Biltmore Estate - Asheville, NC

This past weekend was about moms and visiting new places. There is nothing better than spending some quality time with family and enjoying a new experience together. Our destination was the famed Biltmore Estate built by George Vanderbilt just over 100 years ago. This house has everything a rich person could afford and poor man dream of having. The price of admission alone almost made me dream I could go for a one day visit. If you have been to Disney World then you can certainly afford to go to see this mansion. Like I said before, it was Mother's Day weekend so we were not going to hold back. The visit was worth every penny as evident by the beautiful sunny and cool weather we had to accompany our first experience at the Biltmore.

I have never been a huge fan of history. Unfortunately, I cannot accurately recall any of the details of what I had learned about, but here's a summary. Basically, there was a rich guy with a lot of money. He wanted a big house and a lot of land. The land Mr. Vanderbilt decided on happened to be somewhat crappy barren land with no features. I'm sure he got it for next to nothing. Talk about a great real estate purchase. Apparently, the weather had its way with the land and eroded the landscape. Mr. Vanderbilt, with all of his money, decided he would revitalize the land, build a large house much bigger than anything else in America, and hire a bunch of servants to keep it clean. Later on he sold a bunch of it back to the government. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me if you have a lot of money and not much else to spend it on.

In all seriousness, Mr. Vanderbilt and family did a great job of building a National icon. The legacy of his family lives on through his only daughter. Somehow the house and property got passed along through the family which now pretty much runs the estate as a theme park of sorts. If you ask our group, the best part of the day trip was visiting the winery for "tasting." Along with the sampling of wines bottled on the estate, there was an assortment of complimentary snacks to keep the wine tasters happy.




From a photographer's point of view, there were many elements to capture. At times I was exhausted just trying to compose shots. The landscape varied greatly. Between the forests, gardens, house, and other elements of the estate, I was actually fairly happy the day had ended. The most frustrating part of the day was not being able to photograph inside the house. I suppose the only logical explanation there is that the flash bulbs of thousands of tourists could eventually fade the interior paints and fabrics that decorate the house. Bummer.

If you ever visit N. Carolina I highly recommend you visit Asheville and the Biltmore Estate. With pictures and good memories in my mind, I look forward to my continual exploration of this state and the many historical sites ready to be photographed. Enjoy.

Happy Mother's Day

For Mother's Day this year I was fortunate to spend some time with mom. In the picture above you can see she was enjoying being queen for a weekend. She and my brother's mother-in-law Brenda flew up from their homes in Tampa for the weekend to visit and to spend some quality time up here in N. Carolina.


The weekend's events included a visit to the neighborhood where my new house is being built, some quality time between lunches and dinners, and a visit to Asheville and the Biltmore Estate. Today's blog entry is put together with images taken at the Biltmore Estate's gardens and conservatory. I couldn't think of a more appropriate way to celebrate moms than with a nice picture of her being silly and some flowers.

The Biltmore, which is the largest house in the U.S., is loaded with elegance and all of the luxuries money could by back in the very late 1800s. My mother absolutely loves history. Every summer she was in charge of planning our road trips. You could pretty much count that we would end up learning about the history of some small town in the U.S. As a kid, we all wanted Disney World and theme parks. Mom always wanted to go see some historic battle site or some small town in the middle of nowhere. As with growing older, I can finally appreciate all of those "boring" places we visited. Now I can't wait to revisit a lot of those places and gain a finer appreciation the second time around. It's strange what "getting older and wiser" will do to a person.

I can recall my mother forcing the family sometime around dinner time to watch that show "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" with Robin Leach back when we were kids. I remember how boring it was to learn about what rich people did with their money. This house and its grounds were truly amazing. Mom loved every minute of the day, especially the wine tasting, the audio history tour, and the gardens. At the turn of every corner I was just waiting for Robin Leach to greet us.


As you can well imagine, I enjoyed just walking around taking pictures of the estate with all of its detailing and grandness. Learning about the house and the level of sophistication for its day was also very interesting.


To all the mothers out there, and to my mom especially, Happy Mother's Day. I hope you enjoyed your weekend in N. Carolina with "the kids."

An Evening by the Lake

Content for the blog has been thin lately. For that I apologize. Between work and finalizing my relocation to N. Carolina, I have not had much leisure time to get out and shoot for practice or for blog content so I am sure you understand. However, I know there are a few loyal readers out there so I decided to take a moment and find some new fodder.

