Ellipsis Photo Shoot: Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring

Carly's assignment for the week is Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring...

It's a pretty simple one for this week folks... just grab your camera and say GOODBYE WINTER or HELLO SPRING! Show us what you enjoy the most about either season, or maybe even show us a picture that you feel accuately illustrates the changing seasons.

This pretty much sums it up...

Round Robin Challenge: Up to Five Miles Away

The latest Round Robin Photo Challenge is Up to Five Miles Away...

The idea is to get in your car, or if you prefer a bike or your own two feet, and show us something in any direction you choose, up to 5 miles from your home. For a little added fun, tell us when you sign up for the challenge, in which direction you plan to go. Let's see which direction gets the most attention.

Just a few days before this challenge was posted I had ventured just east of my home to take some photos of the old abandoned rock quarry.  The quarry was in operation when I was a kid and I could occasionally catch a glimpse of the hole they were digging and could see the trucks coming and going.  As the years went by, I realized that this hole was getting mighty deep.  Too deep as it turns out.  Not too long ago they finally dug down to the water table and the hole quickly filled with water, creating a mighty deep lake.

I could always catch glimpses of the quarry from the highway, through the fence and the trees.  Finally, after ignoring a few "no trespassing" signs, I saw the quarry up-close and personal...




Here's a swampy mess that is also on the quarry property...



Here are a couple of older pics of things within five miles of my home.  A birdhouse...



...and a view of Lookout Mountain.

Check out the Round Robin Challenge blog for more information on this challenge and a list of links to the other participants' entries.

Missionary Ridge -- a Picasa Web Album

Missionary Ridge:  A Picasa Web Album

A collection of photographs centered on Missionary Ridge which runs through Chattanooga and into north Georgia.  Missionary Ridge was a Civil War battlefield, the site of the climactic Union victory in the Battles for Chattanooga, and contains many National Park Service reservations surrounded by prime Chattanooga real estate.

Click on the photo below to enter the web album...

Missionary Ridge

Cross-posted at my Civil War blog, Civil War Meanderings

The New York Peace Monument

This year marks the 100th anniversary of a Lookout Mountain landmark, the New York Peace Monument, located at Point Park near Chattanooga. The monument was dedicated on Nov. 15, 1910 to commemorate the Civil War's "Battle Above the Clouds." The real battle took place on the slopes below.

Conciliation was a major theme and the statue on top of the monument is the only one I know of that has a Union soldier and a Confederate soldier shaking hands.




Here's a view of the whole thing.

Several hundred veterans of both armies attended the dedication and the notorious Daniel Sickles was a featured speaker.

Cross-posted at my Civil War blog, Civil War Meanderings

Round Robin Challenge: Look Up/Look Down

The Round Robin Group's latest photo challenge is pretty straightforward: Look Up/Look Down. Apparently, the perspective is up to me...

Look Up



Look Down

Visit the Round Robin blog to participate and to see the entries of the other participants.

Racing Through Turn Three

I attended Sunday's Sprint Cup race, the Kobalt Tools 500, at Atlanta Motor Speedway. I finally managed to go through my photos and add a set of 34 of them to Flickr. Here's a sample...




This was the first NASCAR race I ever saw in person and was my second trip to Atlanta Motor Speedway -- I saw an IROC race there many, many years ago. I had a great time and would recommend attending a race to anyone who is even the slightest bit interested in NASCAR. It's a vastly different experience from watching on TV.

The biggest problem was finding a good place to take photos. My sight lines were obstructed by the catch fence and there was no place to get around it without breaking a few rules and getting thrown out of the joint.

Bloggers' Community Photo Challenge: Trees

"This month's challenge is TREE or TREES, whether it is one unique tree or a small grouping, find an image that includes trees. The tree or trees should be the main subject."

The Tivoli

The historic Tivoli Theatre. Chattanooga, Tn.

