Ellipsis Photo Shoot: Stairs

The topic for this week's Ellipsis Photo Shoot is Stairs...

Going up? Coming down? Either direction is fine. This week, I simply want to see some stairs! Archived photos are fine, but as always, new photos are encouraged. If you do decide to go with an archived photo, please try to make it one we haven't seen before, or at least in the last 6 months. :)

Extra Credit: Show me some stairs of historical or cultural interest.

When I first saw this assignment, I immediately thought of the Stairs to Nowhere in front of the Tennessee Aquarium in downtown Chattanooga. Since I couldn't get downtown this week, to the archives we go.

This is a very old photo taken many years ago with my trusty old point-and-shoot Olympus showing the Stairs to Nowhere. They go up, then right back down the other side.



As you can see in this much newer (but still old photo), they're very ornamental in front of the building.  I'm not too sure that they have any cultural or historical interest.

Ellipsis Photo Shoot: Strange or Unusual Sights

I'm very late on this assignment -- I completely forgot about the deadline until I started seeing some of the other photographers' posts showing up on my feed reader.  Carly is pretty understanding though, so I'm posting it now.

The assignment is to post a photo of a strange or unusual sight...

EMPS #85: Strange or Unusual Sights.
This week, I want you to show me the STRANGE or UNUSUAL! Let your imagination out to play and WOW me with your photography! Archived photos are acceptable for this assignment, but you know how much I enjoy seeing new photos. :)

It doesn't get any stranger or any more unusual than this Pinto motorcycle...

Ellipsis Photo Shoot: In the Forefront

This week's Ellipsis Photo Shoot is fairly straightforward...

EMPS #84: In The Forefront.
Ok photographers, grab your cameras and show me a photograph of an object specifically in the FOREFRONT. The purpose of this week's assignment is to make us more aware of not just what's in front of us, but the backgrounds of our photos as well. I want to see some photography that captures the imagination. Any subject will do, it's all up to you, but this week... NO ARCHIVES! Get out in the air, and find your subject! Concentrate on both the FOREFRONT and the background, but make the FOREFRONT the star of the show!

This year marks my grandson's first foray into the exciting world of Dixie Youth Baseball so that has been the subject of most of my recent photography. I don't know if this is exactly what Carly is looking for -- not much depth of field -- but a lot of foreground stars.

Round Robin Challenge: An Almost Photo

If I understand the point of this Round Robin Challenge, the idea is to post a photo (or several) that didn't turn out exactly as you planned them.  That's pretty much the opposite of my usual routine -- to throw out all the photos that didn't work and show you the good ones -- but here goes...

This photo was a timing problem.  It was my first (and so far, only) trip to a NASCAR race.  I was trying to take a photo of the cars as they passed my seat in Turn Three lined up for the start of the race.  At the exact moment I went to snap the photo, the lady sitting in front of me suddenly threw up her banner.  Not too bad of a photo, but not exactly what I was going for.  Think she might be a Jeff Gordon fan?



This photo was taken in Chickamauga Battlefield not long after I purchased my camera.  I was still trying to work out all of the controls and settings.  I was set up to take landscape photos when we (my wife, my grandson and I) suddenly came upon a herd of deer in an open field to the right.  Before I could change lenses and settings the deer were spooked by our presence and took off, running through the field and crossing the road far in front of us to get to the safety of the woods.  I snapped what I could get, but it wasn't quite good enough.



Most of my photo mistakes are due to lighting problems.  Here I was trying to get a photo of this cannon at Point Park on Lookout Mountain overlooking Chattanooga.  The cannon was in the shade and the the city below was in bright sunshine.  To get the cannon properly exposed the city below was severely washed out.



And finally another photo ruined because I didn't know what I was doing with my new camera and another bad lighting problem -- it was nighttime. 

Check out the Round Robin blog for this and other challenges and play along with us. Check out the linking list to see what all the other Round Robins came up with this week.

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