Skywatch Friday: Autumn Skies

October 8, 2010

This is my post for Skywatch Friday, a meme for sharing views of the sky from all over the world.  To see more, or to join and share your own photos of the sky, click HERE.

Tuesday, while getting the pictures I used in yesterday’s post, I also experimented with using manual settings on the camera to get pictures of the white clouds in our beautiful blue sky.

We need rain, so I would have been delighted to see some dark rain clouds up there in the sky.  But since we had a bright beautiful day, I was happy with the way these pictures turned out.

Tags: , ,
Posted in SkyWatch Friday | 22 Comments »

Signs of Autumn

October 7, 2010

 

Dogwood berries, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. October 5, 2010.

 

I’ve been trying to learn more about my camera, and how to use the manual settings rather than using the automatic functions most of the time.  I would like to learn more about photographic techniques, although I’m not sure that it will help me get better pictures.

I did some reading on the relationship between shutter speed and aperture and, since Tuesday was a gorgeous day, went outside to do some experimenting.  I was trying to see if I could find manually settings that would produce a pleasing photo.

I first experimented with trying to capture the berries on the dogwood tree in our front yard.  The results of that experiment is the picture above.

 

Sumac leaves, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. October 5, 2010.

 

I then walked down the street to some sumac trees in the vacant lot below our house.  The leaves of the tree were a beautiful red, and the sun was shining directly on them.  Those conditions resulted in this picture.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Glade | 19 Comments »

Watery Wednesday #108: Lake Canterbury

October 6, 2010

Lake Canterbury, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. October 18, 2009.

This is my post for Watery Wednesday.  To see more of our beautiful watery world, or to join and post your own pictures to share, click HERE.

Fairfield Glade has even more lakes (all man-made) than golf courses.  We’re just starting to get touches of autumn color this year.  This picture of Lake Canterbury was taken last year.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Watery Wednesday | 18 Comments »

My World: High School Football

October 5, 2010

Waiting for the team to take the field, Bearden High School, Knoxville, Tennessee. September 30, 2010.

This is my post for the My World meme.  It is hosted by Klaus, Ivar, Sandy, Wren, and Fishing Guy.  To learn more about our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.

This past Thursday Betsy and I drove to Knoxville to see a high school football game.  Actually we went to see the band which was performing at the game, since Betsy’s grandson, Landon, is a member of the band.

This game was somewhat unique for me since I got to sit and watch the entire game.  Now don’t get me wrong — I’ve been to many high school football games.  But both of my children were in the marching band at their school, so much of my time at games was spent in Band Parents’ concession stands.

Half-time show, Bearden High School, Knoxville, Tennessee. September 30, 2010.

Since Landon is in the band, we have many more pictures of the band than we do of the football team.  The above picture shows much of the band during their half-time show.

Landon, September 30, 2010.

The handsome young man on the left is Landon.  He’s a percussionist and, as a freshman, is not marching this year, although he expects to next year.

********************

As many of you know, I have been using a geotagger with my camera to record our location when we take pictures.  Using the information on the above pictures I found this picture of the stadium on Google Earth.  We were in the nose-bleed section of the stands near the press box.

Tags: , ,
Posted in My World | 17 Comments »

Scenic Sunday # 116: Golden Sunrise

October 3, 2010

Sunrise at Ormond Beach, Florida. August 5, 2009.

This is my post for the Scenic Sunday meme, which shares beautiful scenes from around the world.  To see more Scenic Sunday posts, or to join and show your own pictures, click HERE.

We celebrated Betsy’s birthday last year by going to Ormond Beach, Florida.  We had a room that overlooked the ocean and got up early on the day of Betsy’s birthday to see the sunrise.  The sea was calm, and just before the sun popped out of the clouds offshore, the water took on a golden sheen.

All in all it was a great start to a special day for my special girl.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Scenic Sunday | 13 Comments »

Skywatch Friday: Cumberland Gap Skies

October 1, 2010

The sky and mountains from the Visitor Center, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. September 23, 2010.

This is my post for Skywatch Friday, a meme for sharing views of the sky from all over the world.  To see more, or to join and share your own photos of the sky, click HERE.

Last week Betsy and I spent a very beautiful  day at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park.  It was a perfect autumn day — bright sunshine, blue skies and cool temperatures.

The picture above was taken from the parking lot of the Visitor Center shortly after we arrived.

Brush Mountain Sky, Hensley Settlement. September 23, 2010.

The first thing we did at the park was take a tour of the Hensley Settlement on top of Brush Mountain.  If anything the sky appeared to be even bluer.  There was a hint of color in the trees at the edge of the fields.

The evening sky from Pinnacle Overlook, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. September 23, 2010.

