Hanging Rock, N. Carolina

Yesterday I posted a few pictures from our N. Carolina trip. Specifically, images I took while hiking out at Pilot Mountain. Taken in the same day - which was the second part of our single day exploration of the N. Carolina natural scenery - were images from Hanging Rock State Park. Located somewhere in N. Carolina (Don't ask. I had no clue where we were), Hanging Rock was a desolate place to be in winter. The park features all sorts of amenities for those visiting during the normal seasons in the year. From what my brother tells me, the large parking lot is filled to capacity in summer and fall. Most visitors come in the fall to enjoy the colors of the falling leaves and the brisk weather. For those that visit in the summertime, Hanging Rock features campsites for overnight camping and a manmade lake complete with floating decks for enjoying the water. I found it odd that a lake was "installed" in such a naturalesque park, but I guess it makes for enjoyable summers. I can imagine jumping right in after a long day's hike or maybe taking a swim just before sunset.

Our visit mainly consisted of a short and relatively tame hike. As you can imagine by my featured photo up top, the main attraction of this hike were two relatively small waterfalls. I had never photographed water in motion before but have seen many pictures of the subject. I did a lot of reading on capturing water so that it has that "flowy" look just in case I was ever face with an opportunity to photograph water in motion. Earlier in the day, which was spent 45 minutes away at Pilot Mountain, I had struggled with light balancing and exposure. Most of the day was overcast and contrasty because of the midday sun. Hiking to these streams later in the day proved to be a treat since the sun had already begun its descent for the day. The trail we were hiking on did not offer a great deal of variety in terms of photography subjects. There was the occasional rotting log, mold growth, or jagged stone jutting out of the ground. In Florida I am used to palmettos, wild birds, and colorful plants. My brother had to constantly remind me that there was a reason no one else was in the park. Not only was it numbing cold, but the plants, birds, and seasonal related features that give the park its "charm" were not going to be seen. I tried to keep a keen eye open for something unique. I was hoping for some type of northern squirrel or maybe even a robin or other northern native bird, but I would have no such luck on this hike.

The entrance to the park was quite a windy drive. My brother managed to make me extremely carsick from his Mario Andretti style of driving in the curving roads. Most of the drive to the park was hilly and windy as we made our way up to the park's interior. Once at the main parking area, instead of hopping right out, I decided to recline the front seat, try and regain my balance, and avoid possibly vomiting. Once I felt normal we headed off to one of several trails. One of the main trail heads would take hikers on a climbing 1 mile hike that would have easily taken us a little over 30 minutes. With the day coming to a close, we decided to take the relatively tame and shorter hike to the small waterfalls. Along the way we passed a cabin designed for group picnics. From a distance it very easily resembled some scary cabin in the woods where people walk in and find a witch or something from the movie "Blair Witch Project." With the gray sky overhead, empty park, wind, and chilly temperatures, there may as well have been a stalker looking to hack our limbs off and leave us for the bears. Ok, so that sounds a little extreme, but that's just the kind of news you might see here in Florida. To be perfectly honest, I was glad it wasn't the middle of summer or sometime in the fall. I get anxious around tourists and I don't think I would have quite enjoyed the hike with a bunch of people around us. Along the hike we saw plenty of decaying forestry. The fungus growing on tree stumps and stones made for interesting subject matter. I personally like how the park design people created walkways out of stone. It gave the park a more authentic feel. A recurring plant that I saw is pictured just below. This particular plant looked like something I would find in a Florida forest or perhaps in a tropical climate. I wouldn't think a plant or small shrub that produced a flower-like bud would grow someplace cold.

When we finally arrived at our first waterfall I was both excited and disappointed. I was excited because I knew I would have a chance to practice a new technique and possibly get some convincing shots. The disappointment was mostly because of the size of the falls. It was more like a creek that had found its way to some open rocks on the side of a mountain. It's not like some waterfalls that "power" their way through a mountain and really make thunderous noise. However, the water managed to spill over nicely and create a good distributed splash at the base. The accumulation of pebbles, dead tree limbs, and leaves offered a good variety of colors and textures. For the most part there was relatively little greenery, but this was North Carolina in the wintertime. We spent about 20 minutes at the first waterfall and then headed further down the trail to waterfall #2. The second waterfall was more impressive because it had a cavernous feature just underneath the falls. There were a lot more crooked stones, plants, and a nice pool of water collecting at the base of the falls. I snapped off a couple of shots with my Yashica TLR and am hoping for some positive results. Once I get the pictures back I'll scan and post them here. One of the more exciting features of the falls was the presence of icicles. The ice was far and few, but a surviving artifact of the winter that was falling on the area. The lack of snow made the scenery appear normal, but it was in fact cold. Just take my word for it. We spent a good 45 minutes independently wandering around taking snapshots of whatever caught our eyes. As dusk approached, as well as closing time for the park, we headed back to our car and drove back to Kernersville.

