Photography – Page 48 – Random Connections

Spirits of Springwood

October 24, 2011 Tom 3 Comments

History and Genealogy, Local, Photography

This past Sunday Laura and went on the Spirits of Springwood Tour sponsored by the Upcountry History Museum. Springwood Cemetery features many historic graves and lots of interesting headstones and carvings. I’ve visited many times on photo walks, but thought it would be interesting to get an “official” tour.

There were two tours scheduled – one starting at 5:00 pm and one at 6:45 pm. I initially wanted to do the 5:00 pm tour because the lighting would be so much better for photography. However, Laura convinced me that the 6:45 tour with flashlights would be fun, and that this wasn’t really a photography tour.

Photography tour or not, I came prepared. I had my DSLR with a 50mm f/1.8 lens, my trusty Nikon S70 sidearm, and the little infrared point-and-shoot I’d used on our Blue Ghost excursion. I knew a tripod wouldn’t be appropriate for a tour, so I brought cameras that would work well (mostly) in low-light situations.

As usual, we arrived early. I took advantage of the waning afternoon light to take a few photos.

Read More “Spirits of Springwood” »

Great Smoky Mountains Railroad

October 3, 2011 Tom 4 Comments

Entertainment, Photography, Travel

It had all the promise of a beautiful, cool fall weekend, and Laura and I decided to take advantage of it. Saturday afternoon we drove up to Cullowhee, North Carolina to savor a delicious victory as Furman beat Western North Carolina 47-21 in football. We stayed overnight in Bryson City, and that Sunday we were able to do something both of us had wanted to try for quite awhile – take a ride on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad.

I had booked our tickets as soon as we decided on a plan of action for the weekend. It was a good thing I did, too, as CNN featured the railroad as its #2 leaf-viewing attraction on its website. We were also just beating the peak fall foliage crowds, so there were tickets to be had. There are several travel options, ranging from first class down to mere mortal. Even though it was supposed to be chilly, we decided on the open-air car, which was described as follows on their website:

The Open Air Gondola is perfect for those photographers craving that perfect scenic shot! Plenty of space to see the great outdoors! Created from retired baggage and flatbed cars, these open cars feature long padded outward-facing seats, perfect for the panoramic views. A great car for capturing the scents and sounds of nature!

Google Image Search

September 28, 2011 Tom 2 Comments

Internet, Photography

Sometime over the summer, and apparently without enough fanfare for it to ping my sonar, Google announced a new “search by image” service. The idea is that you can either upload an image file, or post a link to an online image, an Google will go out and search either for matches to that image, images that are “visually similar”, or if the image can be identified, links to information about that image. I finally got a few spare minutes to take a look, so I decided to try a few experiments.

Only recently did this new service come to my attention. My fellow Flickr photographer Eric Morris, aka The Rested Traveler, had posted a link on his Facebook page to a blog post where the writer used the image search to see if his images had been used without his permission. Having been the victim of photo theft before, I thought this was a good starting point.

Cedar Falls Park

September 20, 2011 Tom No Comments

Local, Photography

Sunday’s Greenville News had an article about a new park in southern Greenville County. Cedar Falls Park opened to the public recently, and I decided I needed to check it out.

First, a bit of background…

I’d stopped by this location on the Reedy River several times looking longingly at the shoals and the pool below. I also looked askance at the “Keep Out” signs everywhere, and only took photos from the roadside.

In 1993 Colonial Pipeline had a major oil spill on the Reedy. In 1999 they plead guilty to violations of the Clean Water Act, and agreed to a huge fine. Money from the fine, along with grants, paid for creation of the park. And finally, twelve years later, the park is a reality, and the “Keep Out” signs meaningless. (Although, if you look closely in the photo below, you’ll see one lingering Keep Out sign nailed to the tree.)

Union County Photo Trek

September 11, 2011 Tom 3 Comments

History and Genealogy, Local, Photography

It started with a cryptic e-mail which began as follows:

Hello Tom,
I don’t know you and you don’t know me, but I do know about your fascination with ghost towns.