After dinner we drove up to the Pinnacle Overlook hoping to catch the sunset, but the sun was behind the mountains by the time we got to the overlook.  But the color of the sky was gorgeous.  I captured this picture of the sky and the reflection in Fern Lake far below.

Tags: , ,
Posted in SkyWatch Friday | 19 Comments »

Down Memory Lane: Blue Ridge Parkway

September 30, 2010

On our way home from Williamsburg, Virginia, in 2007 we traveled part of the way along the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We chose that route so that we could visit some waterfalls along the way.

Summer is not a great time for waterfalls, especially if they are small and there hasn’t been much rain.  But the drive along the Blue Ridge is beautiful any time of the year and the hikes to the falls were through beautiful woods and along pretty streams.

It may have taken us longer to get home by taking this route, but it certainly made the trip more enjoyable.

To see these pictures and others, click HERE.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Travels | 12 Comments »

Watery Wednesday #107: James River

September 29, 2010

James River, Shirley Plantation, Virginia. June 23, 2007.

This is my post for Watery Wednesday.  To see more of our beautiful watery world, or to join and post your own pictures to share, click HERE.

This picture of the James River was taken at Shirley Plantation in Virginia.  Shirley Plantation was one of Virginia’s first plantations, founded in 1613.

At that time the James was the great transportation route of Virginia.  The first English settlement, Jamestown, was founded on the banks of the river, and the early plantations had their own wharfs to handle ships carrying both passengers and cargo.  Ocean-going ships could navigate the James as far upstream as the present-day Richmond.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Watery Wednesday | 16 Comments »

My World: Hensley Settlement

September 28, 2010

Sign at the entrance to Hensley Settlement on Brush Mountain, Cumberland Gap Historical National Park. September 23, 2010.

This is my post for the My World meme.  It is hosted by Klaus, Ivar, Sandy, Wren, and Fishing Guy.  To learn more about our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.

Last week Betsy and I went to Kentucky to visit some places we’ve long talked about.  On Thursday we went to Cumberland Gap National Historical Park in the mountains where Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee come together.

The first thing we did was take a tour of Hensley Settlement, a community that existed from 1903 – 1951 atop Brush Mountain.  We were driven to the settlement in a Park Service van along some ‘interesting’ mountain roads.  Once we got to the settlement, we had a walking tour through the community and into some of the buildings.

Our guide through Hensley Settlement, Ronny Oplinger, the grandson of one of the founders of the settlement. September 23, 2010.

The guide on the day we were there was the grandson of one of the founders of the community.  It was definitely interesting to hear his family stories as we walked through the community.

The Lige Gibbons Farm, Hensley Settlement. September 23, 2010.

The Lige Gibbons Farm is one of the preserved homesteads on the mountain.  This farm is in a pretty little hollow on the mountain top.

Ruins of the Willie Gibbons House, Hensley Settlement. September 23, 2010.

Unfortunately, preserved doesn’t always mean protected.  This is the ruins of the Willie Gibbons house.  It was built in 1904 and was the most unique cabin on the mountaintop.  It was larger than most and had a double fireplace.  Sadly, it was destroyed by fire in 2000 and there are no longer any American Chestnut logs big enough to rebuild it as it was.

There are many more things to see in Hensley Settlement and I will post more after I get through some of the pictures we took.  The map above of our visit to Hensley Settlement was created on Google Earth using data from our geotagger.  The yellow line is our track, and I’ve noted some of the main features of the settlement.  If you ever get the chance to visit this site, I urge you to do so.  I think you will enjoy it.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in My World | 13 Comments »

Scenic Sunday #115: We Had to Settle for a Rainbow

September 26, 2010

Rainbow at Cumberland Falls State Park, Kentucky. September 25, 2010.

This is my post for the Scenic Sunday meme, which shares beautiful scenes from around the world.  To see more Scenic Sunday posts, or to join and show your own pictures, click HERE.

Betsy and I spent a couple of days in Kentucky enjoying the beautiful scenery and doing some hiking.  We first went to Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, where Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia come together in the mountains.  We visited a historic community, enjoyed the view from the Pinnacle, and hiked along the Wilderness Road.

The reason we went to Kentucky when we did was we wanted to see the moonbow at Cumberland Falls State Park.  Cumberland Falls is one of two places in the world with a predictable moonbow.  A moonbow is a rainbow produced by the light of a full moon hitting mist rising from the base of the falls.  In order to get a moonbow, the moon has to be full and the sky clear.

As luck would have it, we were at Cumberland Falls on Friday night — a night with cloudy skies and a few sprinkles.  There was no moonbow that night, but we will probably go back in the future to try again.

Even though we did miss out on the moonbow, we did see this pretty rainbow when we visited the falls the next morning.  That was impressive enough to make up for the lack of a moonbow.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Scenic Sunday | 17 Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »