Sunset St. Patrick's Day

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back. 
May the sun shine warm upon your face; 
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, 
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

As the sun was setting on St. Patrick's Day, this Irish holiday, I hope you had the chance to celebrate. Perhaps you kissed the blarney stone, if you found yourself in Cork, Ireland, or sipped an Irish green beer or found a four leaf clover or looked for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. However, you spent the holiday, I hope you celebrated joyously. From this Irish gal to all of you folks, Luck of the Irish to you! Sunset captured St. Patrick's Day in Hendersonville. Go easy on me. I've never felt my sunset images met my standards. Not to mention I had to shoot from my car. Thanks for stopping by. ENJOY!

The Mountains Are Calling

Soon I will make my annual sojourn to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park this Fall. A place of such natural beauty with forests and valleys and rivers. I captured these images many, many years ago with a very different camera. These were taken with a Pentax 1000 manual camera using Fuji Nokia slide film. Somehow, against all odds, I had set out to learn to take photographs using this manual camera given to me by a dear friend years before. Here are some of the best photos of the park I captured using this mode of photography. I guess you could say I mastered it as best I could.

On this particular visit I had driven over the mountain and onto the Blue Ridge Parkway quite a ways before turning back to the park. On my way back over the mountain I stopped at Morton's Overlook late in the day and waited about a half hour to capture this sunset. The only sunset I have ever captured I can even say I'm remotely proud of.

I had also paid a visit to Cade's Cove during that same trip and was lucky to capture these two White Tailed Deer bucks going head to head in a field right off the entrance to the park. They weren't actually fighting. They were only sparring. Still it was a sight that stopped traffic. I'm certain I've posted these images before, but probably back in 2009 or 2010. Remember I said they were taken from many years back. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I might try to get to Cheekwood tomorrow. The only thing holding me back will be 50 degree temperatures. Perhaps. ENJOY!

Sunset, Lake Michigan

As I sat on a bench next to the walkway at Holland State Park in mid July, the sun was moving low in the sky, and sadly before dropping to the horizon, a bit of cloud cover set in. I peered way out and saw this lone sailboat adrift on Lake Michigan. It is written in many, many articles that the western Lake Michigan shoreline with its quaint, and I might add, plentiful beach towns is America's best kept secret. And they would be right. Every beach town I visited from Saugatuck, and points south and north, there were very few tourists or visitors compared to the well known beach towns in Florida, or along the Texas or California coasts. This one aspect made for a pleasant journey in and around the small towns, not to mention the shoppes, the beaches and the restaurants.

One might ask, why would I want to travel from Kentucky to the shores of Lake Michigan in the Lower Peninsula. All you need do is visit there once to discover exactly what I did. Spending several nights in Holland, driving north and south to visit the beach towns, then driving slightly farther north to Traverse City, and again visiting more beach towns, made for the perfect itinerary. For the second time in my life, I was able to take in beautiful Sleeping Bear Dunes, and finally make the mile long hike to Empire Bluff. As I drove up and down the peninsula, I was treated to many a cherry farm with red ripe cherries, heavily laden hanging from the trees, row after row. I passed many a blueberry field resplendent with ripe blueberries as I drove north along the shore. On my initial trip to Michigan I drove to the Upper Peninsula and photographed the Pictured Rocks National Seashore. What a gorgeous area, rugged and virtually untamed. Love to get back there some day to photograph the Moose which are plentiful in that area. I hope you enjoyed my look back at my travels to Michigan. It's such a beautiful place to spend time outdoors. I hope a beautiful sunset graces your horizon today. ENJOY!

Linking to Sunlit Sundays

Michigan, My Journey

My recent journey throughout Michigan's lower peninsula, along the western shore of Lake Michigan, has not been documented in its entirety, as I will write more posts over the coming weeks.

However, a quick peek back at where I've taken you was in order. Perhaps, you will find a new image or two to feast your eyes upon. I seldom call my outings a trip, but prefer to speak of them as a trek or even a journey, because after all it is a place and time not yet traveled nor spent, and if for no other reason than the newness of it, I consider it an adventure. ENJOY!

Evening Light, Holland State Park

Every now and then one picks a spot on the map, sets out for that destination and ultimately finds exactly what they had hoped for. Along Lake Michigan's eastern shore lies the small town of Holland, Michigan. The town of Holland is separated almost right down the middle by Lake Macatawa, and closer to the lake shore, Macatawa Bay.

Holland State Park sits at the edge of the shore on the north side of Holland. At the very tip of the park is a huge beach and directly across the inlet to the bay sits Big Red, one of Holland's most famous landmarks. I found Big Red bathed in late evening sunlight with a cool breeze and low eighty temps. Not only did I photograph Big Ben from this locale, but also from across the bay looking north. I will share those images soon.

