Selfie at Elkmont

I took this self-portrait in an abandoned cabin at the Elkmont Campgrounds in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park near Townsend, TN.  This is one cabin in a ghost town that was created when the facilities were "officially" abandoned in 1990, but the state of disrepair shows neglect going back much further.  The national park wants to level the town but, some of the buildings have been deemed to have historical value so the fate of the town will likely be disputed for some time.

CREEK AT ROARING FORK

This is a three shot HDR of a creek located off the Roaring Fork Motor Trail in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park near the Gatlinburg entrance to the park.  We were there during the last week in October and caught the fall colors at close to their peak.

BACKYARD MACROS

I took these two macros in my backyard yesterday to experiment with adding textures.  I used the same "Flypaper" texture on both ("Dangerous Liasons"), and these photos are the results.

ADVANCING TREES

I took this shot of the Roaring Fork Nature Motor Trail in Tennessee the last week in October. I used a slow shutter speed with a mid-range zoom handheld for the effect.

METHODIST CHURCH AT CADES COVE

I think this Methodist Church is probably one of the most photographed churches around. I did a GOOGLE IMAGES search on it though and I didn't see any shots I liked as much as mine. [Of course I could be a little biased!] It's taken from the Rich Mountain Road which is a 12 mile unpaved mountain side ride that runs one way from Cades Cove to Townsend, TN.

This shot was hand held with my Olympus O-MD EM1 and a 40-150 F2.8 telephoto all the way out.  Settings were F4.5 # 1/800 and ISO 1250 on auto.

MENNONITE FARM

This was one of my October entries in the OPEN division of the photo clubs Honor's Night program.  This farm was located in a Mennonite community in Tennessee and was photographed in July of this year.  I added texture an focus adjustment to give it an aged diorama appearance.

BUMBLE BEE

Here's a shot from the Baytown Nature Center a few weeks ago.

BUG PAINTING PARTY

This was my other shot submitted for the BAPC assignment of "AMERICANA".  Interestingly enough this was what I considered to be my "A" shot for the night, but it turned out to be the lowest scoring photo of the night.  Meanwhile "The Pie Lady", see previous post, was the highest scoring.  Judges didn't like the effect, which started as and in-camera Olympus "art filter" and went on from there.  I guess what I liked the most about it is that it's exactly what I intended the shot to be from the time I took it.  An over-the-top representation of an over-the-top event, hence the early selection of the fish eye lens.

THE PIE LADY

This was one of my shots entered at the Bay Area Photo Club under the August Honor's Night assignment of "AMERICANA".  Dianne and I built the set and she posed as the "The Pie Lady."  The judges liked the shot and awarded it with a Gold award and enough points to make it high for the night.  I shot it with my tripod mounted OMD-EM1 and a 12-60 f2.8 lens in mostly late evening light.  I did add a little light from the lower right of the shot to help brighten Dianne in the shot.

SWIM AT YOUR OWN RISK

This gater was swimming in the waters on the outer edge of the Anahuac Wildlife Refuge when I snapped this shot.  I entered it in the last BAPC Honors Night program and was awarded a "Gold" award.

SCATTERED STORMS POSSIBLE

I entered this composite image in the "open" category of the Bay Area Photo Club of Clear Lake's "Honors Night" program and was awarded a "Gold" award by the three judge panel.  It's a two shot composite, basically one shot with the "rain" and flower and one shot with the cloud in another, that have been blended together in Photoshop.  The "cloud" is a ball of poly filler available in the fabric section of Hobby Lobby.

GRANNY

I like this shot of Granny [Dianne's Mom] sitting in the backyard on a short break.  I like the tone and the lighting but mainly the fact that Kale is out of focus in the background which adds a multi-generational element to the scene.

MAGNOLIA BLOSSOM HONEY BEE

I took this shot of a honey bee on a Magnolia blossom at the Baytown Nature Center this past weekend.

BOLIVAR LIGHTHOUSE

This shot of the lighthouse on Bolivar Point in Texas was taken on this past rainey Sunday morning.

NEGLECTED CHUTE

I took this shot at on old ranch in Warrington, TX on a trip to the Spring Antique Weekend.  There is an old house and barn but this neglected cattle chute caught my eye.

WHITE PELICAN

I took this shot of a White Pelican at the Baytown Nature Center last weekend.  We see lots of Brown Pelicans at the nature center but I haven't seen many of these white ones, and it's the first one I've photographed.

BACKYARD MUSHROOMS

After the big rain we had on Saturday a bunch of these little 2" tall delicate little mushrooms showed up in our backyard flower bed.