Although N. Carolina and the two parks we visited paled in comparison to three years in Alaska, I can definitely say hiking in the mountains was a refreshing change. I would like to make a return visit sometime in the summer to swim in the lakes. If you grew up in Florida like I did then you never had a chance to really enjoy swimming in the lakes all thanks to the native alligator. Heck, any other time outside of winter might have produced much more favorable landscape for photography and possibly some better opportunity for outdoor activities. I will take away with me these nice memories of spending time with Shanti and my brother whom I rarely get to see since he lives in N.C. Perhaps sometime down the road a permanent change of pace and scenery will be a possibility. Stay tuned...

Pilot Mountain, N. Carolina

Over the course of the weekend Shanti and I took a little roadtrip to visit my brother and his wife in Kernersville, NC. It wasn't just a weekend, but actually a mini vacation which started last Wednesday. The need to get away was imminent. Since we both have 2 weeks vacation to spend, we figured some fresh air in the mountains would be a great way to clear the mind.

Although we did not accomplish all that much while we visited, we did manage to get out on one of the nicer days to do some more driving and eventually go for a hike. Pilot Mountain is one of these destinations where once you have visited it for the first time you might not make it back to visit for a second. Truth be told, it's a big rock sticking out of the ground. Sure, it's a little odd that there really aren't any other mountain peaks nearby to rival its heighth, but for the fun seeking individual, the thrill might be short lived. Part of me thinks that the negative bias had something to do with the fact that it was the dead of winter for North Carolina and perhaps the spring or fall might offer some colorful landscapes. Regardless, we managed to snap a few shots of the scenery for posterity. I personally enjoyed being someplace high where I can just stare off into the distance for hours. I wouldn't mind returning again during summer to do some camping or longer distance hiking. For our purposes, we parked in the visitor lot and walked along the stone walkway to the lookout areas.
I can see where this site has a lot of potential for photography, but during our visit the bright midday sun did a good job of washing out a lot of the color in the scenery. I imagine the next time we visit we would go out sometime near sunset to catch some really nice colors in the sky.

We spent the 2nd half of our day driving over to Hanging Rock. Most of the day was overcast which also presented some odd lighting conditions. Check back here sometime midweek. I will be posting pictures of some of much more interesting hikes including images of waterfalls and odd rock formations. Until then, enjoy and see you soon.

Half a World Away

"You're a half a world away
But in my mind I whisper every single word you say.
And before you sleep at night
You pray to me, your lucky star, your singing satellite."

- Oceanlab, Satellite

Chestnut Park Exploration

John Chesnut Sr. Park

For what seems to be a recurring theme for my blogspot, this weekend I again wanted to share yet another outdoor great local Florida park experience. I know at some point I will venture into the city for more of the urban scenery, but for now I will continue to visit the forests, swamps, and boardwalks. I will forewarn you now - if this theme is tiring then disconnect your cable modem and stay away from my blog. My next entry will be brief, but of another local park escape. My reasoning is simple. Work weeks make it fitting to simply get away from people, familiar places, and public roads. These local parks are constant reminders of what make living in Florida worthwhile.

John Chesnut Sr. Park is a short drive from Tampa and is located in neighboring Pinellas County. Had it not been for owning a dog I doubt we would have ever found this park. Yes, shame on me. I too was one of those Tampa dwellers that really did not do much to get out and enjoy our parks. Before Marley (dog) there wasn't too much incentive to wake up on the weekends and just go to a park. If you are not into the photography thing or don't own a dog, I would suggest finding a reason to go. Heck, go through the nearest drive-through window of your favorite greasy fastfood restaurant and take your food with you to your local park. Once you are there and your food is gone hopefully the uniqueness of the park will be enough to keep you exploring.

