A Day Trip to the Smoky Mountains

Good afternoon.  Today's blog features pictures taken on yesterday in the Smoky Mountains.  For those on Facebook, you all know after my post yesterday that this was my first time in the Smokies since 1996 (when I was in eighth grade).  Back then, let's just say that my focus was not on the natural beauty that the area has to offer.  For yesterday's trip, we wanted to enjoy and capture the early part of the spring.  It was either going to Natural Bridge/Red River Gorge Area or Smoky Mountains.  We chose the Smokies because with the forecast of scattered storms, it seemed that the Smokies would be the better decision...and we were not wrong. From London, the Smokies is only a couple of hours away, so it made for a good day trip (I am used to a 4 hour drive at least a couple of times a week for work anyways).  We did not go into Gatlinburg, but went around on the bypass and into the National Park.  As you can see, we stopped at a few places along the way up to the lookout point at the state lines of Tennessee and North Carolina.  It started raining as we were driving up the mountain, but ended once we gotten to the top.  It was here that we truly got to see the essence of how the Smokies gotten their name.  After coming down from the mountain, we did not have the time to stop in Gatlinburg before heading back to London (maybe next time), but did have a treat eating wings at Quaker Steak and Lube on Merchants Drive in the Knoxville area.  

Spring is here and in full effect.  Take advantage of the beauty that is around us, especially as we have had some beautiful weather.  I still hope to make it to the Natural Bridge/Red River Gorge area this spring in addition to a few other places on my list.  Once I make it to some of these places, I will be sure to share them. 

Smoky Mountains on Dwellable

Passenger Side View

Good evening.  I want to share with you the pictures that I took this past weekend from the passenger side of the vehicle.  For those that know me, I like to drive so it was a little different this past weekend going to Cincinnati and being the passenger.  Our destination...IKEA.

For my Cincy people, I am sorry that I did not call.  I am a bad friend.  We were pretty much in and out of town.  Anyways, I wanted to share these pictures with you from a pretty day on the road. So...I guess that is it...Enjoy!!!

Go SPRING!!!!

Good evening to everyone.  I hope that each of you enjoyed the beautiful weather over the past few days...I know that I have.  In a previous blog I stated that I would like one more good snow...well, since we have tasted spring...I don't want to go back.  Tonight's pictures were taken in various locations, but the theme is pretty weather and spring.  It is very apparent that spring is here.  The Bradford Pear, Cherry, and Redbud Trees have started bloom and other spring flowers are all around us.  I am not sure about you, but I know that I can also sense my allergies will be starting soon (Claritin D...I need you to warmup in the bullpen).  As spring continues, I hope to get to some places that I know will have some pretty views, such as Natural Bridge, Red River Gorge, and Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge.  A little ambitious, I know, but the thing is that there are many areas in Kentucky that are so pretty in the spring that if I do not make it to any of the places on my list...I would be fine. 

If any of you want to go on photo "safaris" or have any cool ideas for places to go and don't mind me tagging along...let me know.  I am always looking for cool places to visit and shoot.  It looks like there will be some great opportunities head of us this season (given the recent weather that we have had).

(Thoroughbred Park - Lexington, KY)

(Thoroughbred Park - Lexington, KY)

(Midway, KY)

Lightning Pictures

Good evening.  Tonight's blog features just two pictures that were taken last night (3/14) in Louisville during a lightning storm.  As we all know, lightning is one of the most unpredictable phenomenas in the world.   Up until last night, I never had the desire to capture lightning pictures.  For some reason last night, rather than running inside to prepare for a storm, I went and got my tripod and set up my camera.  The lightning storm did the rest.  It was peaceful and relaxing to sit and watch the storm.  During the 15 minutes that I was outside, I took about 12 shots using a wide-angle lens while setting the aperture to f8-f9.  The exposure times were between 7 seconds to 20 seconds.  Then, it started raining and I rushed inside.  :) 

I hope that you all enjoy these pictures and let me know your thoughts about them.      

