A friend of mine @danielhime was out on Lido Key, in Sarasota, Florida taking some pictures and video for a project he is working on and I thought I would drive out and join him for the sunset.  You never know in Florida how the sunset is going to turn out, but I always love going to the beach.  Lido has some really nice white powdery sand.  

This first picture was toward the end of the sunset pictures I got.  At first I didn't think we were going to get any color in the clouds, but after the sun set we did get a little.  I got this couple walking along.  Do you like sunset pictures with people in them?
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-D9F9Tsp/0/e209bf49/X2/i-D9F9Tsp-X2.jpg
Or do you like sunset pictures with just the sky and the beach?
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-2Gb6xgd/0/c820f6e3/X2/i-2Gb6xgd-X2.jpg
I had brought my iPhone 8+ which I always have with me, of course and my Canon 7D with a Tamron SP 10-24mm 1:3.5-4.5 wide angle lens.  I really like the wide angle lens for sunset shots, as you can get so much more sky in with this lens.  See if you can tell the difference between the iPhone and the Canon pictures.  I will put a few below.

1
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-CQNDwt7/0/5b315169/X2/i-CQNDwt7-X2.jpg

2
![Beach 2-18 026.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQma2RWmLMHKGsrkc1jSUnyKbqJT2azHHJiKnqUaUVhdrL9/Beach%202-18%20026.JPG)

3
![Beach 2-18 065.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmU4h3YvrtCb6EL7win5RFx58ZtsCjuAjNeaYAwFEEcTci/Beach%202-18%20065.JPG)

4
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-zz5VHLk/0/89e73175/X2/i-zz5VHLk-X2.jpg

It might be a little hard to tell much of a difference, depending on how you are viewing them.  If you look at them on a big good monitor, you can tell a difference.  I think on a phone, you won't see much of a difference.  Ok look at this picture, before I reveal what was what.  I tried using the filters my iPhone has in it to experiment with some black and white.  The filter I used on this one is called "Noir".  I think it gives the picture a very dramatic look. 
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-vPzRPJH/0/ebea5de7/X2/i-vPzRPJH-X2.jpg
So, now to reveal what pictures were from the iPhone or the Canon 7D.  Ok, pictures number 1 and 4 are from the iPhone, which makes 2 and 3 from the Canon.  You can see a little difference in the aspect ratio with the iPhone being a little more square.  I think the iPhone did very well.  What do you think?

My friend @danielhime took some pictures of me.
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-9DHScRR/0/586334ec/X2/i-9DHScRR-X2.jpg

Checking out the shot.
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-WbCVZmV/0/05236471/X2/i-WbCVZmV-X2.jpg

I saw this girl coming down the beach and she had her hair in ponytail, so I thought I might get a good picture.  I did it with the "Noir" filter on my iPhone.  I think it came out great.  I really like the silhouette look.
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-fLQKmJG/0/92d025e0/X2/i-fLQKmJG-X2.jpg

Sometimes I like a little something else in my pictures, like birds.  A little movement in an otherwise still picture gives it a different feel.  I think that we as humans like to see things that move most of the time, but a nice relaxing landscape picture with no movement can be preferred sometimes.  You can see in some pictures where the subject is a waterfall or a stream, the photographer can do a little longer exposure that give the water a feeling of  movement.  I like that.  So, at the beach, you can sometimes get birds to fly by and get a great picture.  I like the one lone bird captured at just the right time with it's wings up.  If you look back at picture #4, you can see two birds.  I think it would have been a better picture if the closest bird had it's wings up, not down.  In the picture below you can see many birds flying.  Do you like one bird or many?
![Beach 2-18 040.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmYCqNmLbb196BUxAfSgLZETsea6Zkh8fsvTjTFu1EeyLV/Beach%202-18%20040.JPG)

Just chilling out.
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-HRsfRjm/0/6d4d6498/X2/i-HRsfRjm-X2.jpg

Beautiful Lido beach.  People come from all over the world to visit this beach, I am lucky that it is just a short drive from my house.  This time of year it is very crowded as many people from the northern part of the United States come down here to get away from the cold.  We call them "Snow Birds", because they fly back north in the spring.  By the way it was over 80 degrees today. 27 degrees Celsius.  Not to bad for February!
![Beach 2-18 054.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmTzhZ8ThL42MVePEhWS7CoLJTFBxLu3nzHYLcDtbAkZ1t/Beach%202-18%20054.JPG)

A few more sunset shots for good measure.
![Beach 2-18 067.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmUWSN5aXQnkQgeZDNC9KaGEgYLhqdQMcfh2xqWsDXpq6U/Beach%202-18%20067.JPG)

We did get some color after the sun went down.  Always remember to stay after the sun has set, as that is sometimes the best part.  This night many people had already left the beach not thinking we would get a good sunset.  They missed out.  You just never know.
![Beach 2-18 066.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmYqYEFyRjZBrCMnbP6G4TjqBGQBZt9BALDdLyeDXjxpiu/Beach%202-18%20066.JPG)

One more "Noir" picture.
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-N2GDLRC/0/1bb57e30/X2/i-N2GDLRC-X2.jpg
See you next time!
100% my original work! Copyright 2018 ® Mark Vance Photography

 I am an award winning photographer and filmmaker. Many of my pictures have been used in TV Shows and Feature Films, such as "Zero Dark Thirty", "NCIS Los Angeles", "Scandal", "Blackish" and "The Walking Dead".
All my pictures are from one capture and nothing is computer generated, except where noted. Then it is only an inversion or an increase in saturation only, not a change to the actual content of the picture.
I hope you find my pictures unusual, creative and in some cases inspiring. Everyone sees something different in my pictures. Enjoy!