Chestnut Park is perfect for visiting even if your visit has no purpose. To the north side of the park you will find a "paw playground." Watching dogs socialize and play can in itself be entertaining and a large reason to visit. To the south side of the park - where we spent our Saturday afternoon - are the trail heads that lead you to a boardwalk and observation tower. There is a good chance you've seen my boardwalk tower shots in a previous post. Since not too many people take the time to visit these parks, you can often sit up in one of these towers that overlook a lake or somewhat of a wildlife refuge and just chill out. If you sit long enough you'll get lucky and have some kind of Florida wildlife encounter. I usually spot some type of exotic bird flying by or hanging out in the tall tree tops over a swampy area. On this particular weekend there were a lot of ospreys and buzzards flying overhead. There were quite a few flying over Lake Tarpon, but they were not quite low enough to capture much feather detail. My Sigma 70-300mm @ f5.6 did an alright job of handling the action. If you don't see an alligator, snake, or other exotic critter on your first visit, be patient and try again. You never know what you might find in a Florida forest. Additionally, sometimes you have to look really close down inbetween the leaves to see something small crawling around.



Although this squirrel isn't really an exotic critter, his pose was enough to capture my attention.





This little redheaded woodpecker caught our attention with his chirping. If I were a naturalist I might quote you his species and could maybe even identify his sounds.





All palmettos start to look alike after a while. If you look closely, sometimes you might find a critter making a home.






A closer look doesn't always mean you'll find an exotic critter.





Admittedly, this was not the first time I had ever been to Chestnut Park. I am certain we'll take Marley to visit the paw playground again in the future. Having an relatively newfound interest in photography, visiting these parks again really makes the experience feel new and I'm happy to share them here.

Studio, Stock, Macro...

Today's entry follows up on Tuesday evening's "in studio" photo shoot where I experimented for the first time with controlled lighting for portraiture. I have spent quite a few hours pouring over the images in search of things to improve upon. The beauty of the internet is that I have access to thousands of professional photographers' online portfolios and websites. Quick comparisons of other's work versus mine quickly highlight areas of improvement. This weblog has been a great journal to document my personal progress.

For this entry I decided to try my hand at creating stock images using techniques I have spent many hours reading up on. I had always wondered how photographers managed to get such crisp shots with loads of color and minimal distraction. Searches brought me to websites documenting macro photography and light boxes for product photography. Although I didn't contstruct a lightbox for this setting, I did steal a great tip - $.39 colored poster board and cheap fluorescent lamps. All I needed was a subject. I didn't quite know what exactly I wanted to shoot at first, but the idea came naturally after sitting in front of the computer after work the other day sipping everyone's favorite "Mexican Crown" beer. Once inspiration sets in I don't waste time. After work today I was determined to purchase the necessary props for the shoot. The beauty of the finished product is that you would never know it that in my cramped apartment I manged to set up on the kitchen floor. I took all of these shots while lying on my stomach. All I could think of in my mind was "I need space."

Setup and shooting took all of about 25 minutes. I took about 34 photos before I had decided I had gotten the shots I needed. If you are wondering where the full length bottle shots went, I must admit that metering the bottle and lime together was not working out. The bottle would expose wonderfully while the lime looked like a piece of white ice up top. If I spot metered the lime, then I got some other funky exposure issues on the bottle. Only one shot managed to look right but I just didn't find it suitable to share. Post production included the usual - histogram adjustments, hue correction on the lime, and a bit of color saturation to really bring out the blue poster board.

Cheers...

Portraiture 1st

Shanti and I decided it was time we experiment indoors with portraiture photography. We have never done any controlled environment "studio" style photography and admittedly it did require a little bit of experimentation to achieve some good results. Between fluorescent light fixture placement and fill flash we managed to achieve some fairly convincing "studio" setting photographs.


Marley, our miniature poodle (aka killer grizzly bear), did a great job of participating in the shoot. I guess pets are much like kids when it comes to attention spans.


