New Additions and an Occasional Blog

04/16/12 Into the Wild Blue Yonder

Today was a very special day for me.  I got to experience a second love that my grandfather passed to me.  Flying!  So to be able to combine flying and photography, I was really walking in my granddaddy’s shoes.  This was the first time that I had flown the majority of the length of the Buffalo River.  It is incredible how we flew from Boxley Valley all the way to Buffalo City in just under an hour!  The views were nothing short of spectacular!  The photography was a bit tricky due to the glare coming off the cockpit windows, but that didn’t bother me in the slightest!  I was just enthralled by being up in the air!  I have to give a HUGE thanks to Dr. Robert Hubbard for taking me up in his plane.  He is a wonderful pilot and a heck of a nice guy, just like I remembered from high school!

04/12/12 Wildflower Extravaganza!

The wildflowers have been absolutely amazing this year!  I don’t even know where to start, so I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

03/24/12 Large-Flowered Bellwort

Yesterday, I went to eat at my favorite restaurant ever, DeVito’s on Bear Creek Springs, with my family.  The Shrimp Alfredo is to die for!  This is the only restaurant I have EVER been to that I have never had a complaint about my food.  That’s saying something because I’ve eaten at A LOT of restaurants and I have eaten at DeVito’s more than any other restaurant.  I have been enjoying their Italian and fresh trout recipes for over 25 years now.  Before that, my folks would take me to the trout farm to catch dinner. Great childhood memories!

After my fabulous dinner, I was looking at their incredible water feature when I  remembered my cousin telling me I needed to make a trip out soon because the hillside would be exploding with wildflowers.  I started walking along the bottom of the hill to see if anything caught my eye. Lo and behold, there was a single Large-flowered Bellwort perched eye-level on a limestone ledge!  I ran back to my car to put my boots on (I was still in work shoes) and to grab my camera.

I started tromping up the hillside looking for more flowers and any possible morels.  I came upon several patches of Bellwort, but no morels.  From the looks of it, there are going to be HUNDREDS of Bellworts in bloom over the next few weeks!  I only saw 5 plants with the flowers open, but tons more starting to shoot up out of the leaves.  I had to be careful where I walked so that I didn’t smash any new shoots.  I finally found the plant that I thought would be able to shoot with the idea I had in mind, and just in time!  I only had about 15 minutes of light to shoot!  I laid myself on the ground and starting working my composition.  I first started working on a close up of a single flower, and then on a close up of a small bunch nearby.  I turned back to this plant and framed one more time to get this photo.  It was the last photo I took of the day and it turned out to be my favorite!

I will definitely be heading out to get some more pics in the next week! Word of caution:  The hillside is private property and the DeVito’s don’t want a bunch of people climbing the hill.  Too much liability for injuries and too much potential for damaging the hillside.  Please respect their wishes and stay at the bottom of the hill, do not tresspass by climbing the hill.

03/22/12 First New Additions Since I Made My Website (aka TOO LONG!)

I have been super busy with my new job, starting my own business, taking lots of pictures, and most importantly, spending time with my daughter when I can.  I finally made some time to upload some of the new pictures that I have been working on!  I will keep these here for a bit, but I intend to use this page to start blogging about my adventures….  If I can find the time!  I hope you enjoy these new additions!