NC Trip: Day 2.

On Sunday we officially left Asheville for the Great Smokey Mountains, where we would stay for three nights at the Nantahala Outdoor Center. Truth: after hiking for two days, we found that our rooms were at...the...bottom of four flights of outdoor steps. To quote Earnest P. Worrel: "These steps might as well be Mt. Everest."

But before that, at the beginning of the day, we headed to the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, a cool seven miles through picturesque forest that includes trailheads to several waterfalls.





I knew from my 'research' that there was a much higher chance of seeing black bears in the Smokies than in the Blue Ridge - but I didn't expect us to encounter one literally five minutes into the trail!





So it looks like an adolescent bear, especially since the mama didn't come barreling out of the woods to eat all dozen of us who had gotten out of our cars to follow the bear on foot.

We chose Grotto Falls as our waterfall for the day; it was warmer than the day before, and the trail, we think, is closer to 2 miles one way than the 1.5 they advertise. Very beautiful, though, and I'd never seen so many rhododenron in bloom as there were this year.







Grotto Falls was literally a piece of paradise. Even with a ton of people there (who happened to be much more cognizant of those who were taking photos).





When photogaphing waterfalls the ideal situation is a cloudy day; we didn't have any of those that week. ;-) Hence my neutral density filters. So it was difficult to get a great exposure in which the water didn't have blown highlights and the surrounding area was exposed correctly (so that the entire photo has even lighting). But, I did what I could! I especially liked the moss-covered rocks at the base.





There are plenty of overlooks along the Parkway; unfortunately I didn't get a snapshot of the name of this one but, the memories last nonetheless.







I was, I'll admit it, a bit adamant about catching the sunset at Clingman's Dome while we were in the Smokies. There was a lot of driving involved, having to get to the NOC and then back to Clingman's, so I'm very grateful to my friends for being up for it.

Lots of sunset photos here!

NC Trip: Day 1.

I didn't expect it to take me this long to post photos! I am ashamed.

On the bright side, I've been kinda busy at the 'business' blog (check out the link, righthand column), redecorating and rearranging things. And I've been learning studio photography and how to shoot people. :) (With my camera) I've also been to the Chinese Lantern Festival at the botanical garden. So there is plenty to post in the coming days and weeks. Hope you enjoy!

Okay. Day 1.

I made it to Asheville in 8 hours and 45 minutes. I am awesome. I managed to sleep a bit before packing up the car and heading out by 1 am. So with no pit stops for sleep - yay! - and two stops for gas (boooo), I showed that stretch of highway who's boss.

We had quite a first day (we being my photog friend Jennie and her husband Randall. I know. I'm always the third wheel). We went to: Looking Glass Falls, Graveyard Fields, the Richland Balsam area, and stopped at a multitude of overlooks all along the way.

I had uber-prepared, as I think I've mentioned here on the blog, by purchasing two more ND filters, both a +4. So stacking them along with the +2 I already had, meant that I could finally, really get those waterfall shots. It also meant that I came to understand the limitations of my camera better, and while I love my entry-level DSLR, I am no longer an entry-level player.

So here's Looking Glass:



Yellowstone Prong along the hike to Graveyard Fields:



A zoom shot of the lower portion of the lower falls (more on why in a sec):



And a portrait-style orientation of the lower falls:



Notice. The people. They were everywhere. In the water, on the rocks, at the top of the falls, at the bottom, crawling up, crawling down...it made me wish I'd packed something other than my camera. Now, the weather was great, and it was a cloudy day for about half of it so prime time for people to get and enjoy their beautiful state. But all the same...I guess I just never though of waterfalls as places to go frolicking in a bathing suit. I thought you were supposed to stand in awe of nature, and get a few great shots. (And believe me, the crowds were worse at Looking Glass)

So there are a few folks in the photo above - but at least they're wearing nice colors. ;-)

A few pretty shots, from the Graveyard trail and from an overlook:







Funnily enough, though I'd gone on this trip with one singular goal besides re-connecting with my friend, that being to capture some great sunsets, I didn't take into account the perfection of the clouds until we were up in the Richland Balsam area.

It was stormy looking...



Then the light began to break through...



And then the heavens opened up.



A great final image for a great first day.

The deep south.

So I was back in the Texas/Louisiana area a couple of weeks ago. I got to see a bit more of Shreveport, including visiting an old Victorian mansion (the Logan Mansion) haunted by the ghost of a little girl named Theodora. I have not yet analyzed my photographs for ORBS, though.



This place is across the street, unoccupied right now but a bed and breakfast will be in the works after extensive renovation.



Lots of flowers were in bloom, which was fun.









Another thing I did was drive to Marksville in central Louisiana to visit a historical mounds site. The state is so charming! I love the south. One day I have to get to New Orleans so I can visit all the old plantation homes, but who knows when that will be.

While at the historic site, I caught sight of chameleon! What fun!





Next up: MORE SPRING BLOOMS.

Caddo Lake...for real.

Well, I'm back home from east Texas.

I went for my job - but it didn't really feel like work. It was kind of an impromptu trip; the boss and I left on the train Thursday night and I just got home about three hours ago. You may recall that I went to Texas last March, and visited Caddo Lake State Park at Big Cypress Bayou. I was only able to stand at the water's edge that time; a steamboat tour is available in the spring, summer and fall, but I just couldn't get myself up early enough to go. I wasn't going to let that happen this time!

Of course the steamboat tour wasn't available now, as it's winter, so I found another tour run by a Caddo Lake native named John Winn. He gives several different kinds of tours, including a photography tour, so I booked one for myself for Saturday morning. There are lots of photos to show, but you'll have to endure my narrative too (as always). =)

I scheduled the tour for 7 a.m., since that was the earliest I could trust myself waking up for, and because there's that time of the morning right when the sun rises over the trees that the light is the most magical. John uses a Go Devil boat, which is shaped kind of like a canoe and powered by a motor, allowing us to wend through the thickets of cypress trees in a way regular boats (including that steamboat) can't.

Before the sun appeared, and because it's winter, everything was pretty monochromatic at first. No green leaves or blooms. John, being a photographer himself, mentioned that it's a good opportunity to use black-and-white photography, and I agreed. So this first set you'll see are my b&w conversions (and one experiment with a film filter), which definitely bettered the early photos.









If you're unfamiliar with bayous, they're filled with cypress trees that grow out of the water; John said there was one cypress that they'd calculated to be five hundred years old, with a thirty-foot wide base.



The stringy, curly stuff hanging from the branches is called Spanish moss. These trees lend very, very well to the often spooky atmosphere of the bayou (typically attributed to Louisiana; Caddo Lake actually crosses the border into Louisiana), and John offers a night tour for spotting gators and other wildlife, the air filled with the bellowing of frogs. I soooo want to do that.

Because of the way cameras expose for direct sunlight, I was able to get some shots that darkened the trees and water and gave a more evening time, 'spooky' feel.











As the sun continued to rise, rays shone on the trees and water, and the experience really began. You'll notice a variety of color tones; a lot of that has to do with how I composed the position of the sun in the photos. I also experimented a bit with color balance in post-processing, because in wintertime the bayou is almost like a blank slate; you can project many different qualities onto the grayish-brown trees and moss.

















I tinkered with white balance a bit too; in the following photo I used 'warm,' and while it was generally too much, I did like how this came out:



And I tried b&w on a brighter shot of a long stand of trees, and actually really like the result:



All in all, a great way to spend two hours (and eighty bucks...thanks Dad!). I absolutely plan on going back in late spring or summer to take advantage of the greenery and blooms at sunset, and I hope I can drag Sara with me... ;-)