On This Day - August 2020

Tishomoak 0006, 08/31/2019

One of the first halfway decent images of a hummingbird captured off my deck. There's a bit of softness in the bird that I *think* was due to the bird's motion...despite having used a shutter speed of 1/640th second.

Lake Tishomingo 011, 08/27/2008

Many images in my catalog take me back to the time of capture as though I was reliving the scene. This is not one of those shots. I guess I've shot so many from virtually the same spot on this deck, they've all begun to run together.

Total Solar Eclipse 0044, 08/21/2017

The photography gods did some seriously smiling on me for this event. I had originally been excited about shooting the eclipse. The centerline of its path occurred in this part of the world about 10-12 miles south of my house which meant I'd have approx 2 minutes of totality to shoot. And I'd have my pick of good locations to shoot from w/o having to travel a gazillion miles. Excited I was. But the closer the event came, the more buzz it generated. And a week before, it seemed like everybody and their uncle was 'into' it. Every state park in the area was planning to host an eclipse event as well as every facility that had 100 sq ft of open ground...or so it seemed. My early excitement was dissipating quickly. And to be honest, I got a little cheap. To not fry the camera's sensor, everybody said you needed a special filter on the front of the camera. Cost seemed to avg approx $100...for a filter I'd probably never use again. In the end, I decided to shoot from my driveway. I was working from home the day of and just took a long lunch to shoot. Also opted not to purchase the special eclipse filter and just threw a couple neutral density filters along with a polarizer on the camera. If memory serves, it added up to approx 18 stops of neutral density. I hadn't even bothered to research what to expect as the eclipse started, transitioned to totality, and then started to exit. It was just pure dumb luck that I managed to catch this 'diamond ring' period of the eclipse that occurs *just* as the moon touches the exit side of the sun.

Lake Tishomingo 0009, 08/15/2017

I have so many images from this location, they're starting to run together. Though I recall the occasion of capture for many of them, this one not so much.

Clingmans Dome 0006, 08/11/2016

Had just completed a workshop in Charleston, SC and stopped by Great Smoky Mountain National Park on my way home...because my car just automatically heads that way whenever I get anywhere close to it. :D Headed to Clingmans Dome for sunrise on this am. As you might surmise from this image, a flashy color big vista sunrise was not to be this day. The fog was just unbelievably thick. Standing in the parking lot at the dome, I couldn't see the other end of it. Walking around the parking lot, I did spot this 'one sided' tree just barely peeking through the fog.

Folly Beach 0042, 08/07/2016

Early morning shot from Folly Beach, SC. I believe this is meant to be some sort of erosion control structure to keep the beach from blowing away, but given how much sand had been blowing over it, not sure how effective it acted...IF my assessment of its purpose is accurate. Had I captured a long exposure and little wider view of this one, I definitely would have gone b&w. But it makes for a nice stock shot in color.

Jefferson County MO, 08/01/2018

A foggy am on the lake where I live. Woke up early this am to see *thick* fog out my windows. Grabbed the camera gear and made a quick trip down to our lakefront. When I initially arrived, the fog was so thick I could barely make out the tree lines on either edge. Shot a few images and then proceeded to wait...and wait some more...for the fog to start burning off in hopes of revealing a bit more of those shorelines. It took longer than I'd anticipated for that to occur. But eventually, the burn off started and I captured a few more shots. And then, as I'm reviewing what I'd shot thus far, I thought I heard the hum of a small boat motor somewhere off in the fog. And sure enough, a minute or 2 later, a couple gents in their bass boat poked through the fog and into view.

Lake Tishomingo 011, 08/30/2009

A shot from the opposite end of the lake from most all the others I've included in this photoblog. Image info suggests I captured this one at 17:35 which seems a bit unusual given sunset would have been my likely reason for setting up here...even though this is looking mostly eastward. This would have been a throwaway shot had it not been for the way the bulbous cloud in the sky is reflected in the lake.

Johnsons Shut-Ins State Park 016, 08/25/2012

This state park is a gold mine for these 'water in motion' shots. Several of those included in my 'The Mad Dash series (part of the Metamorphosis project) were captured here. And there's nothing like getting in thigh high water to get the shot. I had spent a fair amount of time upstream moving around amongst the rocks strewn throughout the East Fork of the Black River looking for compositions when I finally reached a large pool of water. And from the bank, I could barely see a piece of this small falls kina tucked back in between some *large* boulders. Fortunately, I had planned for the possibility of getting the feet wet and waded out to find this wonderful scene just screaming to be captured.

Great River Rd, IL, 08/19/2017

As a general rule of thumb, I wouldn't typically shoot a 'landscape' image that includes an industrial element like the smokestack in this one as I'm not all that interested in making a 'man vs nature' statement. But that smokestack seems to be visible from anywhere along the Mississippi River within almost 10 miles of Alton, IL. The long exposure emphasized the path the stack's exhaust was traveling on this morning.

Creativity Challenge 0001, 08/14/2020

During this year of the covid-19 pandemic, I have been participating in a couple ongoing 'creative challenges'. The theme for this one was 'the color pink'. Not knowing what to shoot initially, I started roaming around the house to items that have at least some element of the color. As I expected, not much. Pink is definitely not on my list of favorite colors.

