The open road beckons this week. First, I will drive to Atlanta midweek for a work function. Then I stop in the Great Smoky Mountains for a weekend getaway. Ahhh, I can hear the Little Pigeon River as the waters crash over the rocks and boulders making its way downstream. My hotel is at the far end of Gatlinburg, a mere stroll away from the national park, and far away from the major car show in Pigeon Force that weekend. My first actual stay in Gatlinburg proper, so this should make for a nice diversion. Just a few photos today to get you "in the mood". My 'all time favorite image' was captured in Cade's Cove many, many years ago of these beautiful sun drenched, moss laden hardwood trees. You know me, I'm a lover of tree images!
More recently, only last Spring, I entered Cade's Cove on a very rainy afternoon which made the perfect opportunity to photograph the horses and ponies grazing in the pastures just off the main entrance.
And again last Spring, as I made my last trek in the park to the less visited Greenbrier area, I spent some time photographing the cascading 'mini waterfalls' along Porter Creek Trail. My first waterfall image taken with my new Nikon D5100. This is the only time I use my tripod. My tripod is an old Manfrotto with a Gitzo ballhead and is very heavy and bulky. Hence, I don't use it very often. My goal is to purchase a lighter weight tripod soon. Hiking miles into a park to photograph waterfalls is no fun with a heavy, bulky tripod. I know, as I have done it one too many times.
And now for a beautiful sunset image taken at Morton Overlook near Newfound Gap, as I drove back from the farthest side of the park late one evening. Taken on the same trip many, many years ago when I photographed the first image of the hardwood trees. Both images were taken with my old Pentax camera using Fuji Velvia slide film.
My main goal is to get to the coast this summer, but I haven't made any definitive plans. Should I not make it to Maine this summer, you can bet on next summer, as I've been yearning to get back to Maine. Perhaps in a past life I hailed from that gorgeous state. I don't know. Is it possible? Speaking of which, do you believe in reincarnation? Have a great weekend all. ENJOY!
PHOTOGRAPHER'S NOTE: My old manual Pentax K1000 camera is retired and now spends its days sitting atop a stack of large photography books on the lower shelf of my credenza in my home office in plain view as I write my posts. Oftentimes I give it a glance and it stops me. And there I'm taken back to a journey of many, many miles to places such as the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, off of the coast of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee, to foggy Stonington harbor, laden with its many fishing boats and sailing schooners, off Deer Isle in the beautiful state of Maine, to a spot much closer to home and oftentimes called, my own personal backyard, driving the Bluegrass Scenic Byway and snapping image after image of the beautiful horse farms situated near Lexington, Kentucky. Those memories will stay with me forever.
