Revamping

We're going to be spending time revamping the blog in the next coming months. In the meantime, here are some photos from the 4th of July fireworks show in Oak Ridge, TN. It was a fantastic show.

Performing before the fireworks was the Oak Ridge Community Band. This group of volunteers work tirelessly to bring the best in musical experiences to the Anderson County area. Everyone should take the time to attend one of their concerts. You will come away impressed.

Riding the Dollywood Express in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

We took a trip to Dollywood this week as a treat for our daughter who is going off to seminary. One of our (okay, my) favorite things to do is ride the Dollywood Express, a twenty-minute trip through the beautiful Smoky Mountains behind an authentic steam locomotive. Dollywood Engine 70 is a Baldwin 2-8-2 narrow gauge locomotive built in 1939. She spent several years in Alaska and Canada and was borrowed by the US Army to help build the AlCan Hwy through Canada to Alaska. She's been taking guests on trips the entire 25 year history of Dollywood and also worked at Dollywood's predecessor, Silver Dollar City. She's a great locomotive and the crew affectionately calls her "Cinder-ella."


Engine 70 waits at the station before beginning another run. The water tower isn't a decoration.
During a typical day, Cinderella will consume about 5,000 gallons of water and 5 tons of coal.

Our engineer did a great job.
It takes a skillful hand on the throttle to get a loaded train under way without a big jerk.

The "front office" of Engine 70. Beautiful craftsman ship and no plastic visible anywhere.
The long metal thing in the beam of sunlight is a sight glass showing the level of water in the boiler.
Very important as a boiler that runs dry can explode with tremendous force.

The fireman looks back to check on his train and gauge the status of the firebox by the color of the smoke.

Running an engine like this is a very hands-on operation.
These beautiful pieces of mechanical art can be treasured for their own sakes as well as for the work they can still do.
Thanks for a great trip guys and Cinderella.

Peace,
John

Bald River Falls

Sweetie and I took a really nice drive to the Cherohala Skyway in Tellico Plains (Monroe Co., TN) The nice folks at the Visitor's Center
told us about the Bald River Falls which is several miles down a Forest Service Road off the Skyway. It was a beautiful drive and the falls were great. The road crossed the river just below the falls and the bridge gave an excellent shooting position and place to steady my camera. Moving water is great fun (and great frustration) to shoot, as the shutter speed can made a HUGE difference in the appearance of the water. The two closer views illusrate this difference.

The falls are a popular destination for swimming as well. But the location is remote enough that the crowds are nowhere near as large as at the Great Smokies.




















A 1/500 second shutter speed stops the moving water and really coveys its power.











This shot used a 1/10 second shutter speed and gave the water a flowing milky look and I think shows it's motion and grace.   I couldn't decide which I liked better, hence putting both of them on the blog.

Peace,
John

Fireworks in Lafollette 2010

Hey all,

I love the 4th of July. We give thanks for our Nation and enjoy great fireworks.

These were shot at Woodson's Mall in LaFollette. The Cityof Lafollette sponsored te show and it was really nice.

Shooting fireworks can be frustrating, because there is still an element of luck in the shots.

But here are a few things I've learned to improve my chances:

1. use a tripod.

2. long exposures get cool sweeps of color but the ambient glow off the smoke can cloud the image (see pic 3)

3. short expousures get a cool "flower" like effect but are hard to time

4. focus manually, the autofocus has fits trying to get the lights focused before they disappear

5. don't trust the automatic exposure - the dark sky will fool the meter. Fireworks are so bright a low iso will get them and keep your background dark. The image below was made a 1/30 sec and iso 500 but the meter was calling for 3 sec at iso 3200

6. take lots of images at different settings and see what you like (don't be afraid to drop bad shots just learn from the culls)

Here is a HD video of the grand finale shot with my Nikon D90

Stay safe and have a great 4th.

Peace,

John

Behold the chicken

Okay, yes it's a little ...
odd to post a picture of a chicken on my photography blog.

However, this is the first chicken off our new smoker, and it looked so good I just wanted to share [the picture not the chicken :) ] with all of you


Got to go, time for supper.

Peace,
John

Epcot Trip

Our trip to EPCOT was a blast. Weather was sunny and hot up until the evening when we had an awesome storm.
The full album is at http://picasaweb.google.com/revcrab/DisneyTrip2010?feat=directlink

Peace,
John

Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee

The Parthenon is a must-see on a trip to Nashville. Located in Centennial Park, this is a faithful re-creation of the Parthenon in Greece. Known as the "Athens of the South", Nashville had this built for Tennessee's centennial celebration in 1896.

A HUGE gilded statue of Athena is the centerpiece of the upper level.  On the lower level there is a very nice art gallery.

To get a sense of scale, the statue of Nike in Athena's right hand is over six feet tall.

Flowers 1

Spring is finally here and with it bright colors and graceful shapes.
After the dull hues of winter this is a welcome change.
PS - I wish I knew what these were.  oh well.

  

 

 

These two are from our yard.  I enjoy the challenge of finding beauty here "under our noses" so to speak.

Dogwoods are coming soon...

Peace,
John

Double Rainbow over Jacksboro, TN

We had a beautiful double rainbow at home today.

Nice.
God is good.


Peace,
John

Patterns 2

Winter has its own stark beauty.
The patterns of nature are more evident without foliage, but I must admit it is easier to appreciate it when the sun is out.



Trees on a mountainside

Seed pods at Cove Lake

Flaming Moss (?)

Enjoy the last of winter, and be glad spring is coming soon.
Peace,
John

Patterns

Hey all,
Shapes and patterns are fascinating to photograph. Common objects have hidden depths waiting to be revealed
This old cogwheel is still ready to whirl into activity (grinding corn in this case)
yet the rust and age says it's not going anywhere.
The contradiction of "frozen motion" appeals to me

A seed pod defiantly hangs on the tree.

An old tractor seat filled with graceful curves.

Beauty in the ordinary.

Peace,
John

Antique Tractor Beautiful Decay

I love all types of mechanical things.

This tractor was in front of a closed antique museum in Lake City, Tennessee. Decades of weathering have taken its toll, leaving it beautifully weathered. One can almost feel the years of hard labor it's seen.

Once upon a time, this tractor was shiny and new, undoubtedly the pride of its owner.

Now, metal wheels are corroding,

and gauges are splintered.

Yet we can still honor this relic of a bygone day and give thanks for the way it served its purpose.

Peace,
John

Norfolk-Southern Engine, Powell, TN

As a life-long railfan, when I saw this beautiful, new engine parked in a siding at Powell, Tennessee, I had to stop and get a few shots. My grandfather, WH Overton, was a conductor on Southern Railway for many years, mostly on the Knoxville-Asheville run.  In fact, there was a whole gang of Overton brothers and uncles working for Southern as engineers, conductors, and in the shops, especially Coster Shop.  Pe-Paw started working for Southrn in 1939 and worked there until his retirement in '75.


It was great to get a close-up look at this huge GE locomotive.  I was amused to see "Under Warranty" painted under the windows of the cab, but this is still a fairly new engine.  Its emissions certification shows that it's not quite four years old.