Borbin the 🐱

Sarasota leans into the edge of Southwest Florida, facing the Gulf of Mexico. The horizon opens to the west, the light settles low in the afternoon, and shallow water draws long arcs along the coast. The city rests between the Tampa Bay area and the beaches to the south.

• Art Ovation Hotel
• The Jumping Fish
• Gulfstream Park
• Marina Drive
• War Memorial
• Five Points Roundabout
• Siesta Key Beach
• Bayfront Park
• Milan Art Gallery
• Katy's Cat Cafe
• Farmers Market
• Ringling Museum of Art
• Coquina Beach
• Lido Beach

Art Ovation Hotel

An evening with a clear sky and a full moon above the rooftop pool marked the beginning of a winter escape in Sarasota, a quiet moment that shaped the days ahead.

Interactive Panorama Rooftop Pool

1/10s f/5,6 ISO 2500/35° f=7,5mm

The Jumping Fish

A morning view with The Jumping Fish sculpture in the first sunlight, a small piece of Sarasota art set in the roundabout near our hotel.

Interactive Panorama The Jumping Fish

1/800s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° f=7,5mm

Afternoon streetview approaching The Jumping Fish roundabout.

1/500s f/8 ISO 250/25° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=16mm/24mm

Gulfstream Park

Gulfstream Park sits between the waterfront and downtown, a small strip of green that links the marina area with the city streets. The pond in the center gives the park its quiet character, with a few paths and patches of shade that slow the pace for a moment. It is a simple space, but it fits naturally into Sarasota's mix of water, traffic, and public art.

Interactive Panorama Gulfstream Park

1/800s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° f=7,5mm

Marina Drive

Marina Drive runs just behind Gulfstream Park and borders the marina itself. It is a short stretch where boats, water, and the edge of downtown meet. Palm trees everywhere.

1/500s f/8 ISO 100/21° f=17mm/18mm

1/400s f/7,1 ISO 100/21° f=21mm

Interactive Panorama Marina Drive

1/1250s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° f=7,5mm

War Memorial

The War Memorial stands at the edge of J.D. Hamel Park, marking Sarasota's tribute to residents who served in World War I and the conflicts that followed. The bronze Doughboy figure adds a direct link to the era, reproduced from a 1920 design and placed here after a later restoration. It is a small but steady presence on the bayfront, easy to pass but worth a quiet look.

Interactive Panorama War Memorial

1/800s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° f=7,5mm

Five Points Roundabout

The Five Points Roundabout sits at the center of downtown and pulls several streets into one compact junction. Traffic moves steadily around it, framed by shops, cafés, and a bit of midday noise. It is one of those places where you notice how close the city, the bayfront, and the quieter neighborhoods actually are.

Interactive Panorama Five Points Roundabout

1/1000s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° f=7,5mm

Next to the roundabout is Selby Five Points Park.
A Christmas market is missing here with all the good things: air that smells like roasted almonds and gingerbread, and you are mysteriously holding a Bratwurst in one hand and a paper cone of roasted chestnuts in the other.
Once in France I came across a Christmas market that kept going well into February.

1/40s f/2,8 ISO 1250/32° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=16mm/24mm

Half a block further you arrive at the Opera House of Sarasota. It has a sign, it has a door, and yet at first glance you could be forgiven for thinking you are entering a well behaved municipal building. If you pause for a moment, a faint aria seems to rise through the stairwell, as if the building is politely reminding you of its true purpose.

1/640s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° f=7,5mm

Siesta Key Beach

Siesta Key¹ Beach is all about light sand, a wide beach, and a clear horizon. Even on busy days, the shoreline still feels open, with shallow waves and long stretches to walk. It is the quiet blend of sun, breeze, and open space that makes Siesta Key stand out on Sarasota's coast.

Interactive Panorama Siesta Key Beach 1

1/1250s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° f=7,5mm

Siesta Key Desert Planet

Exploration of perception for the Worldwide Panoramas event.