As I sat on the edge of the sidewalk and watched the sun fall slowly toward the horizon, I chatted with two local Holland residents, a doctor and nurse, who were husband and wife. I snapped photos as I chatted with them and they recommended I visit Olive Shores just north of Holland if time allowed. Off in the distance along the beach someone began feeding the Seagulls. Next thing I knew my sunset images captured a few of the birds flying around attempting to grab a bite to eat.

My travels to Lake Michigan were just what I needed to get away from the every day. I had read that Lake Michigan's beach towns were beautiful, and yet, still unspoiled from major tourism. That is exactly what I discovered. I visited quite a few of the small beach towns along Lake Michigan's shore, all within close proximity to the next. I chose to set up residence in Holland, because it was centrally located. Within twenty or thirty minutes, you could be at any one of the beach towns, and to make it even better, along the drive you could stop for fresh picked blueberries or pick your own at the blueberry farms situated near the shore.

Later in the week I drove farther north to Traverse City to spend a few days. During the day I would trek to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore to visit the dunes and stop in at the small towns there such as Empire, Glen Arbor and Leland. Each town had its own special charms, but I especially loved Leland with its old historic 'Fishtown'. Throughout the entire area set lakes of various sizes and shapes. The largest, Glen Lake, was my favorite with its breathtaking aquamarines and blues glistening in the sun. I hope your week was good and you are having a great weekend. Back soon with more images from my travels. ENJOY!

Sunset, Kent Island, MD

As far as confessions go, I seldom make any. However, I will confess I seldom photograph sunrises or sunsets. In my earlier days as an photographer, I did make more of an effort. However, I believe sunrises and sunsets are best reserved for the gorgeous vista or an unusual moon like the Harvest Moon. Having said that, on my first day out on my trip to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, I arrived at my hotel fresh from dinner and realized that the sun was setting over the marina. So I grabbed my camera bag which was still in my car and ran for the patio at the hotel.

It was a very warm, humid Sunday evening on Kent Island. The hotel and marina situated on Kent Narrows, both sit on the north side of the main highway just after you cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The first place you stop once you're over the bridge is Kent Narrows. It was a busy area with hotels, restaurants, the marina and the like. I snapped several images of the boats with the sun setting behind them to the west.

This particular marina is called Mears Point Marina. There was a fort that once stood on this island called Kent Fort which was the first and also the oldest English settlement in the state of Maryland. Surely being right across the bay from Annapolis, there's a ton of naval heritage here.

As the sun made a quick retreat in the western hemisphere, I turned to the north and saw this image of the saltwater marshes in the bay looking back at me. The serene blue waters seemed almost magical. I only snapped two images, but I'm glad I did because that blue water draws me in every time. This is also the first time on this trip that I saw the saltwater marshes, right here in this spot. Little did I know I'd fall in love with them. No matter where I found them, be it Assateague or Chincoteague, or here on Kent Island, they were beautiful. Hope your week is off to a great start. ENJOY!

Linking to Scenic Weekends

Sunset, Morton Overlook, GSMNP

I'm planning a trip in a few weeks to the Smokies. My goal is to visit several times a year on short trips. Hopefully I can get a few decent black bear images in Cades Cove this year. Until then, I thought this image of the Morton Overlook at sunset might keep us inspired. It was taken years ago using my old trusty Pentax camera (all manual settings) and Fuji slide film. Have I said lately how much I'm lovin' my new Nikon camera with the telephoto. If I haven't, it bears repeating. I'm lovin' my new Nikon camera with the telephoto. I especially love the vibration reduction auto focus lens. Very few of my images are even the slightest bit blurry which means I can shoot more images without the tripod. And it shoots so so much faster than my older digital camera. So I can take several photos quickly just in case one is blurry. ENJOY!

Sunset!

Rarely will you find me taking photos out my back door as there's too many power lines that run across the field behind my home, but I made an exception. Here's a recent sunset view. ENJOY!

My Thought On Winter!

Have a great weekend blog friends and followers. ENJOY!

Sunset, Maine #6

On a beautiful sunny day on Deer Isle, I traveled a short distance to Sunset, not far from Stonington. There were numerous boats of all shapes and sizes anchored in the harbor there, however, I spotted this particular boat bobbing up and down and swaying to the left and right, anchored out in the harbor. I decided I would take a few photographs. Did you know when you're trying to take a photograph of a boat anchored in a harbor the boat just keeps swaying from one side to the other. So you have to keep shooting. Hoping to get what you saw at one moment, but it's fleeting, and that shot is gone because the boat moved with the water. It took a few tries, but I think I got what I was going after. It's one of my favorite photos of my trip to Maine. I hope you enjoy it. I enjoyed taking it!