Coming to this blog this very moment is an onslaught of photographs of our title characters. Where do I start? It is hard to take a bad photograph of a good subject isn't it? The answer is yes, good subjects equal good photographs. Light is equally as important, if not more so, but when you are a roving photographer such as myself, you make do. For some folks serious editing programs can help to overcome less than ideal conditions, but I have no patience for those programs, so basically go with the flow.
BTW, it is raining in quite a dramatic fashion as I type this on a Tuesday afternoon. We heard from both Bill and David that there was a massive storm last night in Orlando; the videos are intense with flashes of lightening, rolling thunder, hail and of course, pouring rain. Fortunately property was spared any damage although last week during a storm a lightening strike took out a bunch of Bill's electronics. as well as his neighbors. That's no fun. I did mention that David and Michelle will be moving away from LPV in less than a month and a new owner will begin life in their former condo didn't I? The sale was swift and satisfying.
Okay, onward. The last few weeks I have taken so many flower/bee/butterfly/bird photos that I thought I would do what I think is not so fondly called, a photo dump.
Ready?
Thank you very much Lowes garden center. I absolutely love this shade of Echinacea.
A soon to be butterfly taken on a little walk at Blue Ridge Dam. Actually, we saw this on the day that D & M put the condo for sale and had three offers a few hours later. Bruce had just gotten off the phone with Dave when he spotted this on the path.
Whoever decided to plant these huge flowering beds along Hwy 64 should receive a raise ASAP.
Not only the yellow, but get a load of this.
And yes that would be our Subaru parked on the shoulder of the highway. Not only were there two, but in total I think there were six? Now I am not so sure of the number but it was a whole lot of fun taking photographs of these colorful zinnias.
Surely you did not think I would leave it at these wide angle shots did you?
My goodness it is a grasshopper, albeit a small one.
Even Mr. Peck got into the action and that is saying a lot.
When presented with something like this, which frankly happens very rarely, if you are like me you have the mindset of a photographer doing a National Geographic story. Take a bunch!
On our way to Brevard we had seen this glorious sight and once we were home for a few days Bruce took me back out to the highway for a photo shoot. I simply could not pass up the opportunity!
A butterfly above and a butterfly below although not so obvious, so zoom away!
Not only were the butterflies in heaven, but the bees were pretty pleased as well.
Speaking of pleased, and probably what prompted this blog post was my excitement after seeing this yesterday on my river walk.
Have the Robins returned? Are they migrating? From a distance I saw movement and as it turned out there was this tiny stream that was providing both bathing and drinking water for the multitude of birds flying about, mostly out of reach of my zoom, but this Eastern Bluebird turned out pretty good.
While birds have the stage, here's a cutie, a little Finch.
I don't know about you but I just love the shot below even if I did take it!
As far as birds are concerned even though Northern Cardinals are the North Carolina state bird, unfortunately, I see them rarely, so when I saw this on a walk I was like, YES!!
There are so many wildflowers that seem to come out of nowhere. The river walk near the pickleball courts is along the Valley River and you can approach it from either side of the river. One side is quite groomed while the other is much better for nature photography because it is primarily wild. Wildflowers galore!
Purple flowers rise high above the white flowers although they don't show up very well. Butterflies baby!
Near the same spot a white one which I have seen almost never.
And what made these pale pink flowers pop up out of the clear blue, well I guess more like the clear green. Get it? A two-fer...bug and butterfly.
The Canadian Geese don't know what to make of the diminishing river and neither do I. Understanding how the Hiwassee Dam controls the water level is coming slowly to my brain.
We actually visited the dam and I've yet to share that story, but I will! Truth be told, I was just so excited about my Robin find that I put this together purely for the photographs. As most of you know I go pretty much nowhere without a camera in my hand or bag and I must say that it has served me well all of these years! Of course everyone is doing pretty much the same now with mobile phone cameras. I'm still old school and use my Olympus or Panasonic.
There is a casino just outside town and one day Bruce said let's pull in there to see what it is all about. The parking area was nice I will say that much.
I don't know what it is about either the light, or the climate or a combination of the two, here in Western North Carolina but most every flower bed I have encountered has been overflowing with blossoms. As to the inside of the casino, I don't imagine we will go back any time soon, but I guess at our age if we have learned anything it is to never say never!
Also, not too far from home, on our way back from visiting nearby Blue Ridge, I noticed a winery on the map so we made our way there off the highway. Only thing is, it was not open even though it was but four in the afternoon. More on that in another post. We will go back when they are open if only to see these beautiful horses again that I spotted in a field. Actually they were not all that far from the roadside fence but they were exceedingly uncooperative!! I had this beautiful frame of wildflowers but darn if they would ever raise their heads! Cornfields, coordinating wildflowers and beautiful horses in one photograph...so I wished!
So while horses are not a main character of this post, the wildflowers most certainly are!
Finally there are a plethora of photographic opportunities here at Charlotte's Cottage,
and here,
and here.
Peek a boo, I see you.
Might I recommend a bird feeder on the other side of your window?
A tree perch works pretty well too.
I cannot get enough of the hummingbird antics.
I noticed some new wildflowers had popped up on the adjacent hill and I told Bruce to pick me up at the bottom of said hill when he was finished rinsing the car of bird poop. Proving once again that a whole heck of a lot of taking good photographs is being in the right place at the right time, I could not believe my luck as I approached on foot and saw the beautiful Tiger Swallowtail having a meal. Then she was done, flying off to another feeding area.
Now that is what I call a photo dump! I hope it brings a measure of joy to you when you need it most. Our beautiful world has something to offer each and every day and that, my friends, is why my business was called "Out & About Photography."
What will I see tomorrow? Shoot the day is young!
your friend,
Gail
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