Tuscany Perhaps

Where was this image taken I ask you? Tuscany perhaps? That's what I like most about an image, you just never know where you are. So you must 'look' closely. And as it happens in this photo, when you look closely, you will see it's in the trees and the lamp posts. Those trees alone are not indicative of Tuscany.



Last summer I traveled to North Carolina to visit a very famous estate, Biltmore. I wasn't sure of everything I would find there. Yes, I knew there was a famous house and, after much surfing the net, I discovered the estate also had hiking trails and a lake, and a farm.

As I drove along the road in August, after spending considerable time viewing the famous Biltmore house and its conservatory, I happened upon this scene, a field of sunflowers. Growing, for what seemed like miles and miles alongside the road, I discovered rows and rows of beautiful, bright sunflowers. I felt as though I were in the heart of Tuscany. Stretching out past the rows and rows of sunflowers were more fields, and far off in the distance, country roads disappearing into the landscape. Tuscany.

I stopped for some time alongside the rows and rows of sunflowers and attempted to capture the beauty of this scene in various compositions. All the while, as I snapped photo after photo, I felt as if I were deep in the heart of Italy. And today, after perusing my vast archive of images, comprised of varying trips across America, digging deep to find an image for this post, I stopped at this one. And I felt that same feeling today as I did then. Tuscany perhaps. ENJOY!

Flower Identification Needed!

Anyone know what this is? I took this image of a small bloom on a tree that was in a huge flower pot in the Conservatory at Biltmore. I thought I would post it today as I've looked everywhere online and can't find the name of it. Help! ENJOY!

The Biltmore House!

It's time, I felt, to post a few images of the Biltmore House. After all of the photos I have shared of my trip to Asheville this summer, I realized I hadn't shown you photos of the Biltmore. The estate was probably my favorite part of this trip, although I admit that the exterior of the estate house was so gorgeous. And it was such a perfect day. All be it was 90 degrees in the shade.

The second image was taken while on my way back from the Conservatory. I looked up to see the flag flying over a veranda and though it would make a nice shot.

And this last image I took specifically because I wanted a close up of the exterior of the house with the architecture. Although I think this image might be a little out of focus, I still wanted you to see it.

The weekend is coming. Yippeeee. ENJOY!

Four Butts!

When in Biltmore do what Biltmore visitors do, photograph nature. That is what I did and I have shared many images of my visit this past August with you. And then there are these. While I was on my way out of Biltmore, the first day I visited, I noticed sheep grazing on the countryside. So after a visit to the new Biltmore Village, I took the route out of Biltmore that took me right by these grazing sheep. I got out of my car, which I carefully parked on the side of the road, and walked up the hill. And there to my amazement were these four butts staring me in the face. And the entire time I stood photographing the sheep, those four butts stared back at me. I tried everything to get them to turn around. They did not. So without further ado, I give you those four butts. ENJOY!

Sunflower Field!

All of my life I've dreamed of photographing sunflowers in a field filled with large sunflowers. The rows and rows and rows of sunflowers at the Biltmore Estate went on for miles and was one of my favorite places to photograph. It was surreal to look at it. I felt like I might be in the south of France. ENJOY!

The Italian Garden!

The Italian Gardens at Biltmore were gorgeous. These beautiful hanging vines gave much needed shade to this bright sunny area of the estate. The benches hugged the very very high concrete walls which separated The Italian Garden from other gardens at Biltmore.

Here in the Italian Garden sit several lily ponds. In this image, the large plant sitting above the water in the upper left background is Papyrus (something I had to look up to identify), but I think the real showstopper in this image has to be the huge Victoria Water Lilies you see in the foreground. Aren't they just gorgeous? In the background around the statute are orange and yellow varigated Cannas and to the far left is a Purple Hardy Waterlily. It is a feast for the eyes everywhere you looked around The Italian Gardens.

This beautiful water lily is a yellow Mexican Water Lilies. I wanted to share this image mostly because I really like all of the interesting water plants and vegetation growing around the Mexican Water Lily. In the upper portion of the image, the red and green plant floating on the water is called a Mosaic Plant. It took some doing to identify it but finally I found a website that had photos of many images featured in lily ponds.

The Italian Garden was absolutely the most gorgeous place. It was high noon when I visited with the sun glaring straight down and the temperature was around 90 degrees so I did a fair amount of sweating just to get some of these images. But it was fun regardless. It felt so surreal just walking around it. This garden, as well as the gardens and parks on the estate, were designed by Frederick Olmsted, the same gentleman who designed Louisville's beautiful parks, along with his architect, Richard Morris Hunt. Olmsted's inspiration for The Italian Garden was derived from chateaus he visited while traveling throughout France. Here is a closeup of the Cannas.

I absolutely love this next flower. The huge leaves with the tiny center are amazing. They are Lotus Nelumbo Nucifera which again took me a while to identify. This is its seed head which I guess may have already exspunged its seeds.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. The weather here is fantastic (finally) after the heat wave that lasted non-stop for nearly a month. ENJOY!