Laurel Housden Photography Blog

(Castillo de San Marco - HDR processed with Photomatix - 3 exposures)

On December 23rd we took a day trip to St. Augustine, Florida which is located on the N.E. coast of Florida. It is the oldest continuously occupied European established city in the States. It is full of history, ghosts, and antique shopping. It reminds me of a mix between New Orleans, Paris, and Dublin.The Castillo de San Marcos is a Spanish built fort located in the city of St. Augustine and it was known as Fort Marion from 1821 until 1942, and Fort St. Mark from 1763 until 1784 while under British control. Read up on the history of this fort here

(Sunset over St. Augustine, Florida. Taken with a D70s )

St. Augustine is only a 90 minute car ride from our home in Gainesville, Florida. During this time of year the city is decorated with millions of tiny white holiday lights and you can take a open trolley ride through the town to see the lights. We arrived late in the afternoon and were so lucky to not only catch the sunset over the Castillo de Marco but also a full moon rise over the St. Augustine inlet.

(Nikon D70s Castillo de San Marcos)

I have been watching Ben Wilmore’s online tutorial on HDR at Xtrain.com. One of the coolest tips I picked up is setting up my Nikon D70s in continuous mode and Bracketing for 3 exposures. That way when I press the shutter the 3 bracketed shots will be taken immediately without having to click each shot separately so the chance for camera shake is less - since the pictures are going to merged together.

You can see me entire set of my St. Augustine Trip here at my Flickr site. I had a lot of fun.

Happy New Year!