HILTON MARINA SUNRISE

Canon EOS Rebel XS, Promaster 19-35lens @ 19mm, ISO 100, f/20, 1/8 second, 3 Exposure HDR @ -2

  One of the last mornings in San Diego, CA last February, I walked around the back side of the Hilton - Airport/Harbor Island and took some shots of the marina. It was one of the only mornings I was there when it wasn't overcast and the marina was bathed in golden sunlight.

LONG MORNING

Canon EOS Rebel XS, Promaster 19-35 lens @ 19mm, ISO 200, f/11, 1/3 second, 3 exposure HDR @ -2

  I was so looking forward to this morning. My buddy, Tim Owens, and I made plans to hike the Porter's Creek Trail in Greenbrier of the Great Smoky Mountains. I met him at his house at 4:30am and we took off.
  The directions to Greenbrier state that you have to turn right into the park approximately 5 miles east of Gatlinburg, TN. Well, we missed the entrance. Not that we weren't looking, we just missed it.
  We ended up in Cosby, TN where highway 321 came to a stop and we either turned left into Cosby or right. Since we didn't know we missed the turn for Greenbrier we turned right. Unfortunately, this was WRONG!
  We did end up in the Smokies. It was just in North Carolina at Big Creek. That wasn't the bad part. 9 miles of the road was up and down a mountain with switchback turns all the way. For the first time since I was a kid, I got car sick. To make matters worse, once we found out we were in the wrong spot, we had to turn around and go right back up that 9 miles of curves and hills.
  We did however make it back to Cosby and asked directions at a gas station. They directed us right back to the entrance to Greenbrier and we finally made it to our destination. Unfortunately, it was at 8:00am instead of 6:30am which was our intended time to get there.
  The when we got on the Porter's Creek Trail, we discovered that the name Greenbrier is very appropriate. The trail was lined with ferns, moss-covered logs, and numerous wild flowers. Sometimes even wildflowers growing on top of moss-covered logs. The 2 mile hike was very similar to the Grotto Falls hike we managed the week before. It was a steady incline but provided for several flat areas to catch your breath. It also followed Porter's Creek the entire way and had we gotten there when we intended, would have provided us with several photo spots.
  Our hiking destination was Fern Branch Falls. This waterfall was very neat and rolled along the face of a 50-60 foot cliff. The bad part was that we really couldn't put together a good composition to our liking when we got there. We did take some shots, though but didn't stay long and then made our way back.
  The best part of the hike were the 3 bridges that we had to cross on our way. Two of those bridges were foot bridges that at one time were logs that the park put in place, braced up, and applied hand rails so hikers could get across. They even laid asphalt on top of them for easier walking.
  Today's image is of the last bridge on the way to Fern Branch Falls. On our way back, we stopped and easily climbed out rocks that gave us vantage points with the foot bridge in the background.
  I used auto-bracketing with the intention of using HDR in Photomatix Essentials, which I downloaded yesterday, to process them.
  I really liked the way the software handled these images and I tried to get as realistic a shot and still pull details out of the entire image as well and was very happy with the result. Especially the detail int he water.
  Well, the long morning continued with us having to make our way back home through the traffic headache that is Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, TN. It took me 2 1/2 hours to get back home but I made it safely and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon with my kids.

AT THE GROTTO

Canon EOS Rebel XS, Promaster 19-35 lens @24mm, ISO 100, f/14, 1.6 seconds

  Once our hike arrived at Grotto Falls the first thing I did was pose my daughter, Jocy, on the rocks just in front of the falls.  She rolled her pant legs up to wade through the relatively shallow pool the falls pours into but realized the water was just too cold this time of year to go in barefoot.

ISO 100, f/13, 0.6 seconds

   Jocy begged me to let her use my hip waders but I needed them to get where I needed to go to get my photographs. She eventually figured out that the trail continued behind the falls and walked behind them. I soon joined her to do some photography from back there.

Jocy Behind the Falls

  After switching my angle behind the falls I caught a little bit of a warm tone from the light and ended up getting my favorite shot of the day. One of my goals was to get a shot from behind the falls. There wasn't any blue sky to use as a backdrop from behind the falls but the the warm tones I got from the existing light was a great compromise.