A post or two ago I shared some pictures from Salem Lake. I later found out that the lake itself has a permiter of about 7 miles. I also found out that the park has a recreational site complete with boat launch, bait shop, and playgrounds for the young ones.

With camera in car, I took a moment after work to take advantage of the late spring sunset and photograph an emptying Salem Lake Park. Accompanying me was Shanti, the local park ranger (passing by), and all the geese and ducks standing by for a handout.

I look forward to many weekends of visiting local parks and enjoying the amenities of my new town. Enjoy the photos.

Downtown Winston Salem

Downtown Winston Salem has a very limited skyline. This particular building is the most dominant and has the most architectural appeal. It happened to be really foggy and wet out tonight. I had an assignment downtown already so I took a moment to pull over and snap these two shots. This town may be small, but the few tall buildings add the feel of a much larger city.

Camera Phone, "Photos on the Go"

Kernersville & Winston Salem, NC - April 2006

Every photographer should have access to a camera at all times. When I was recently hired onto my job I was asked whether I wanted the BlackBerry 7520 or the Motorola i870. Hmmm...I'll take the one with the 1.3MP built in camera. Without further ado, here are some random images I have been taking along the way here in N. Carolina on my i870. (Post production includes histogram adjustments, color curves, and mild saturation to make up for lesser than desirable image quality from the phone.)

Enjoy.


Here is my brother's house, which is also my current residence. If you happened to be taking a swig of something to drink right now, chances are you'd spit all over the monitor if I told you what he paid for this house about 2.5 years ago. (Think 1 bedroom/1 bath condo in Tampa, FL.) His house is a 3br/2.5ba, 1900 sq ft, 2 car garage home here in Kernersville.




This is an active barn with attached stable. There weren't any horses out when I drove by and took this photo. This stable is not necessarily located out in the sticks either. If you exit my brother's neighborhood, you would see this plot of property just across the street.



If you were to ask any local where the best "greasy spoon" restaurant in town was, they would send you to "Bill & Leah's." On my 2nd week of work some co-workers invited me out to lunch and took me there. Mmmm....chili cheese dog w/ onions, a bacon cheeseburger "all the way", twice fried crispy fries, and a large Pepsi to wash it all down. Someone call an ambulance.


My brother's friends get together every weekend. It's about as consistent as watching the group from the television show "Friends." One of his good buddies, Bill, also happens to have an interest in photography. We were out on his deck taking photos of the moon. So, I decided to test the "spotlight" feature on my phone for an illuminated photo.


I saw this "Discount Salvage Store" on my way to see my new house being built. My curiosity piqued and I had to check it out. I walked in and was a bit confused at what they were selling. The best description I can give of the store is that it's a cross between "Big Lots" and a thrift store. You can pick of flashcubes for your 1970's Polaroid in this place. They are marked as "Special - $1.99"



What exactly is this tree staring at? Creepy huh. I also recently was invited to golf for the first time up here. As we were packing the car to leave the course, I spotted this tree. Or rather, the tree spotted me.



Porch sitting is a nice past time up here - if you're old or hung over I guess. My brother has two white rocking chairs on his front porch. The weather is nice up here this time of year. I have already fallen asleep in one of these chairs on an early Saturday morning.



This is my brother's (and wife's) dog Petey. Petey is pound rescue and is a mixture of a Shitzu (sp?) and a Rat Terrier (or some kind of Terrier). Petey and I play hide and seek almost everyday when I get home from work. The best is when the lights are out and I scare the bejeezus out of him. He whimpers loudly and then comes around trying to nip me in the butt afterwards. He's a good dog.

HEY FLORIDA - THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING. You see this beautiful 2 story, 3br/2.5 bath, 2 car garage home with 1900sq. ft. and a fireplace? It can be yours for $165,000!!! Kernersville is growing - FAST. There is a brand new Target opening just up the street, a new stadium seating movie theatre, shopping plaza, and grocery store opening within the "Kernersville" city limits. Nevermind neighboring Greensboro and Winston Salem which are also growing rapidly. My neighborhood has sold ALL of its lots. Centex homes currently has about 11 new neighborhoods currently under development. Need I say more? If you can't buy new, buy a huge pre-built home for UNDER $100,000! Don't miss your opportunity! Ok, I've said my peace.

