I'll be honest-- I cannot afford a helicopter, but I have really been wanting to get some running shots from a better angle and closer than from a pier that is a quarter mile or more from the action.

So, what's the next best thing? Bridge-- a poor man's helicopter.

So, this morning I drove up to the bridge over the St John's right before the lunch stop. The 'NO Pedestrians' signs did not faze me- I was on a mission. It's a very narrow two-lane bridge with new barrier walls added on each side... I'm sitting there on one of the walls for about 20 minutes, waiting for the boats to show up... thinking about cops... but none show up, until one does... he pulls up right behind me (my azz is nearly hangin in the lane that thing is so narrow) with his blue lights flashing and tweaks his siren. I turn around and he asks me what I am doin... I tell him I'm takin pix for the Fire and POLICE Dept poker run (with emphasis) and that I'll be gone in a few minutes. He says: "Ok. We've been getting calls about a jumper, you ain't gonna jump are ya?"

I said no and he drove off.

Got some nice pix...

Here's another bridge shot of the incredible array of hardware at the lunch stop.

Here are the first three suspects to come within range.

4,5,6...

7,8,9...

10,11,12...

Jay -
AWESOME pics!!!!!

Totally awesome pics, were you in a copter or on a bridge?

Thanks Hans! It was a great seat.

I got high rez shots of every boat that came under that bridge today. They would make ok prints if anyone is interested. The images posted here have been cropped close to the boats- most have a bit of more breathing room on the edges for matting and framing. Here's a sample photo 1) cropped for OSO, 2) entire image, 3) actual size of the image. If you are interested send me a pm with a description of your boat if you don't see it here.

Stay tuned- I'll be posting more.

Jeff- I was on the Shands Bridge.

Good to see Little G running his Vice boat!