One of the drawbacks of being a landscape photographer with lots of free time, but a severely limited budget, is the lack of an endless source of new places to explore. I have a 1/2 dozen or so places within driving distance, but some of them are far enough away that I don't visit them very often. And what that means is that I tend to see the same thing, over and over again. Changing seasons, changing weather, and changing light makes those “same things” look a bit different from time to time, and give me more photographing options. Nonetheless, the limits are still there, and sometimes frustrating.
Read MoreFirst Trip to Lake Conestee in Months
Today I made my first trip to a local park since March, before all the Covid-19 shutdowns began. My area got a lot of rain in the past day or so. That helped to cool down the air and get rid of the summertime flying pests that keep me from hiking much in hot weather.
Read MoreBilly Cat and the Frog
Gather around, folks… and I will tell you another little adventure in the life of Billy Cat.
Read MoreThe Incident At Table Rock
Recently I was looking through old photographs, trying to find something worth posting that I had not already put on gab. When I got all the way back to the photographs that I took with my first digital camera, a Canon S95 point-and-shoot, I immediately saw the difference in the quality of the photographs. Much of the loss of quality came from my inexperience with photography. But a great deal of it came from the fact that my camera had a tiny sensor with a somewhat inferior lens attached. Today’s photograph is one of those old photos. I spent a lot of time trying to get to look halfway decent, not because I would ever be able to make it into a great photograph, but because of what this particular scene means to me.
Read MoreYou Had To Be There
Heading out toward cold dark mountain rock, cautious booted feet crunch their way from my car, over the wooden footbridge, and up the tree-lined path to Bald Rock Mountain. The light from my cell phone is too weak to do much good, so I turn it off to save the battery. It’s dark on the mountain but not pitch dark. The hard rock surface feels solid under my boots. My goal is only a few hundred feet way, near the center of the clearing. I want the best view I can have as the sun comes over the horizon. I’m armed with hot coffee in my thermos, camera strap over my shoulder.
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