Moonbow....FAIL :(

Good evening to everyone.  Tonight, I want to share pictures that I took...well...tonight.  I went out to see the Moonbow at Cumberland Falls outside of Corbin, KY.  Last month, I went to take pictures for the first time and received some really good advice for a Photography Friend and Sensei, Angi.  She provided me a mini tutorial on the settings that she recommended to get a good picture of the Moonbow.  I used her advice tonight as I took these pictures, but the weather conditions were not the best with capturing the Moonbow tonight as the skies became cloudy while there.  However, I want to share the pictures that I did take.  Why am I calling this blog "a fail"?, well, I know that it is still a learning process for me in capturing the Moonbow.  I would be the first to say that this is not a good picture of the Moonbow, especially compared to the others that I have seen.

In order to capture the Moonbow, I feel that it takes some skill and practice.  When weather permits and conditions are right (clear skies), viewing the moonbow can be seen with the naked eye.  The Moonbow at Cumberland Falls is a predictable phenomenon set on the full moon schedule.  It is absolutely gorgeous and if I wrote a book about amazing places in Kentucky, it would be in the top 10 (if not top 5 things to see and visit).  If you have the opportunity to go...I would recommend it.  Also, it really is not far for most people in Kentucky.  From Louisville and Bowling Green, you are looking at 2.5 to 3 hours.  For more information on dates for the Moonbow, go to http://www.2geton.net/martin/moonbow/cumberlandfalls_ky.html. 

In capturing the Moonbow, most sites recommend people being familiar with time-lapsed photography.  For the images taken tonight, I used a 2-2.30 minutes exposure.  The long exposure allows for more light to enter into lens.  If you look closely, you can see the stars moving due to the natural rotation of the earth that occurs within the 2-2.30 minute exposure.  While I was there, there were a few people that were trying to take pictures using a flash, but were disappointed when their picture did not turn out.  Also, the use of the flash messes with people trying to take long exposures.  I took the pictures at 10mm (another thing that I noticed Angi used when she was taking pictures last month) with aperture settings ranging from f3.5 to f9.  I was using the different aperture settings just to learn more about my camera, but also to try to experiment with the end results so that in the future I can take better pictures.  :).

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the pictures below.  The first two pictures were taken at the overlook and the third picture was taken at the Lower Level.  Normally, you can walk closer to the falls, but due to the potential hazardous conditions with the rising waters near the falls from the recent storms, they had this section blocked off...and well, I really did not want to risk getting a fine for crossing over the fence.  In the third picture at the Lower Level, I hope that you can see the Moonbow on the right side of the picture.  I was not expecting to see this when I initially took the picture.  It was a surprise for me because this Moonbow you could not see with the naked eye (at least I could not).  The last picture is more of a bonus.  I took a picture of the moon tonight and the ring that appeared around the moon as I was leaving Cumberland Falls.  I wanted to show the cloud cover, but also capture the ring around the moon.  Well, anyways, enjoy.  I am tired and going to head to bed before a busy day of travel. 

March 2, 2012

Good Sunday afternoon to all.  The pictures that I am sharing with you today were taken on March 2, 2012...the day of the tornadoes and massive destruction in several states.  My prayers goes out to the families and communities impacted by the storms (Henryville, IN, Magoffin County, West Liberty, and East Bernstadt...to name a few).  The thing that scared me about this day personally is that in most cases I would have been driving back to London around the time that the storms passed through Wood Creek Lake into East Bernstadt. While heading back from Morehead on Friday (3/2), I took pictures as I was heading back and while in Lexington in between storms.

The first two pictures below were taken in Winchester, KY.  When I saw the storms approaching, I knew that I had a small window of capturing the storm moving into the area.  This was the some of the cells that hit near West Liberty.  While I was in Winchester, the sirens were going off in the city.  Ha ha, not safe...I know, but I wanted to capture the moment.  The first picture is of the Sphar & Co. Puritan Field Seed building should not be unfamiliar with viewers on Facebook as I have captured the image before and posted it on there (circa 2010).  So, why did I choose the second picture?  I just thought with the potential for severe weather approaching the city that the phrase written by the American flag stood out more..."In God We Trust."

The third and fourth pictures were taken a mere 5 minutes before more storms started to come through Lexington.  The interesting thing about these shots is that they were taken nearly at the same time.  Picture #3 was taken while walking forward and Picture #4 was looking behind. 

The fifth picture was taken the morning of March 2nd (sorry, I lied earlier).  I wanted to capture the sun before it went into the clouds. 



The last picture is of a robin in the tree (taken between the storms coming through Lexington).  Even in the midst of the storm, there is peace and beauty.  This is a good sign that spring is around the corner (that and that trees have started budding).