Photography
A picture may be worth 1,000 words, so photography tells many stories.
White Horse of Cataloochee Ranch
Today’s photo subject is a gorgeous white horse from my next door neighbor, Cataloochee Ranch. The timelapse photography project I mentioned a couple of weeks ago is a series of sunset scenes, all photographed from the beautiful, mile-high ranch. I am blessed to have such a terrific neighbor with such awesome views, so they are…
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Photographing Blue Ridge Parkway Rainy Days
Blue Ridge Parkway rainy days drives many tourists off of the scenic road, but the weather makes a perfect time for a photographer. Bright sunlight is quite unflattering for photographs, so the cloud cover provides a much more conducive light. More importantly, the clouds and fog provide a dramatic background to the already gorgeous mountains.…
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Sneak Peek – Current Sunset Timelapse Project
I am spending my May evenings capturing sunsets in our mountains for a timelapse project that should be published in June. Timelapse is one of those fun photography projects that really tests your patients. At a fairly typical 24 frames per second for video, a simple 10-second clip in a film takes 240 photographs. If you…
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Spring Wildflowers – An Excuse Not To Mow
One of the great advantages of rural living is a different mindset about lawns. We don’t fertilize or spread herbicides, preferring a much more natural look to the fields that surround our house. Add in an abundance of both rain and sunshine this spring, and our fields are alive with spring wildflowers. We do mow…
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Norris Dam Open Spillway
The Norris Dam open spillway filled the air with the roar of crashing water for the first time in four years. Our recent heavy rains had flooded area rivers and lakes, and the TVA dam needed to release water – a fairly rare event. Of course, this created a terrific photography opportunity. Construction of the dam…
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Byrd Creek Dam Of Cumberland Mountain
We are visiting Cumberland Mountain State Park near Crossville, Tennessee. Bright blue skies and sunshine greeted our morning walk. The calm waters of the reservoir reflected perfectly, which created this beautiful view of Byrd Creek Dam. The dam was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps, the largest masonry structure they constructed. The facing is Crab Orchard…
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Anhinga Drying Wings At Huntington Beach State Park
During our recent visit to Huntington Beach State Park, I photographed this anhinga drying his wings. And then I found out why he does that. While I enjoy the grace and beauty of birds, I freely admit that I am not a birder. After capturing the photographs in this post, I began researching to identify…
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Alligators At Huntington Beach State Park
My goal was bird photography while visiting Huntington Beach State Park, but the alligators became my subjects as they swam the waters. The creatures are always fascinating in their prehistoric appearance and size. And, as the photograph above shows, they are quite comfortable lying in the sun for hours with no noticeable movement. When prowling…
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Snow Last Week; Spring Today
Amazing the difference a week can make. We were dealing with snow last week and today’s weather was sunny and warm – typical spring. Our winter has been unseasonably warm, so the fact that the two snows last week also happened to be our biggest snows of the season is not a surprise. Neither was a particularly…
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Wary Bobcat Near The House
Bobcat sightings can be quite elusive, but for a second time, a wary bobcat strolled just outside my study window during its hunt. I was working in my study in the front of the house when one of my dogs sat up and stared at the window. He saw something of great interest based on…
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Empty Winter Pasture Waiting On Horses
With our spring-like weather pattern, my thoughts wandered to the return of the horses to an empty winter pasture of Cataloochee Ranch. Our neighbor’s horses winter near Charleston, SC, and return each spring around the first of April. Normally, February is a time of snow, cold, and winter, but we are seeing weather that is…
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Brilliant Orange Sunrise – Long Exposure
Monday morning was clear and cold, a perfect day to capture a long exposure image of the brilliant orange sunrise rising to our east. The image was captured with a thirty-second exposure (iso 100 @ f/10) using a 10 stop neutral density filter. The long exposure allowed me to capture all of the brilliant orange…
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