I hope you've enjoyed my camera phone photo essay. It's a decent little phone that gets the job done. I will be collecting more images along the way and posting them right here.

NEWSFLASH - It might be too early to spill the beans, and maybe I'm placing a jinx on myself for announcing this, but I have a prospective opportunity to photograph for a startup magazine right here in N. Carolina! More on that as I learn more. Heck, I have to start shooting more!

- E

Horizons Park "Heebie-Jeebies"

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter. I did the usual and headed out to a local park to scout for photo opportunities. This weekend's park of choice had an unusual piece of history hidden in the back of the park away from the hiking trails.

Horizons Park has the typical features of something you would find in most any city park: picnic shelters, playground, ballpark, etc. are amenities to be enjoyed. Amongst one of those amenities was a series of nature trails that all disappeared into the forest. I opted to walk the 45 minute nature trail loop. This forest resembled something I would find in Florida - tall trees that form an overhead canopy, a good variety of bugs, butterflies, squirrels, and small streams with tiny foot bridges. My curiosity, as always, led me to the outer perimeter of the park. Somewhere near the halfway point of the hike I decided to veer off of the trail and head towards the edge of the forest. In Florida, due to constraints on open space and property, most parks border houses or development. This particular park bordered an empty plot of land I would have to assume was either privately owned or maintained by the state's park department.

Along the way to the backside of the park I photographed the usual: green leaves, plants, rotting wood, a couple of butterflies, and even a tree engraved with the names "Rita & Tim" in the middle of a heart with an arrow through it. They were probably some young kids on one of their first dates together. The engraving had been there a while because the tree was slowly erasing the marks from the growth. I say, if you're gonna "tag" something at least put a date next to the mark for other people to see.

On this particular spring day I did not see to many birds in the forest although I heard a lot of singing and chirping high in the canopy. Every now and again a brave finch made its way to the forest floor probably to snag up a worm or insect. Perhaps I'll read a book on birding sometime to determine the best strategies for photographing birds. I did see a few finches here and there up in the trees, but they were way to skittish and quick for me to even get in frame. The squirrels here did not see to like the presence of humans either.

The majority of my walk tended to turn more into a relaxing hike. Most of the features of the forest were consistent throughout and at times I was beginning to bore of the scenery. Only twice was I able to sneak up on a butterfly willing to hold still long enough for me to snap a photo. Unfortunately, like the birds and squirrels, they too moved quickly for me to artistically compose. In one frame, I actually captured the butterfly in frame, but in the other there were too many blades of grass and tree branches to distract from the main subject.

Park walks are always great for relaxation, but since arriving in N.C., it feels as if it has been a while since I have gotten out and photographed anything of substantial matter. I guess midway through the hike I became a little frustrated that I had not seen anything exciting, colorful, or memorable. So, somewhere around the halfway point I started to look beyond the pathway and out towards the edge of the forest hoping to stray towards something more interesting. As it would turn out, the edge of the forest withheld a secret from the casual nature trail hiker.

Every now and again the wind would blow enough to reveal an open field. The field looked as plain as any other I might find in Florida. My brother has warned me on several occasions that N. Carolina still lives by the same laws of the land as back in the early 1900s. If you wander onto another man's property you are bound to encounter an old man with a shotgun - "trespassers beware." I was too interested in the open field that I decided the risk was worth the thrill of "exploring" some backwoods part of a park in rural Winston Salem. I wandered off trail for a good 100 yards or so until I made my way to the tree obscurring the clearing.

The breeze on this particular day was excellent. Between the sounds of the trees, watching the grass in the field sway, and realizing that I had not seen another hiker in over 40 minutes, a feeling of eeriness rushed over me at once. If you have ever seen the movie "Deliverance" then you might know where I am coming from. Just as soon as I had realized I found a great hidden section of the park my eye caught a black iron fencing to one corner of the field. Camera in hand, I walked over to investigate what I thought was probably a garden or maybe a protected nesting area for owls - hell, I'm a city guy. I did not know what to expect. Within a few yards of approaching the fence I noticed the stones and realized immediately that I was walking towards a makeshift cemetery. At this point the sounds of leaves, snapping twigs, or birds rustling were accentuated. Thoughts of scary movies and the disappearances of tourists in the forest briefly skated across my mind. Still, I was enjoying the day and I had found the excitement I was looking for. The fence that was erected around the cemetery had obviously been placed there by the park or surviving family to protect the grounds from park patrons. Prior to stumbling onto this gravesite, my only experience with cemeteries was with maintained cemeteries where the landscaping is manicured and the plots neatly arranged. I could go on about how bizzare this place was, but the most striking fact was how old the headstones were.


