was founded by cigar manufacturers back in the 1800's. It's very colorful and will not disappoint on photo ops whether in the daytime or at night. Here are 3 links to give you an idea:
https://media.holidaycheck.com/data/urlaubsbilder/images/193/1162467733.jpg
http://upload.terabitz.com/u/smith/nhoodimages/nh__1413819518.jpg
http://floridaphotomatt.com/wp-content/photos/2014/04/7th-Avenue-Ybor-City.jpg

For a nice skyline op at night, navigate to Bayshore Drive:
http://yummies4tummies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/bayshore5.jpg

On another day, go across the Howard Frankland bridge from Tampa (I-275 South) into St. Petersburg. Again, the best time for doing this is at night where you can go to 16th Street South and snap some shots of the most oddly-shaped domed stadium, Tropicana Field, home of the baseball team Tampa Bay Rays:
http://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/Graphics/Arenas/tropicanafieldhouse.jpg

From that area, get back on Central Avenue (just a few blocks from the stadium) and head toward downtown. The city is re-vamping itself into a well-developed and fun area to go for food, drinks, and plain ol' sightseeing. Best time to catch the flurry of nighttime activity is on a Friday or Saturday night. You WILL NOT be disappointed at the street activity and bright lights this affords:
http://www.stpetehamptonsuites.com/files/2684/client_beachdratnight_v2.jpg
At the end of Central Avenue is Beach Drive where you can capture scenes like this:
https://imagesus-ssl.homeaway.com/mda01/7ef83196-c050-4852-8569-2230f1f46d1f.1.10

And of course you'll want to capture a gorgeous sunset so make your way to St. Pete Beach and hope that there are clouds in the sky like this:
http://notjustabroad.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/st-pete-beach-sunset.jpg
While you're there, make sure to get photos of the big pink hotel, the Don Cesar:
https://photos.smugmug.com/Images-for-Sale/i-8JVgBwt/5/L/119And2more_tonemapped-Edit2-L.jpg
http://www.stpetersburg-fl-restaurants.com/images/don-cesar-hotel-stpetersburg-fl.jpg

Another really nice place is to drive up north from St. Pete Beach to Clearwater Beach (about a 30-45 minute drive), one of the premier beach places to go to in the whole country! Nice shops, nice eateries, terrific beach. You'll have plenty of ops to shoot some gorgeous scenes:
http://www.supercoolbeaches.com/sites/default/files/clearwater-beach-florida.jpg
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ggz5Us78b0U/maxresdefault.jpg
http://www.2014.attendicec.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Madeira_Beach_-_Johns_Pass_Village_and_Boardwalk1.jpg

Have fun!

mawyatt Loc: Clearwater, Florida

If you like natural beach scenes then Caladesi Island is a must (just north of Clearwater beach). You take a short boat ride (~$10) from state park Honeymoon Island (which has a nice nature walk with eagles nest, owls & osprey if you like birds). Lake Tarpon has a nice nature walk area on the East side. Tarpon Springs is a small fishing town north of Clearwater with a Greek flavor mainly for tourist now, lots of photo ops here.

Best,

Mike

Ringer

I have been in the Tampa airport a zillion times and never considered photography from the roof. How do you get to the roof?

TonyF Loc: Bradenton, FL

Ringer, Don't know about the main terminal roof that was mentioned, but great shots from the top floor of the parking garage, which is an open area, just like a roof. Panorama of the whole city.

Ed Chu Loc: Las Vegas NV

planning to head to WV, also, around the 9th of Oct; going to do a circle route from DC suburbs to about 4 covered bridges in Herns Mill, Hokes Mill, etc. Sandstone Falls,
and ending at New River Gorge; purposely planning to avoid 80,000 people by leaving NRG by Bridge Day; fall foliage should be ok by then, according to WV Fall Foliage Map;
be sure to tell us how your trip went, and possible suggestions for photos; thanks

JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore

If you are into bird photos, don't miss the Corkscrew Swamp Reserve about 20 minutes east of Tampa. You will see species you probably don't have in TN.

charles tabb Loc: Richmond VA.

Every time my wife & I go to Tampa we just can't resist Bush Gardens. The Flora and animals are real good subjects.
Most people think it's just an amusement park, but there is more to see that one can get in one day.

Have fun,

Charles