MORNING FLARE

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, Tamron 28-80 lens @ 28mm, ISO 100, f/16, 1/60 sec.

  Not much to describe about this shot other than I had been eyeing this spot for a while because of the cat tails standing tall around this pond.  When I finally set up here I realized that my angle at the sunrise was not conducive to catching the cat tails in front of it.  So I framed the shot with the tall weeds on the right and the pond wrapping around a lone rock close to shore.
  The clouds in the background and the treeline intersected right where the sun peaked over them both. The sun's reflection was distorted by the algae on the pond but the overall reflection of the clouds and sun came through pretty nice I thought.

PARTING THE WATER

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, Tamron 28-80 lens @ 28mm, ISO 100, f/14, 2.5 sec.

  Reached back into the archives from April and found this shot.  This rock in the Tellico River really stood out to me as it forced the water to move around it.
  Also liked the way the river winds through the shot from the tier in the background to the foreground.

CURVING SHORELINE

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, Promaster 19-35 lens @ 19mm, ISO 100, f/14, 1/30 sec.

 It was an interesting morning on Wednesday last week. Stopped to take sunrise pics on a bridge on highway 360 and was very unimpressed with the results.  As I was leaving to go to work I noticed this sloping curve of the shoreline directly under the bridge reaching out all the way across the lake.
  The water was smooth as glass and made for a beautiful reflection all the way down the shoreline finishing at a similar bridge crossing in the very top right of the image.
  May not be the most dramatic or eye-popping shot, but I really liked the simple beauty of it.

THE FOG ROLLS IN

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, Promaster 19-35 lens @24mm, ISO 100, f/22, 2 sec.

  The only good thing about the very hot temperatures we are seeing in the south right now is the morning fog created by the dew evaporation.  Every morning I have been seeing this low lying fog and not until Friday morning did I find the right setting to photograph it.
  A few years ago this used to be a golf driving range just off of highway 411 between Vonore and Madisonville, TN.  Without the driving range there anymore it is a perfect hay field and there are several rolls spread out over it.
  I pulled into the field at about 6:00am and the fog was hovering just over the tops of these hay rolls.  As the sun started coming up higher the fog started lifting but not very fast so I was able to move and try different angles to shoot from.
  The cloud formations were very interesting opposite the sunrise as well. The further away from the horizon, they were spreading out into pok-a-dot formations which was very neat.
  With a longer shutter speed I was able to smooth out the moving fog very much like moving water.

JUNE'S FIRST SUNRISE

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, Promaster 19-35 lens @ 21mm, ISO 100, f/16, 1/40 sec.

  My brother has created a monster.
  After learning Jim's layering technique in Photoshop Elements, I have gone crazy with it. Processed 3 images using this process last night and was blown away by the results.
  When I left the house early Thursday morning I noticed that there were some clouds in the sky at sunrise. There hadn't been any clouds the last few days and sunrises have been boring. I knew I had to take advantage of this and found myself at the same spot were I caught April Sunrise Reflection.
  I spent several minutes photographing the T-shaped dock  and happened to notice the sun was a solid red ball on the horizon. I immediately changed my vantage point to achieve a clearer view of it.  Then I found this single bare tree just off the shore that screamed "Take my picture".
  I tried to get an angle where the sun was oriented in the fork of the branches of this tree but it was just impossible from the shore and I didn't have my waders with me. I was very happy with this angle, however, especially when the sun started hitting the layers of clouds.  A bird even joined in the shot as I was snapping away.

BRICK HOUSE

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, Promaster 19-35 lens @ 29mm, ISO 100, f/11, 1/30 sec.

  When Jim and I arrived in downtown Paris last Sunday on our photo walk we parked right in front of this wonderful brick building. Most of these older brick building have names like the "Thompson" building or something like that. Don't have a clue as to the name of this one but it does house the Henry County Clerk's office so if someone out there knows of it's name please feel free to chime in with it.
  Jim and I took positions on opposite corners of the street while we were shooting.  The sun climbed up right over Jim's left shoulder and absolutely bathed the bricks in golden light and created reflections of the blue morning sky in the windows.  I was just lucky enough to be at the angle to catch it.
  This image is kind of an ode to brother Jim for it is the first image I successfully applied the layering technique he demonstrates in his screen cast The Eyes Have It - Screencast - Layers in Elements.  I successfully layered the darker blue sky from a -2 exposed image to the brighter original image. Really liked the way it turned out too. Also brought through the darker shadows on the front and side of the building. Thanks for tips Jimbo, I think I have it figured out now.

EIFFEL TOWER SILHOUETTE

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, Promaster 19-35mm lens @ 19mm, ISO 100, f/20, 1/640 sec.

  While in Big Sandy, TN this weekend my brother Jim and I took off on a photo excursion into downtown Paris, TN on Sunday morning.  I must admit, it has been so long since I have done any photography on city streets that I felt completely out of my element. No moving water, no forest. What was I going to shoot?
  Well, after starting in on the streets around the town square and courthouse we headed to a park where Paris has their own Eiffel Tower that I was very excited about shooting.
  The tower hasn't always been in Paris and is very small compared to the original in Paris, France but is now a staple in the Paris landscape.
  I originally wanted  a vertical wide angle shot starting at one of the feet of the tower and stretching upward to the top but the iron railing around the tower plus being 3 feet or so elevated off the ground made that impossible.
  I then decided to move to the opposite of the tower and shoot back at the already risen morning sun. I carefully positioned the higher of the two "landings" centered over the sun to create a silhouette with the sun making a white halo behind the tower.
  I was auto-bracketing exposures and this particular shot happened to be a -2 shot that I fell in love with because of the really dark blue color the sky took on. A couple of small clouds break up the solid blue background and add to the shot as well.