There was one stone just at the front of the gravesite that read "Children of Jackson Guthrie and Edward Marshall." There were about 7 headstones total with the youngest of the children being a 14 year old girl, one 18 year old girl, and two 19 year old girls. I realize people did not live as long in 1857 as we do these days, but 19? Overall, I wondered if some sort of accident or untreatable disease took their lives. It was sobering to see a cemetery filled with nothing but the children of two families.

I took my photos, reflected on my chance encounter in the forest, and moved on. Easter Sunday was memorable this year. I look forward to many more walks in the forest and perhaps other exciting finds. I live in a state surrounded in history and wouldn't be surprised to find more headstones, historic houses, or relics of a time past.

Salem Lake Stroll

Salem Lake Park - Winston-Salem, NC April 12, 2006

So this is my first official photographic entry on my blog of a park in my new town. The theme, as you can see, has not strayed much from where I left off when I was living in Tampa. Parks, nature, trails, and just walking with a camera is all a part of what it means to just lose focus of the day's events and slow down.

Slowing down is a natural occurrence here. Considering there are more people in Hillsborough County than the three cities together called the "Piedmont Triad", somehow I think this place suits me. Homeowners tend to their lawns and carefully, but quietly and in unspoken fashion, compete against their neighbors for curbside appearance dominance. Not too long ago I walked into a fast food restaurant and after only a few moments of waiting on a batch of fries the manager came over to promptly apologize for the time it took to get me my order. I was puzzled. Yesterday I used my blinker to change lanes and low and behold - they let me in. Strange.

Today's outing was a practice in just walking, looking, and absorbing. The park I chose is relatively ho-hum and kind of yawn inspiring relative to the rest of what N. Carolina has to offer. I cannot wait to have a chance at photographing a night sky while camped someplace out in a valley. The famed "Biltmore Estate" and the five hours distance between here and Washington D.C. have me itching for longer weekends and shortened work days. I cannot wait to see what this state has to offer me. Complacency in my newfound home has not yet settled into the routine of waking up and going to work daily. A simple task such as the need to trim my growing hair reminds me that my barber since the fifth grade will no longer be nearby. The car I sit in and ride to work in no longer rolls down the same streets. The rearview mirror is no longer a self defense mechanism. Rather, it is more of another view to check out the new surroundings. I am reminded that life in a new place truly means that life here will be with new faces. The military taught me a few things about new faces. The ones I have encountered here have been friendly to me.


Today I watched this older guy pull off of the road and onto the should to find his way into a side entrance to the park. He had no dog nor human companion. He quickly pulled a nice sized kayak off of the roof of his modest Ford Taurus and carefully rolled it down the gravel path on a cleverly designed set of wheels. Something tells me he has done this before. I couldn't tell if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders or if he was just eager to get on the water. I carefully snuck a photo of him paddling away. I did not want him to see me. Some part of me thinks that him noticing me would have ruined his experience as if I was some intruder on his private early evening cruise. He did me the favor by not looking over at me - you know how people do with malcontent and evil curious eyes.

The park walk was nice. Watching the sun as it set down through the forest was a nice end to a busy day and something that will never age. I look forward to my new house and for Shanti to join me near the end of the month. Exploring a new place with someone else is always rewarding. We have lots of exploring to do and many more parks to visit. Thanks for stopping by.

emc PHOTOGRAPHY "BEST OF"

Since my relocation to North Carolina I have not had much opportunity to head out and photograph my new territory. We have had a few rainy days here, including yesterday, which was supposed to be a good photo outing for me. Hopefully today I can head out and provide some new views of the place where I have moved.

In the meantime, I have spent a few evenings putting together a photo collage of some of the photos I have accumulated over the past year or two. I plan on tweaking this photo collage when I have a little bit more time with different selections. Once completed, it should make for a nice 16x20" wall poster.