Ellipsis Photo Shoot: Houses of Worship

Here are a couple of photos I held back from Friday's snowy photo excursion so that they would be fresh for this week's edition of Carly's Ellipsis Photo Shoot. The topic this week is Houses of Worship...

EMPS #74: HOUSES OF WORSHIP
The art of Architecture fascinates me, and some of the most beautiful examples of that art seem to be HOUSES OF WORSHIP. So, for this week's assignment, please show me the HOUSES OF WORSHIP in your area. From simple country churches, to big city cathedrals, to mosques, or temples ... it's all good. And yes, feel free to show me an archived photo this week, but please make sure it's one you haven't previously displayed in at least 6 months or so.

Extra Credit: Show me a Stained Glass Window.

I don't think the architecture of this particular church is what Carly was looking for. It's actually quite plain and that breezeway off to the left connects to an ugly, generic, gymnasium-type building that I couldn't bring myself to include in the picture. There are many more architecturally interesting churches around the area, but, sadly, this was the only one along my route Friday.

I got the extra credit.  You can see more detail of the stained glass window by clicking the photos and going large.

A Winter Storm Slideshow

This afternoon I went on a long photo excursion/hike to see what Mother Nature unleashed here in the Chattanooga area (actually just south of the border around Rossville, Georgia). This slideshow is what I came up with.



To take it one photo at a time, visit the Picasa web album.

Ellipsis Photo Shoot: The Best of 2009

At Ellipsis, Carly wants to see a gallery of our best 2009 photos...

EMPS #70: YOUR 2009 GALLERY.
New Year's is upon us, so, let's take a look back at what we all did this last year, as far as our photography went. This week's photo shoot assignment is to create a gallery of your best photography from 2009. Best in this case doesn't necessarily mean the photos you thought were perfect, best can also mean the ones you simply enjoyed taking the most. How you choose the photos for your gallery is completely up to you. You can choose a special gallery, such as florals, or landscapes, or maybe you will choose to highlight your best portraits. It's all up to you, but the photos you choose MUST be from 2009, and of course, your photos can be previously published.

EXTRA CREDIT: Caption the photos you choose for your gallery.

I got my Nikon D40, my first digital SLR camera, back in late January 2009. I've tried to spend the past year learning how to use it. I'm still learning, but here's a Picasa Web Album charting my progress.  I've posted most of these before, but a few are new.  Click the picture below to enter my 2009 gallery.

2009

Almost Christmas Lights

Today's email brought the latest email update from the New York Institute of Photography.  This latest monthly newletter has a great article on taking photos of Christmas lights.  They could have sent this a few weeks earlier, but it's great info and the lights will be around for a while longer.

Here's a shot of some Christmas lights.  No, actually it's a shot of the reflection of some Christmas lights.  There aren't actually any trees in this lobby.

Ornamental

Ellipsis Photo Shoot: People and Places

After weeks of procrastination and other obstacles, I'm finally participating in another Ellipsis Photo Shoot. This week Carly wants to see crowds...

EMPS # 67: PEOPLE AND PLACES.

Let's have a little fun this week, by getting lost in a crowd! Grab your cameras and show me PEOPLE AND PLACES! Anywhere you see a people will do. Parks. Malls. Church. Concerts. Art Galleries. Museums. You get the idea. Photographing a crowd is be good, but it can be a crowd of as few as 2. And yes, archived photos are fine, but, as always, I would enjoy seeing something brand new as well! Also, please tell us a little about the place you found the people for your photographs.

I haven't been in very many crowds lately so I'm turning to the archives.  Maybe these pictures from last June will warm you up a little bit.  Anytime during the summer months you can find a crowd at Coolidge Park in downtown Chattanooga at the north end of the Walnut Street Bridge.  The biggest crowd is always around the fountain.  Just walk right up and water shoots out all around you; it's a great way to stay cool...

First Snow

The first snow of the winter of 2009-10
Taken December 5, 2009
Rossville, Georgia