Botany Bay 033, 08/10/2016

This tree, standing at the edge of the sea, had been photographed a bajillion times by half a bajillion photographers. I was lucky enough to be one of the crowd as part of a workshop. Alas, it is standing no longer after being yanked from it's sandy support when a hurricane passed through the area a couple years later.

Lake Moultrie 0030, 08/06/2016

What an eventful evening this turned out to be. Our planned shooting area was roped off when we arrived. As a result, one portion of our group bushwhacked our way through a couple hundred feet of seriously thick underbrush to access the shoreline while another group climbed under/over/around(?) a fence to get to another location. And me, with shorts on, wound up with a fair number of sticker bush cuts on my calves. Looked a little ugly, but never did feel too bad. But I'm glad I wound up at this location with the sun 's path to the horizon being straight across from us.

PhotoFloodSTL90-FranzPark 0458, 08/29/2020

One from a recent 'PhotoFloodSTL' event. I had initially noticed the size of the tree trunk in the yard when I first reached this house and was thinking what a shame it was the owner had needed to take it down. As I was about to move on, the 'eye' stained glass window in the roof caught my attentions. I was later told by another member of the group that window is lighted at night and is rather interesting to see then.

Don Robinson State Park 0026, 08/24/2019

It was bugs or bust for today's selection. I don't typically go chasing insects, but the wildflowers in a couple locations in the park yielded a couple sessions that turned into a gold mine for such ops in the summer of 2019.

Lake Tishomingo 026, 08/17/2013

2013 was my 'Year of the Wildflower'. Having been adding to the photoblog for several months now, it's been a bit surprising how often an option available for selection on the 'current' day has been a wildflower image from that year. Having the bee decide to plop his butt down on a flower I was getting ready to shoot anyway was rather fortuitious. :)

Horseshoe Lake State Park 9807, 08/13/2020

A local camera club member had mentioned in an online post that lotus flowers were in bloom at this park. So, I made the drive over to check them out, and when I arrived in the vicinity of the park, a fog had rolled in. Though I did eventually get around to capturing a couple lost blossoms, I had more fun chasing fog scenes around the lake. Those 3 huge swans must have been buds as they stuck together and found their way into several of the fog shots captured that am.

Folly Road 002, 08/09/2016

I'd first noticed these 'islands in a sea of swamp grass' formations when on the Outer Banks. But though I attempted to shoot them there, I had trouble finding a composition that allowed me to isolate them sufficiently from the surrounding territory. I was tickled to spot this one just outside of Folly Beach.

Ravenel Bridge 0082, 08/05/2016

Our workshop group had a wonderful location to shoot Ravenel Bridge on this evening. Even the mosquitos thought it was great and there was a huge convention of them in attendance! The sunset on this particular evening wasn't all that vivid from a color perspective, but I got lucky on a couple. I decided to give b&w a try for this blog, and darned if I don't like this better than my color shots, I think.

Don Robinson State Park 0003, 08/28/2019

I had arrived at the park not long after its 07:00 opening. Found a parking spot, unloaded the camera gear, put on my hiking shoes, and turned around to head down the trail...and before I took a step, this caught my eye. Love these scenes where the early morning sun is *just* high enough in the sky to strafe some elements, but not yet high enough to reach ground level.

MO BotanicalGarden 0006, 08/22/2015

Another shot from the 2015 Chinese Lantern Festival at MO Botanical Garden...this one a little more abstracted than the 8/16 shot. I believe I shot these Plastic Fantastic Dandelions more than any other feature of the festival despite them being relegated to a small corner of the garden with a lot of 'stuff' surrounding them that made isolating them a bit of a trick.

MO Botanical Garden 0110, 08/16/2015

This was captured during the Chinese Lantern Festival hosted by the MO Botanical Garden in 2015. At the time, I had not yet initiated any of my 'tree' related projects and was looking for compositions that highlighted these artificial dandelions on a pole that were part of the festival. While perusing options for the 8/16 entry in this photoblog, I couldn't help but notice this one whose scoliotic shortleaf pine is truly the 'leading actor in a starring role' for the shot. Find it interesting that even though I'd yet to begin focusing on trees, even here the eye picked up on that specific tree.

Tishomoak 002, 08/12/2012

Was wandering around in the woods behind my place when I happened upon this stack of sawn wood. I remember being intrigued by all the 'splits' visible in the ends. It gave them sort of a 'compass' look.

Morris Island Lighthouse 0051, 08/08/2016

Captured during a workshop in the Charleston, SC vicinity in 2016. This one from Folly Beach looking over towards the lighthouse early am. When this day came up for review of images captured on '08/08', I was surprised I had nothing of this lighthouse processed in b&w. This one I found particularly intriguing for the 'V' formation of the clouds with the point of the V almost perfected aligned over the lighthouse...which are somewhat mirrored by a more 'U' shape of a line through the rocks on the beach.

Don Robinson State Park 9568, 08/04/2020

This one may just make it into a series I've been pursuing for a while now. These wildflowers would typically not be subject matter I would shoot. But because 3 of them rose above the fray while bathing in the sunlight and are echoed buy the closest 3 trees hovering in the shadows , I found the scene intriguing.