Perception is shaped not only by what is visible, but also by the position from which it is experienced.

Just off the beach but not out in the water, that in-between place changes the way the scene reads. At the edge, everything is in motion, and you are between two worlds, seeing both at once.

There are no footprints to hide here, but the moving waves bring their own challenges. Masks guide the transitions between frames and help maintain alignment where the surface never stays still.

Photographed in winter, the scene carries a tropical atmosphere. That quiet inversion becomes part of the viewer's perception.

Interactive Panorama Siesta Key Beach 2

1/1250s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° f=7,5mm

With my camera in hand, I noticed a seagull staring and inspecting me. Surely one panorama should be acceptable, right? It watched calmly like a tiny director and never blinked.

1/50s f/2,8 ISO 100/21° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=50mm/75mm

Driving away from the beach, the palm trees lined the street in a clean row, like they were guiding the way.

1/1546s f/1,9 ISO 47 f=5mm/25mm

Bayfront Park

Bayfront Park sits right on the water between the marina and the bay. A few paths, some shade, and benches facing the boats make it an easy stop on the way along the waterfront.

Equirectangular Projection

Mercator Projection

1/640s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° f=7,5mm

Interactive Panorama Bayfront Park 1

1/1000s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° f=7,5mm

Interactive Panorama Bayfront Park 2

1/1000s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° f=7,5mm

Interactive Panorama Bayfront Park 3

1/1000s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° f=7,5mm

Interactive Panorama Bayfront Park 4

1/1000s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° f=7,5mm

The four bronze dolphins by sculptor Steve Dickey rise in a clean upward arc. The figures stand a little over three and a half meters tall within a circular basin of about twelve meters. In the bright light the moment feels like a paused film frame, held just before the scene continues.

1/4000s f/2,8 ISO 100/21° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=37mm/55mm

We arrived by plane, not by boat.

1/500s f/8 ISO 100/21° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=28mm/42mm

Milan Art Gallery

Visited the Milan Art Gallery for the opening of the Mini Masterpieces Collection exhibition. It featured original works from a variety of artists. The paintings were striking, with a level of detail and character that kept drawing us back for a second look. It was part of Art Walk, a recurring evening that brings the local art scene together, and one of the highlights of the night.

Interactive Panorama Milan Art Gallery 1

1/80s f/5,6 ISO 500/28° f=7,5mm

Interactive Panorama Milan Art Gallery 2

1/80s f/5,6 ISO 500/28° f=7,5mm

Katy's Cat Cafe

Parsley checks the minimum focus distance.

1/500s f/2,8 ISO 6400/39° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=30mm/45mm

Audrey poses with the confidence of a professional model.

1/25s f/2,8 ISO 400/27° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=35mm/52mm

1/30s f/1,9 ISO 314/26° f=5mm/25mm

Farmers Market

Not many farmers, but lots of stitching errors. Handheld usually works fine; here it refused.

Interactive Panorama Farmers Market

1/320s f/5,6 ISO 500/28° f=7,5mm

Ringling Museum of Art

Panoramas from the Ringling Museum of Art, with views from galleries to courtyard.

Ringling Museum of Art

Coquina Beach

Soft light, almost no wind, and water that barely moved. Dark clouds moved in from the gulf, and the brightness faded. Minutes later, the storm closed in around the bay.

Interactive Panorama Coquina Beach

1/1000s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° f=7,5mm

Lido Beach

The last light of the day settled in as the sky dimmed, the colors softened, and the shoreline eased quietly toward evening.

1/4000s f/8 ISO 100/21° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=50mm/75mm

Interactive Panorama Lido Beach

1/800s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° f=7,5mm

A winter escape at 25°C, with days shaped more by place than by schedule. The coast offered space, the water stayed calm, and the light guided the course of the trip. It became a quiet record of a season lived differently.