Coming Soon: April 22 - Whitakers High Power Rocketry, Mother's Day 2006 - Asheville & the Biltmore Estate, Memorial Day - Hiking, camping, & cabin lodging (Virginia?)

Also: Cell Phone Photos! My latest Motorola/NEXTEL i870 has a built in 1.3MP camera. With accessibility to a camera at all times, you'll never know what you're going to see.

Stay tuned for local Kernersville and North Carolina photography!

- Eugenio

Fort DeSoto "Finale"

Kites & Canoeing - Ft. DeSoto Park, FL - 3.27.06

If you have not carefully read my previous posts or perhaps not associated with my network of friends and family, you will now know that Florida will soon be a view that I will get to experience one last time through the rearview mirrors in my tiny Sentra. Given the fact that I will take every opportunity to come back home, this time I leave Florida in pursuit of a new employment opportunity and a new home. With only a few hours and counting until I depart the state I grew up in, I thought I would take this moment to share with you the last wishes of a simple Florida boy like myself.

To date, this weblog has been dedicated solely to the pursuit of photography and the pure enjoyment of the sights offered by new places. This last entry is no different except the equipment I used to photograph my outing is not something that made my "arsenal" of camera gear nor a camera I might recommend for the serious avid photographer. The camera used on this particular outing was a simple $9.99 single use Kodak camera preloaded with ISO 800 speed film and featuring an exclusive "Ektakron" lens. (I think that is how you spell it.) For the conditions we were to experience, this camera is absolute excrement. I give it credit though - we captured some memories. With the help of post production histogram adjustments, sharpness filtering, and a little hue/saturation tweaking, I think the image quality is acceptable for my oh-so-picky weblog of image quality.

If after 27 years of growing up in a state, give or take a few years for military service, how would you choose to spend your last day of entertainment and relaxation in your hometown? Kites. A beach. Mangroves and canoeing. Yes - that is correct. I spent a day with a great friend of mine, Jason Toft, flying kites and doing things this Florida boy will miss.

Just a couple of weeks ago I started to realize that my time in Florida was going to become very limited. The demands of packing, corresponding with a new employer, finishing tasks with a former employer, and making commitments to spend time with friends and family "one last time" started to pile on. Just this past weekend a last minute attempt at a family BBQ - hosted by my wonderful father - proved to be a great way to assemble the clan and distribute hugs all around all in one place. Just weeks ago though I knew I had to reserve one day to just hang out with a friend and do the things that I remember enjoying the most as a kid.


If you ask my friend Jason what he would have thought my last day hanging out would have been like, he might have told you that we would have spent a day at the local flying field launching rockets and reminiscing on our days as full time rocketeers. It was not to be. Partly because of packing and mostly because of time constraints, I suggest to Jason that we do something different. Instead of lugging launch pads, rockets, and other ground support equipment across an empty field, I figured for the sake of simplicity we should shelf the rockets and grab some air with stunt kites instead.

I think for once in my life I have finally understood the meaning of "go fly a kite" or why it is that people desire to be on the water. Somewhere between recovering Jason's kite as he plowed it into the beach sand, hoping to God our canoe didn't flip in the Ft. DeSoto bayou, and sensing that I was slowly getting a sunburn, I realized that harnessing the wind's power and paddling along that the last thought on my mind was what my first day of work would be like or how I should carefully document every expenditure from my travels for tax purposes. Living in Florida - for the most part - has largely given me the opportunity to feel just like that one moment when all I heard was the small beach waves slapping the shore. I guess I just woke up one day and realized that every day is not like feeling the breeze and just enjoying the sunshine. I need a house. I need a place to live. I need to chase opportunities and hopefully somewhere out there I can find my serenity. There is someplace out there that will afford me the peace of mind where I can just forget when the car payment is due or how I will increase my salary. Somewhere down the road I will find another Boca Ciega Millenium Park or a charming evening of photography in Upper Tampa Bay Park. Quality of life is out there. Sometimes you just have to leave your home to find it. .

It has been my sincerest hope that this blog has shown you a piece of what I have learned to be "quality of life." If you ever forget why it is that you work so hard day in and day out, call your buddy and do something you enjoyed as a kid. I promise the day's experience will put life into perspective and remind you what it is that makes life so enjoyable and working for it so worthwhile.

Please check back next week when I will be blogging from a new state and a new life.

All the best,

Eugenio