Fishin', boatin', crusin', sailin', tooning

On my way to check out new location on the south end of the lake, I happened upon what looked to be a bass fishing tournment launching at dawn. I stopped and snapped a few, not mentally prepared for the moving boats in near darkness, so I just shot on "program mode" and tried to manually focus somewhere "in the ballpark". The result are just the snapshots I figured they would be, but it was fun bumping into the "surprise" opportunity near the big bridge. Another surprise was the tourney
must have been for couples and some of them are waving to me in the shots, something I couldn't really see in the dark from my perch on the little bridge above them.

I continued over to the Goat Island area of the lake near Norwood, and got one "keeper" in the fog. Most of this Smilebox is of other days, with better results. I'm going back to the Goat Island area in the coming days to explore some locations a realtor gave me.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Baby Charlie at 7.5 Weeks - short version

This is a shortened version of the original show, but still has plenty
of images. What can I say?...Charlie can only be abbreviated so much !

Mellow time at the docks - a short show

Jazz piano by Andre Previn, who was honored with the London Symphony Orchestra's Lifetime Achievement Award on Tuesday, May 13, 2008.

North Carolina Water Rights Committee

The latest on the Alcoa licensing, podcasts, and more....

The N.C. Water Rights Committee is a coalition of hundreds of North Carolina business people and concerned citizens who have joined this state-wide effort to inform people of the critical issues concerning water rights that affect all North Carolinians. This is a grassroots initiative funded by donations from members of the committee.

We are advocating for the same rights to our water that 33 other states currently enjoy, including our neighbors in South Carolina. Chief among these beliefs is that we, the residents of North Carolina, are the best stewards for our water rather than private firms who use it primarily for their financial benefit.

North Carolina Water Rights Committee

Finding a rainbow

I hopped a ride with Gregg and Dorothea to shoot clouds on Shore Farm Road. The day previous was a bust so I was eager to try again. The skies had been dramatic and varied for days and I wanted some of them. Although we had planned a sunset run, the skies I saw while driving home from work were ripe for pickin', so I tipped off Dorothea as soon as I walked in the door. We hadn't been on the farm long before we were rewarded with terrific skies.... and the rainbow.

I've been shooting for HDR processing most of the time now,
but sometimes the ole single frame is the better image.

Another shortie, with HDRs, NIK filters.

Another May Sunset by the Docks

An older fellow fishing on the docks when I arrived greeted me with "looks like it's too cloudy for pictures, eh?" He left about 45 minutes later...too soon to see the show. I'm playing with my new CS3 and trial versions of NIK Efex (filters) and NIK Dfine 2.0 (noise reduction). Adobe Bridge is a powerful editing tool and I love the ease with which I can now view, move and edit files.

A short show.

A Cloud Show at Bruce's Farm

The clouds were gorgeous as we left Albemarle late last Saturday afternoon, and I was wondering where I could compose some shots. I had my camera only because I thought
I might grab a shot or two at a currently being developed subdivision, Edgewater on Lake Tillery. It wasn't until we pulled onto Indian Mound Road on the way to Edgewater, that it hit me that , of course, "the farm" would be an ideal vantage point. Although I didn't have my tripod, I tried bracketing for HDR and found it worked fine. I used the fences and the VR (vibration reduction) on my Nikon 18-200mm for steadying. The shots of Wendy and Nelson walking are not HDR.

I might try one of this series on metallic photo paper from Bullock Professional. If you're not familiar with metallic paper, check it out. It's high contrast, snappy color and has an interesting depth that's impossible to achieve with inkjets. This webpage is offering free samples of either Kodak's "E" surface or of the Metallic, both being Kodak's Endura real photo paper.

Shore Farm Road - Mourning Light

An unexpectedly enriching weekend with other photographers, morning light and a very generous landowner. Thanks Bruce. Thanks William.

I went, I waited , I saw

If you show up enough there's eventually some kind of payoff. It wasn't ideal, I wasn't coming up with the best compositions, I fumbled my ISO and apertures, but it was enough to keep me "showing up". This day, this light, these clouds are forever gone, but I'll show up at these docks again...and again. And maybe "it" will show up..and I'll get it right...or not. Maybe it's just about "being there" and that's enough.

April - Lake Tillery sparkles

I finally got a few shots of Morrow Mountain from the Swift Island Bridge. I was passing over it in my pickup truck with my dog, Scout, when the afternoon's gorgeous light, spring leaves and clouds were too much to resist. I shot a preliminary image while driving, generally aiming blindly in the direction of the mountain (slideshow image #33). When I saw the result, I went back across the bridge, parked and made a few short ventures onto the bridge on foot. #'s 52 and 53 are HDRs while the final several images are early morning on a farm near the lake. I'll have more of that series in a show to itself later.

Spring on Lake Tillery

As I work during the week, I was lucky for spring on Tillery to be spectacularly unveiled over Easter weekend and on through the following week. A Wednesday vacation day proved particularly well timed for mild weather fronts passing so I captured some more of the yellow-green sparkles of early springtime around the lake.

By the Water One November Morning....a short Smilebox with Celtic music

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Thanks Giving

Woodrun on Tillery - Fall Color 2008

Sailing into Morning

HDR version above

I've decided I prefer the non-HDR version below.

The major elements stand out better and the

eye isn't tangled up in too much foreground detail,

making the speeding bass boat stand out even more

in it's glowing fog cloud. I may try to tweak the foreground shadow areas

a bit, but for now it's OK.

I drifted down to the new Woodrun docks this past Sunday morning and found

my fix of fog, light and water.