Mark Elbrecht had contacted me through this website, and he had a proposal. Mark is a fellow Flickr photographer, and it seems that he and I have similar interests as far as subject matter is concerned. He had arranged to meet with a representative of the Union Historical Society and get access to the Pinckneyville site, a ghost town I’ve been wanting to visit for quite some time, and he invited me to come along. There was absolutely no way I was going to pass up this opportunity.

Union

My brother Houston joined me, and this past Saturday we made the trek from Greenville to Union to join up with the group. We arrived a bit early, so we wandered the main street of Union and took a few photos of the architecture, including the spectacular court house…

Read More “Union County Photo Trek” »

Upper State Fair 2011

September 9, 2011 Tom 1 Comment

Local, Photography

Labor Day marks the advent of the Upper State South Carolina Fair. As I’ve done for the past couple of years, I grabbed my camera and headed out to get some shots. This year I had invited several others to come along and make it a true photo trek. Unfortunately, iffy weather and other conflicts caused problems. So, Wednesday evening I headed out on my own.

My usual plan is to get there early evening and catch the last rays, then hang around to get some night shots. I arrived at the Greenville-Pickens Speedway fair grounds at about 6:00, and it wasn’t too crowded, but starting to fill up.

I took a few shots, but found myself shooting the same things I’ve shot in years past. I was running out of ideas.

Read More “Upper State Fair 2011” »

A Photo Trek with a Duck Hunter

August 15, 2011 Tom 1 Comment

History and Genealogy, Local, Photography

Saturday I met Marc50. Sunday I met another long-time Flickr friend – Ed Clem, the Duck Hunter.

Ed and I have been online friends for several years now. We started commenting on each other’s photos first on Flickr, then started following and commenting on each other’s blogs, and have both been active on Facebook and Google+. I feel like I know Ed fairly well, but there’s just one catch – we had never met in person. That is, until Sunday. Ed loves history and rambling about as much as I do. So we decided to get together and see what we could find in the Pickens-Oconee areas.

I picked up Ed at his home, then we headed for our first stop, Cateechee. This is an old mill village that has suffered the fate of so many in the upstate. The mill has closed, and has now been torn down. The little community has long been in decline. There are still two churches with active congregations, but any form of commerce is long gone.

Cateechee is an isolated village where the mill is the only real employer, similar to Slater, Newry or Startex. As one enters the main village loop, the old Cateechee School can be seen off to the right.

Paddling Around Samish Bay

July 6, 2011 Tom No Comments

Paddling, Photography, Travel

It looked like I wasn’t going to get to go paddling this trip. I had thought about just buying a kayak and leaving it up here for future trips, but couldn’t find anything reasonable. I thought about booking another tour, but by that time most had filled up with holiday travelers.

Fortunately, the neighbor Duff came to my rescue. He had several homemade Fiberglas boats that we had used before, but they weren’t easy to reach. They were at the bottom of the cliff on the south side of the island. We managed to haul them up the cliff, but by that time it was late in the evening, and we were a bit tired from the haul to go paddling.

After discussing options we decided to take the boats up the Valley and run a section of the Skagit River. This was something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, so I was psyched. We loaded the boats onto our rental, since it had roof racks.

The next morning Duff and I headed out in two vehicles. We had barely gotten off the island when one of the boats came loose and slid off of my car. Fortunately there was no damage to car or boat, and we were able to get it loaded back on an limp home. However, we needed to regroup.

A Day on Samish Island

July 6, 2011 Tom No Comments

Photography, Travel

The view from Mrs. Wright’s living room is constantly changing. The lighting changes with the rising and setting of the sun, clouds and weather roll in, and there is the constant shifting of the tides. Throw in a couple of eagles, herons, and humming birds, along with some boat traffic, and you’ve got a constant … Read More “A Day on Samish Island” »

Exploring Deception Pass

July 3, 2011 Tom No Comments

Photography, Travel

Wednesday I left Laura and her mom to get settled into the house a bit more, and I headed out to explore. I kind of had a couple of destinations in mind, but I wasn’t really sure where I would wind up. as it turns out, I did a ton of hiking in several locations.

My first stop was at a wildlife observation area just about a mile from the island. You have to have a permit to park there, so I park out on the road and walked out anyway.

I followed a trail along cultivated fields, heading toward the dike that keeps Padilla Bay from flooding the farmlands.

Read More “Exploring Deception Pass” »

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30