ORANGE DOCK REFLECTION

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, Tamron 28-80 lens @28mm, ISO 100, f/22, 30 sec.

  I will have to say that November was a tremendous month for sunrises. The early morning fog just provided mood and background every morning. The particular shot in the post today was helped out by some fantastic light on the morning clouds.
  I'll have to say that fellow photog friend Heath O'Fee's post PANORAMIC inspired me to go back in the archives.  The dock pilings in his shot made me remember similar pilings of this floating dock at my work. There are several times when other photographers share their work and it jogs my memory of past shots that I have to go back and revisit. Sometimes I end up finding something that I really like and can't believe I haven't done anything with.  This is one of those.
 

FROZEN GEESE

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, Tamron 28-80 lens @ 80mm, ISO 100, f/16, 6 sec.

  Back in December, we had some seriously cold weather for East Tennessee. I posted an example of this in one of my earlier posts, THE BIG CHILL.
  Tellico Lake has a lot of domesticated Canada Geese that seem to be everywhere you look.  There are about 3 dozen or so that frequent the cove where I work and on December 14th, they were all cavorting around this dry area on the lake that is only visible between October and April when TVA lowers the lake level.
  There was fog lifting on the lake and it was moving extremely fast. I felt this might be a great opportunity to use a long exposure to catch that fast moving fog.  With the sun just starting to show it's light over the mountains, it provided some pink light for the background of the shot contrasting the icy blue the frozen water in the foreground.
  The long exposure caught some ghosting of the geese as they busily moved around the shoreline but for the most part, they stayed fairly still.

MY NEW TOY

SUNRISE EXPLOSION Sony Ericsson Experia X10, ISO 50, f/2.8, 1/1538 sec

  I upgraded my phone this past Saturday. I jumped to a "smart" phone. I am on an AT&T plan and it was free to upgrade to the Sony Ericsson Experia X10 phone and with an 8 megapixal camera, it was a no brainer.
  I had taken several photos in the house with my new phone and wasn't very impressed with the results.
  Wednesday morning when I arrived at work the clouds of the sunrise were outstanding and I gave the phone a shot.  I was very impressed this time. I took 5 or 6 shots and two of them really stood out to me. After I started messing with it a little more I found that the camera has an image stabilizer as well. Wish I would have known that when I took these the results might have been even better.
  The Experia earned a 2nd chance and might be used on occasion when I'm at a shoot.

REACHING FOR THE SKY

MORE FROM CONASAUGA FALLS

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, Tamron 28-80 lens @ 28mm, ISO 400. f/14, 1 sec.

  Really loved the Monday morning at Conasauga Falls so much I thought I would post another shot from there.  Love this shot for the reflection in the pool in front of the falls. With the ISO set at 400 I was able to catch some of the water motion in the foreground as well as get the silky look to the waterfall.

PRESIDENT'S DAY AT CONASAUGA FALLS

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, Tamron 28-80 lens @ 28mm, ISO 100, f/14, 0.6sec.

  I was extremely surprised and happy that I got President's Day off.  Don't think I have had that particular holiday off in the 11+ years I have been working at my current job. I will never turn down a day off though.
  I decided to use my time in the morning to drive to Conasauga Falls near Tellico Plains, TN.  This is one of those hidden gems that East Tennessee has that goes somewhat unnoticed because it is not part of The Cherokee National Forest or the Great Smoky Mountains.
  Another reason these falls go unnoticed is because you don't just stumble upon it. To get to Conasauga Falls you have to drive 3 miles up a mountain road and then hike 1 mile down a trail.  That doesn't really seem like much but the trail is the only thing on the road and the trail is only about a foot and half wide and filled with obstacles such as rocks and uprooted trees. Technically, the trail is an easy one but coming back up is a chore because it is straight up the mountain.
  It is well worth the effort, though. Even in February when there is little color on the trees.
  This particular February morning was quite different. I left the house at 6:15am and the temperature was a balmy 59°F and by the time I was finished shooting and back to the truck around 9:30am, it had warmed up to 68°.  This is about 15-20° warmer than usual and combined with the overcast skies, made for a wonderful morning to photograph a waterfall.
  I had visited these falls back in the fall when it was very hot and there was very little water flow.  This morning, however, the falls were loaded with water.  It was fantastic!
  Something else I didn't have in the fall was hip waders. These allowed me to get in the water and very low to some of the cascades that were located downstream from the actual falls.  This was fun.
  When spring is finally sprung here in East Tennessee, I will make this trek back to Conosauga Falls when there is full green foliage surrounding it.

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, Tamron 28-80 lens @ 28mm, ISO 200, f/14, 0.8 sec.

TRUST

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, Canon 50mm 1.8 II, ISO 1600, f/2.0, 1/500 sec.

  I don't often get to post my shots from my sports photography but this particular shot stood out to me this morning.
  I follow Sequoyah High School Basketball for the most part because my son plays on the boys' team. This year has turned into something totally different from a photography standpoint.  I started out just shooting the boys' team but started carrying over into the girls' games and then looking at the sideline and photographing the SQHS Cheerleaders as well.
  My daughter cheers for the youth football league in Vonore, TN and I really love taking shots at their competitions. During timeouts at the high school games the cheerleaders do a lot of tumbling and stunt building. This is prime photo opportunities as far as I am concerned.
  I have, at least to my standards, been unsuccessful at catching tumbling pics. I use my 50mm 1.8 II lens and they tend to tumble away from me and the further away they are, the worse the focus gets. I have been able to get some good photos when the girls are doing stunts, though.
  Last Friday night started District Tournament play for the basketball teams and they were playing at McMinn County High School in Athens, TN.  The lighting in County's gym was very good on Friday and I was extremely happy with my basketball shots.  This shot of the cheerleaders releasing their fliers from a press was my favorite of the night though.
  When these young ladies get elevated up in these presses, to get down they more or less are just dropped and caught by 3-4 of their squad mates.  This takes a tremendous amount of trust to just fall and be caught. Now I know that they practice these stunts all the time and build that trust in those practices. But as a spectator and parent of a up-and-coming cheerleader, it seems very scary.  This is the one time this season that I have caught one of these drops  in mid-air and was terribly excited when came across it. The look on both the girls' faces is both happy and relaxed which is amazing considering their situation. I am also drawn to all of the hands of the girls who are about to catch these two fliers. It almost looks as though they might have thrown them instead of pressed them and then let go.

SQHS Cheerleaders, Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, Canon 50mm 1.8 II, ISO 1600, f/2.0, 1/200 sec.

CRACKED SUNRISE

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, Tamron 28-80 lens @ 28mm, ISO 100, f/11, 1/60 sec.

    I don't know how many times I have been somewhere shooting photos and have given up on the situation, packed up everything, and then on the way back to the car notice another chance at a photo. Today's post is another one of those examples.
  If this shot looks familiar, it is because brother Jim posted a similar HDR shot PARIS LANDING SUNRISE - HDR. 
  This is another shot from our photo excursion at Paris Landing State Park in Paris, TN from back in July. We were about to give up and go on to a different location when we noticed the row of clouds  hovering above the horizon and a gorgeous red sun sitting right in between them. We quickly unpacked went to work.
  We were both shooting the sunrise right in front of this tree stump for several minutes before noticing this interesting crack on the one side of it that fit the sun and it's reflection on Kentucky Lake perfectly.
   I also tried to process this as an HDR but without the success that Jim did. I actually like the silhouette of the tree stump just like it is.