Opening Day at Friendship FountainFriendship Fountain opened on June 18th 2011 in a ceremony presided over by Mayor John Peyton and a number of other officials.
The fountains during the day are spectacular - able to shoot water as high as
120 feet in the air, straight up, in arcs, and can make a dome by covering the fountain entirely.
The grounds around them have been refurbished and a lot of the old concrete has been removed and replaced by grass and park benches. There are some pretty nifty palm trees planed as well! The waterfront area, which was protected by construction fence, has been cleaned up and there is finally a great and unobstructed view across the river.
So while the fountains during the day are spectacular - at night they are magical!!! The lights came on as it was getting towards dusk and are synchronized with the fountain water and to music - WOW is all anyone could say. I think that pretty much expresses it at a very basic level!
The
view from Jacksonville Landing is good as well. We were able to enhance the view from there with a glass of very nice wine – I do have to go back there with my long lens and really nail it though!
The fountain is large - one of the very largest in the country when it was built and it has now been completely restored - down to the pumps and pipes. The contractors did a great job carrying out the designs and have been very willing during the construction over the last months to stop for a minute and discuss the project - a labor of love for some of them. They brought the project in on time – don’t know about the budget.
I shoot down by the river a lot in this area – if you are wanting to make some pictures down there – please do not hesitate to contact me. I use studio lights during the evening to make people look their best! There are a number of galleries
that have images from down there at sunset or just after – please feel free to give me a look.
I was lucky enough to be able to shoot this event during the day from the top of the pump house - it is not open usually unless you have special permission - apparently the skateboarders find the spiral walkway down from the top just too tempting - if I was younger and crazy I might also. The pumps are surprisingly quiet.
So I have mixed a number of images from the day into this image gallery – my favorites are first. There are a number of images with the lights going towards the back of the gallery – if you have the patience go through the entire thing. If you hate my favorites – please do not feel that you need to contact me about this – unless it is really important to you – if it is, well then talk to you soon.
This means that the images are not in chronological order – if you are looking for one of yours it may be in the back – please go through them all. If there are any special requests please contact me and let me know what you need. Each image has a file name – please use this to make sure I know which one you are talking about.
The images here are
free for you to download - for your personal use - just "BUY" them at no charge. No hassle – no tricks. I also have higher resolution images and prints for sale. Water images look really, really great on metal (a hint). Let me know before ordering a print larger than 8x10 though and I will process it individually for you to make it look the best!
Please feel free to post these to Facebook and other sites to share them, email them to your mother, or link to them!
Please however do
NOT crop my logo from them. Give me the credit for the experience, time and effort I have put into this – or buy a commercial copy from me – thanks for understanding.
This is the website address for you to link to;
http://StraleyPhotography.com/Friendship-Fountain The city of Jacksonville has done a great thing here - something we should all be proud of and take advantage of! It is time to have a picnic down by the river - invite me if you have some good eats to share!
Please note there are no sanitation facilities down there and dogs do not seem to be invited – why not?
You are welcome to
browse through my entire site - in fact I would appreciate it if you did - I love to take images of people - perhaps if you enjoy my photography we should talk - I am easy to find - look for the "
contact me" button.
I also have a personal project of
making images of bridges in Jacksonville - if there is anyone who can help with access to some great spots to shoot - maybe you have or can get me into a backyard along the river - or would like to take me for a ride in a boat or an airplane - I would appreciate you contacting me. This is going to take a while so come back and see them from time to time.
I am also involved with the
26.2 with Donna Marathon - a great cause to support if you are looking to make a contribution to something pretty important! Very nice tee shirts to if you run in the race!
Let me know what you think! I would appreciate comments – leave them on this site or send them to me directly.
Attention readers:
· If you are one of the group of young,
mostly women dancers - please contact me.
· If you are one of the ladies
in the red hats - thanks - you made my day even more fun!
· Nice to meet the other photographers out there – one in particular, Bob did a great job of documenting this entire rebuilding process – thanks for the time and effort!