White balance settings are a bit tricky with the mixed lighting because the fluorescent lights and flash do not mix too well. If one commits to a fluorescent white balance, typically the flash will add a hue of blue tone to the picture. For this time around I just set the white balance to "auto" and allowed the camera to do all of the guesswork for me. Not too shabby for a first attempt. Minor histogram adjustments, shadow/highlighting, and brightness/contrast tweaks make for some decent finished products. The faux framing and matting were also post production additions.

Same Scenery, Different Park

Boca Ciega Millenium Park - Seminole, FL

So you probably read the title of this blog entry and decided to skip over the pictures and read my explanation for a seemingly repeat photo shoot. I'm half tempted to insert a Conan O'Brien self-insult here. Call it a lack of creativity, or perhaps even another lame attempt at wildlife photography, but please stay with me. I promise to change the scenery in future entries and offer different glimpses of Tampa and its surrounding communities. This weekend Shanti and I headed out to another one of our great local parks for another session in outdoor "wildlife" photography.

I suppose if I were in Alaska or maybe even somewhere in the Arizona desert I might have some fearsome creature or some rare plants to show off. Nah, instead I found a heron that can be found hanging around your local WalMart pond, a lizard often found scurring across your porch, and an exotic Florida palmetto of the "green" variety. Add insult to injury and maybe I peaked your interest when you realized the pink flower isn't really much of a flower. This is actually considered a weed by many gardeners. Don't ask me the name because I can't even pretend to tell you. So why the harsh self-criticism? Not to be too boastful, but I do find some of the pictures to be of acceptable quality. What if I lived in the desert? There is a good chance you would see lots of red dirt, rocks, and sunsets falling between cacti. Maybe if I lived in Utah you would see images of snowboarders and skiiers barreling down the slopes while yours truly struggles to figure out why white powdery snow looks like one big blown out light bulb. Or in the summer, maybe some red dirt, rocks, and sunsets falling between - uh, I know, the braces of a perfect white cross at the top of a Mormon Temple. Practice is for the proactive where exotic landscapes and cultures are for the dreamers. I try and constantly explain this to my fiance Shanti who is constantly dreaming of going places far too exotic for our eyes. Sure, I'd kill to photograph Rome or perhaps the Eiffel Tower whose image in print is probably no longer considered original or even artistic. She is from Hawai'i. I think I could easily go there on my fourth vacation - this time with the burning desire to photograph of course.

Frustration is owning a rusted classic Camaro dying a slow death and not having the means to restore it to new again. Frustration is being 8 years old and staring at your prized remote control monster truck given to you by your grandma on your birthday and not having the money to buy batteries to make it go. Frustration is owning a collection of cameras and staring at the latest editions of National Geographic and wanting to be in every setting depicted in each photograph. I am frustrated because I have been all of those things and still am part of the last. (Ok, I don't own a rusted Camaro and never have. I own a beater 93 Nissan Sentra that I long ago hoped to install a 265hp turboed motor imported from Japan. I just figured the Camaro white lie would add more drama to the point I am trying to make.) I have found in my life that most past times such as piano playing, painting, cooking, or for my sake - photography - all start with extremely basic fundamentals. For the musician, he will bang out "Mary Had a Little Lamb" until his family's ears bleed. The poor painter will waste dozens of canvases trying to make an apple look just right on the wooded kitchen table. The chef? Well, at some point he has to learn how to operate the microwave. (In case you were wondering - yes, I have done and currently do all of the activities I just mentioned. Learning is a real pain.) So I guess the most underwhelming philosophical insight of this entire paragraph is that I have to stay the course and "go back to the basics." Florida is where I live and Florida is what I have to photograph.


