Travel/Vacation Pics

[DireWolf]

I'm pretty new to this forum but I really appreciate that it's here. There are some really talented photographers here and I appreciate seeing your images and reading your posts. Novices and enthusiasts like me can learn a lot, so thanks.
Photoguy started a contest for images of Charlotte and that's a really good idea. I'm anxious to see the images of the city and I'm sure it will challenge those of you who live there to look at your city differently.
I noticed, in going through that tread that there were a lot of excellent images from other cities. It made me wonder if it might be useful to set up some catagories like travel/vacation, music, nature, kids, etc. in which we can share our images and the less practiced among us can learn from the more experienced photographers here.
With that in mind, I thought I'd offer up a few images I took on a vacation a couple of years ago.
These were taken in Jacksonville and St. Augustine, Florida with a Fuji S7000 digicam. I'd hoped to have the D70 I'd ordered in time for the trip but it was back ordered. Still, I had fun with the Fuji.

[Big Mark]

I love the composition on all three, but they're pretty noisy. I'm not a champ with PP, but I'm betting that'd be easy enough to fix with a noise filter.

[LarryD]

were you on a bridge for the third shot?

[Big Mark]

were you on a bridge for the third shot?
from the file name I'd guess a lighthouse.

[Playa]

Jugs look kinda nice, got any closer shots?

[DireWolf]

I love the composition on all three, but they're pretty noisy. I'm not a champ with PP, but I'm betting that'd be easy enough to fix with a noise filter.

Thanks, Mark.
Here's the lighthouse shots are after noise reduction. It can only clean them up so much. Those shots were taken from the lighthouse at f 22 with a digicam (I'm not a good craftsman yet so it's OK to blame my tools). I probably could have eliminated some of the noise and shortened the exposure on the single sailboat if I had thought to open up the lens. I'm not sure what I was thinking. I was probably wondering how long it would take the paramedics to get a stretcher up and down those steps if I went into cardiac arrest at the top of the lighthouse.
I almost deleted those shots. They really didn't look like much on a 1.8" LCD. I thought they might be some of those shots that seem like a good idea at the time but turn out to be crap when you see them on the computer screen - like this bridge shot.
It seemed like a good idea at the time. It looked good on the LCD and I couldn't wait to get it home and see it full sized. But when I blew it up, it just wasn't what I'd imagined. I think if I could shoot it again, I'd turn the camera and shoot it landscape instead of portrait and at a shorter focal length. I'd try shooting the turret off center yo get a little more of the sky behind it - or maybe it was never as good an idea as I thought it was. In any case, I'm open to suggestions.

[DireWolf]

were you on a bridge for the third shot?

No, those were from the lighthouse. But I got these from a bridge. Better yet, it was a drawbridge.

[DireWolf]

Jugs look kinda nice, got any closer shots?

Tons of them and they're as nice as they look. I hope your wife is well, too.

[DireWolf]

I'm just throwing these in. They're not great shots but for somebody with a little more talent, Castillo de San Marcos would be such a great place to spend a day. I love the light there.
And I don't mean to be their Visitors Bureau, but if you're a shutterbug looking for someplace different, I can't recommend Saint Augustine highly enough. It really is a beautiful little city.
I know you guys have some great pics. I hope you'll share them and maybe there's a city or venue you can recommend.

(Hooray! I figured out how to resize the pictures!)