Category: Photography

i-GotU Revisited

Posted on By Tom 8 Comments on i-GotU Revisited
Gear, Geocaching and Maps, Photography

i-gotU GPS tracker

A little over a year ago I tried out the i-GotU GT-100 GPS tracker from Mobile Action. At the time I was looking for a simple tracker for photo geotagging, and the GT-100’a small size and price ($49 from Amazon) were very appealing. I put the unit through a series of tests, and found it to be completely useless for geotagging, and wrote up two reviews to that effect (Test Driving the i-GotU GPS Tracker, and i-GotU GPS Tracker – Summary Review.) Those two reviews generated lots of hits and comments for this website, both for and against the GT-100.

Subsequently, I was contacted recently by Mobile Action and asked if I would be willing to try out the new GT-120. The unit arrived Saturday and I’ve been putting it through the same tests that I did with the GT-100. So far, I’m impressed, and pleasantly surprised. This unit appears to work much, much better, and geotags images like a charm.

Read More “i-GotU Revisited” »

Weekend Update, again

Posted on By Tom 3 Comments on Weekend Update, again
Local, Miscellaneous, Music, Photography

Verdi dress rehearsal

Lots happening, and not much time to write about it. Laura and I discussed this, and we blame Furman. Since they have gone on a semester schedule their term is ending much earlier, and that’s thrown us off completely. I think, “Oh, Furman’s commencement is next weekend, so my school must be winding down” when we actually have a month more to go. With the compressed schedule, it seems like more is happening each weekend, and this past one was no exception.

Read More “Weekend Update, again” »

Weekend Update

Posted on By Tom No Comments on Weekend Update
Local, Miscellaneous, Paddling, Photography

Clematis

As Laura put it, it was a weekend for puttering, not for heavy lifting. We started with some yard work Saturday morning, raking, blowing away pollen, spreading mulch, planting flowers, and even taking a few photos of said flowers.

I had gotten a message from my blogging friend Laura Llew that John Boyanoski would be signing copies of his books, Ghosts of Upstate South Carolina and More Ghosts of Upstate South Carolina, at Poor Richard’s Bookstore in Easley. I thought it might be fun to meet John, and to finally meet Laura L in person, so we headed out that way.

Read More “Weekend Update” »

Town and Country Photo Class

Posted on By Tom 2 Comments on Town and Country Photo Class
Local, Photography

Photo Class

This weekend I took part in a “Town and Country Photo Hike” class taught through Furman University’s Continuing Education program.  The course was taught be photographer Diane Hopkins-Hughs, and I was looking forward to getting some new tips on photo composition, and learning about new places to shoot in Greenville.  Ann Martin also helped lead the class.  This session was the “town” portion, and we would be exploring the downtown Greenville area.  Next session will be the “country” portion, where we head out into the Upstate somewhere.

In most of the classes I’ve taken there is a wide range of abilities and skills.  You have some folks that really are just starting out, and you’ve got some that seem like they are taking the class just to show off how much they already know.  Even if the class turns out to be a very beginner class, as this one did, I try my best to stay out of that latter category.  I just don’t want to be that guy.  Even when a class doesn’t turn out to be quite what I expect, I always try to find something to take back from it.

Read More “Town and Country Photo Class” »

Peachtree Rock Nature Preserve – Unfiltered

Posted on By Tom 3 Comments on Peachtree Rock Nature Preserve – Unfiltered
Geocaching and Maps, Local, Photography, Travel

Peachtree Rock

This Saturday our Lowcountry Unfiltered group gathered for its monthly outing. We rendezvoused just southwest of Columbia to explore the Peachtree Rock Nature Preserve, managed by the Nature Conservancy and the South Carolina Department of Natural Services. Dr. John Nelson, botanist at USC, director of the state’s Herbarium, and member of our group would serve as our guide for the day.

Lowcountry Unfiltered Gathers

In addition to John and myself, five others joined us.  We gathered at the entrance to the preserve at about 9:00, and got some preliminary information from John.  The area is one of the first set aside by the Nature Conservancy, and contains several unique habitat areas, including a long-leaf pine ecosystem.  The geology is also unusual. A hard layer of rock called ironstone covers softer layers of sandstone.  The sandstone has been eroding out from under the resistant upper layer, creating unique geological formations such as the namesake Peachtree Rock.

Read More “Peachtree Rock Nature Preserve – Unfiltered” »

Western SC Tower Tour

Posted on By Tom 7 Comments on Western SC Tower Tour
Entertainment, Geocaching and Maps, Local, Photography, Rants, Travel

Westminster/Oakvale Tower

It seems like spring break got away from me without my being about to get out and visit the lookout towers like I wanted. This Friday was one of the best days, as far as weather was concerned, so I was able to visit some of the locations. My target would be those towers located in Northwestern South Carolina, along with any other interested tidbits I might discover along the way. It was a push, but I managed to visit eight tower locations in one day.

Read More “Western SC Tower Tour” »

Family Haunts

Posted on By Tom 6 Comments on Family Haunts
History and Genealogy, Photography

Road to the Home Place

I have always enjoyed looking at the photos of Scott West (South Carolina’s Northern Kingdom). Scott and I seem to cover some of the same territory in Laurens County, and I’ve always admired his gutsy trespassing to get great shots of the interiors of old abandoned houses and interesting places.

Recently, Scott posted a couple of pictures of the old Poole Homestead in the Long Branch Community of Laurens County. I immediately recognized the place as being in one of the old photos my Dad has. After a couple of message exchanges it turns out that we do have some distant family connections (don’t ALL Southerners?) and that some of his family had attended Long Branch Pentecostal Holiness, where my father had pastored years ago.

That brings us to this Tuesday. My mother had taken a trip to visit her sisters in North Carolina, so my Dad was on his own for the week. Since I was on spring break, I decided to head down and hang out with him, and see if I could find this photo of the Poole Homestead. I did find it, and we decided to take a tour of some of the old family haunts throughout Newberry and Laurens Counties.

Read More “Family Haunts” »