Baby steps it is. (Did you notice the tie in with the above picture? How cheesy was THAT!) Weekends have come and gone and I have let my camera(s) sit and stare at me with closed eyes. This weekend was largely a follow up to last weekend. I think I enjoyed my short getaway so much that it made sense to just do it again the following weekend. The joy of photography really does not lie in what you photograph, but rather when you photograph. (Yet another amazing piece of underwhelming philosophy.) These small steps are turning out to be much better than I imagined. (Ok, brace yourself for another sophomoric insight.) These little weekend outings are proving to be much more rewarding than first anticipated. I cannot wait until the day I am in Red Square toting my camera and looking like an absolute tourist. Sure, I have plenty of other ideal places I would like to visit in this lifetime, but at least the journey towards framed wall art, fond memories, and sharing with friends and family will certainly have deeper meaning.
Thanks to everyone who has sorted through my ramblings or enjoyed my photos. To some extent I believe it is a cliche to use the pity approach for attention, but with all honesty the encouragement has been great. Feedback is a huge plus. Look out for future blog entries where I will feature a little more variety than the local Florida park. I hope to make it worth your while. Also, if this entry gives you any indication of the local resident, get out and explore your local parks. As an interested and aspiring photographer I did not have much interest in these places found around my neighborhoods. They do give you something back and make living here much more worthwhile. Here is to looking forward to opportunities to photographing in the Caribbean or maybe Antarctica or to painting red apples on wooden tables. Take your time. Consider, compose, then shoot. Finally, to steal a great catchphrase from the Discovery Channel, "Explore Your World."

Upper Tampa Bay Park

On Saturday Shanti and I took a short trip to Upper Tampa Bay Park to see what sunset and dusk had in store. We arrived at the park sometime around 4:50pm. I suspect sunset occurred sometime about 45 minutes later, but it didn't matter too much since we were facing the east. The late afternoon faded very quickly, but I did manage to snap a few pictures before the gnats became unbearable. We'll hopefully make it early enough to catch the sunrise one of these weekends.

Enjoy.

Cuesta Ray

January is now upon us and Christmas gifts have long been exchanged except for one. Shanti's stepfather, who lives in Hawaii, still hasn't received his. I suppose a large part of his gift has to do with a lot procrastination or perhaps a lack of motivation. The idea behind his gift is based around latin culture and one of his personal favorite past times - cigar smoking. We decided to head towards Ybor in search of some photo opportunities that might suit this theme.

Our search to locate cigar shops offering a visual sample of what Tampa's Ybor cigar scene is all about led us straight to 7th Ave ("La Septima"). We figured a Sunday afternoon would be best not only in terms of technical ambience, but minimal foot traffic. Our first drive down 7th we spotted about 3 or 4 small shops. Each had interesting windows, but from the car we couldn't tell if there was anything displayed. Nothing really appeared to be open since it was a late afternoon on a Sunday. However, there were enough people on the sidewalks and occupied parked spots to keep us driving in circles. Being the bashful people we are, we decided there were enough spectators to dissuade us from pulling over and accomplishing our mission. At this point we scrapped the idea of finishing a long overdue Christmas gift and decided to just drive around until we found a location more comfortable to photograph.

For me, personally, there is something about the common person staring while I intensely set up to take a photo. It's the response you get from your nagging family member that wonders what exactly it is you are photographing. They don't get it until they see the pictures. I don't know. Maybe someday I'll get over the fear of being criticized if even I don't hear it. I drove us away Ybor's main district and through some of the neighborhoods south of I-4. If I was feeling hesitant about shooting in public in Ybor, then perhaps cruising some rough neighborhoods surrounding Ybor was a bigger mistake. I was still itching to take some photos though and to some extent I almost didn't care anymore where we stopped. Off in the distance I saw a familiar sign that always caught my eye off of I-4. The "Cuesta Ray Cigars" sign was a little bit of hope that maybe we could take away something frame worthy to wrap up this project.

When we arrived at the factory we circled the building a few times and scoped out a safe spot to pull over. Maybe I was a little too paranoid, but I have not spent too much of my life in Tampa in Ybor City and most of my basis for caution are the scare tactics generated by the media. After a few minutes of circling around, we finally pulled over and wandered about on foot.

As I approached the building I was a bit confused on the age. The brick appeared to be new while the shutters and balconies were old and rusted out. The building did show some character despite the "new/old" feel to it so I did my best to capture a few of those roadside impressions. I suppose there isn't anything grand about this particular outing nor this particular building, and perhaps nothing of worth to our project, but the fact that Shanti and I actually got out of the apartment and photographed something made the afternoon worthwhile. Regardless, we had an enjoyable evening. To cap off the night, we hit Mema's Alaskan Tacos and ate some greasy tacos.


Sorry to leave my small audience hanging on for new content. Getting out to photograph has proven to be much more difficult than I imagined! I guess early sunsets contribute to little post workday time for shooting. Hopefully as summer and spring approach I'll have a lot more time after work to take the long route home. Take care all.