19mm, ISO 100, f/14, 1 second

  Really enjoyed the hike up to Grotto Falls. Next up is in the Greenbrier area of the Great Smoky Mountains. Tim and I will be hiking the Porter Creek Trail up to Fern Branch Falls. It is a gentle, 2 mile hike with lots of wildflowers, old homesteads, and rushing water. Can't wait.

LOOKOUTS

Canon EOS Rebel XS, Canon 50mm 1.8 II lens, ISO 400, f/2.8, 1/200 second

  Dotted along the mountainside on the Grotto Falls Trail are several types of wildflowers. One in particular is Trillium. I have been wanting to photograph Trillium ever since I saw Richard Bernabe's Trillium Cascades image from the Smokies. If you read his ebook THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS-BEHIND THE LENS, he gives you an interesting background into the photograph.
  Trillium start blooming in early April and it being the 2nd, they had just started. Even though the ground wasn't covered with Trillium, there were several scattered around and I just couldn't turn down the opportunity to photograph them.
  They are very beautiful flowers and are one of the featured wildflowers in the Great Smoky Mountains in altitudes of 1000-3300 feet. Trillium are easily spotted by the 3 pronged white flowering petals with 3 green stems just behind and then blanketed by the 3 larger green leaves underneath. The white flowers will change to pink as they age later in the season as well.
  These two in the photo above looked like they were facing the opposite direction of each other like lookouts for the mountainside and the small white flowers below them.

Canon EOS Rebel XS, Canon 50mm 1.8 lens, ISO 200, f/4, 1/80 second

OBSTACLES IN THE PATH

Canon EOS Rebel XS, Promaster 19-35 lens @ 22mm, ISO 100, f/20, 6 seconds

 

  Monday, April 2nd, was my 46th birthday. For my birthday I took the day off of work and joined my photog friend Tim Owens and my daughter Jocy on a trek to Grotto Falls in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
  The Grotto Falls Trail is about a 1 1/2 miles on the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail and winds 1.4 miles up the mountain. It is actually one section of the Trillium Gap Trail which continues on further and ends up at Mount LeConte. The trail is a gradual uphill climb that is easy as backpackers are considered and a very well traveled trail.
  There are several neat things to view and photograph on the way up. The first thing you have to have to walk over and continue to walk over the entire trip up are tree roots that look as though they are hovering just on top of the ground like spooky fingers.
  We stopped to take a break when we turned a corner and saw this great long curvy straight away in front of us. Tim and I just had to set up and take some shots. I was intent on using these roots as a foreground element so I spread out the tripod and got the gear as low to the ground as I could. With this low angle it looks as though the roots are reaching at my camera almost like a scary warning to stop our ascent.
  There are going to be a few more from Grotto Falls and the hike up and down in the next few days.

RIVER RD REFLECTION

Canon EOS Rebel XS, Tamron 28-80 lens @ 80mm, ISO 100, f/14, 4 seconds

  This shot is from October of 2010. I was concentrating heavily on smooth river reflections where the sun was striking the opposite shore and reflecting on the river. This shot was a bit late in that the sun was shining on the river but was still providing a great fall reflection of the opposing bank.
  The rocks being illuminated by the sun actually brought some greater detail out of them although sacrificing the wonderful blue tint you would normally see from reflecting the blue sky above.

GRAND OPENING

Canon EOS Rebel XS, Canon 85mm 1.8 USM Lens, ISO 100, f/2.2, 1/500 second

  When spring comes, my wife, Melissa, turns her attention to the yard. A couple of weeks ago a trip to Wal Mart's garden center resulted in new flowers for the several small flower garden spots around the house.
  With Melissa's several other purchases that day, this tulip was one of my actual requests. You see, I don't delve into the yard the way my wife does, but every once in while, I find a flower that I think is just beautiful and has photograph potential.
  The two-tone red and pink colors of the petals of this tulip are what created my interest in the flower. The edges where the two colors blend has a very intense red and really jumps out at you.
  When I stopped and took this shot it looked as though the petals were being shy and almost afraid to open and show their beautiful insides.