Last Friday I had a work related appointment that required me to go to Nashville. It was a very surreal experience. Next to no traffic on the interstate, and downtown was empty. Other than a walker here and there the only people to be seen were construction workers.
Take a look at 2:30 pm on a Friday afternoon.
If you know me or have paid attention to previous posts, I have a girlfriend who owns a restaurant in Sewanee Tenessee. Sewanne is also home to The University of the South which has an amazing campus. Keri has encouraged me to go shoot there several times. I was holding out for conditions that triggered me to feel creative and I was not disappointed Sunday. Sewanee is up in the Cumberland Plateau and this time of year can see some pretty foggy conditions. This was one of those days.
A friend wanted to go hiking and follow it up with some pizza and beer this weekend at OctoPi. I was happy to oblige and the weather was excellent for some hiking. We had our first real coldsnap this fall. Temps got down into the 30’s on the Cumberland Plateau. I picked a mid level hike, not too long but with some elevation changes and a little rough terrain to cross. Grundy Forest Natural Area near Tracy City has two trails. Fiery Gizzard which runs from the natural area picnic site and ranger station 11.75 miles down to Foster Falls. There is also a nice loop trail the branches off from Fiery Gizzard and comes back out near the picnic area. We took the loop.
Really nice browns on this cluster of mushrooms along the side of the trail.
There were recent rains and the temperatures had been down consistently enough to trigger some nice mushroom growth. I got a few shots, but this cluster of mushrooms that were at the end of their time really worked for me.
I only carried my Canon 70D with the 100mm Macro lens even though we were going to be hiking along a creek with tons of falls and cascades. The sky was clear and blue, this was really a hike trip not a photography outing. I generally don’t take good photos when I am out with other folks. I don’t get into my zone very easily if I know someone is standing around waiting on me to get moving. Even so, I spotted this cascade in full shade and found an angle to get a pretty satisfying shot.
I've been to Rock Island State Park several times. I have no idea what I never actually planned a trip there, but each previous trip there was a pit stop to or from Knoxville. I've gone to the same bit of the park, which is fun and is a nice break from a 3 hour drive. However, the iconic waterfalls there are at the end of an access road. Ok, so I finally planned the trip except for getting up early enough that it wasn't crazy hot. The sun was blazing, but I had ND filters and a circular polarizer. I shot these with my Canon 70D, a Sigma 10-20mm, and Tiffen Circlular Polarizer and Neutral Density filters.
A couple of years ago I basically stuck a pin in a map and headed up to Short Springs Natural Area in Tennessee from Huntsville. That lead to me taking what so far has been my best photo of a waterfall to date.
I was already near there so took a friend to the trails to check things out since the weather was really great this past weekend. I was not the only one with this idea as there were quite a few folks wandering the trails and the waterfall areas. I opted for plants and animals instead.
I'm still sorting out how I want to collect my thoughts on Iceland. That doesn't mean I am not getting out with the camera here in the states when I can. We are having a very strange fall season this year. I went for a hike in Tennessee hoping to see some fall color and did get a little taste of it, however the exceptionally dry and warm weather has the leaves pretty hard to predict and catch.
It was a great day for hike, a little warm, but really a good day. Stone Door is a trail in the Savage Gulf Natural Area near Beersheba Springs, TN. The parking lot was full and there were lots of scouts and some adults working on their rope skills. As I walked back out after hanging out for a bit a wedding party was making their way in for a ceremony. I felt kind of bad for the bride hiking a mile in to get married in her dress in mid 80's weather.
One bonus to the weather being warmer though. The spiders are holding on a bit longer this year.
