Round Robin -- Flowers for Steven

I haven't participated in a Round Robin Photo Challenge for quite some time, but I couldn't pass up an opportunity to post a few photos as an homage for Steven.

I didn't really know Steven that well.  I didn't even know his last name until I read his obituary online.  But he was a good online friend for quite some time.

We first "met" while blogging at the now-defunct AOL Journals.  Steven was one of the first to leave AOL in search of a better blogging platform for showcasing his photography.  We knew each other mainly by leaving comments on each other's blogs.  Steven was very knowledgeable about photography and blogging, and his passion for both was very contagious.

After the death of his cat Pickles, Steven took a break from blogging and just disappeared.  I was shocked and deeply saddened when another online friend informed me recently that Steven had passed away almost three years previous.

So now the word has finally gotten around online, and the latest Round Robin Challenge is Flowers for Steven.  I hope Steven would approve and I hope you'll check out some of his wonderful photography on his blog and his Flickr page.

Flowers for Steven

Brotherton House

Brotherton House, a photo by fdtate on Flickr.

A winter scene -- the Brotherton House at Chickamauga Battlefield.

Winter

Hip Snowmen

Hip Snowmen, a photo by fdtate on Flickr.

A men's store window display, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Christmas 2010.

BelAir

BelAir, a photo by fdtate on Flickr.

Orange Glow

Orange Glow, a photo by fdtate on Flickr.

A Memorial Day Photo

A small little tribute to Memorial Day, this photo was taken at Holland-Watkins Memorial Park in Chickamauga, Georgia.  The park was named for Sgt. Eddie Holland and Cpl. Tommy Watkins, two residents of Chickamauga who were killed in Vietnam.

Ellipsis Photo Shoot: Spring Blossoms and Flowers

This week's Ellipsis Photo Shoot has to do with spring blossoms and flowers. Carly wants to see what's blooming now in our neighborhoods, so I got out today to see what I could find. I was especially looking for wildflowers. I wasn't particularly impressed with the selection or with the results. About the best thing that came out were these photos of a few roadside daisies.

Even More Tornado Damage

Some more photos of the tornado damage all around me after the April outbreak...

More Photos of Tornado Damage

More nearby scenes of devastation after the tornado outbreak last month:

Dani

I was playing around with my new printer/scanner/copier and scanned in this photo of my daughter Danielle. I took this shot about 20 years ago, probably with a Minolta SLR, and it is one of my all-time favorite photos of her.

More Tornado Damage

More photos of the wreckage left behind by the tornadoes a few weeks ago...

Ellipsis Photo Shoot: Animals

My online friend Carly does a little photo shoot thing on her blog. She gives you a topic and you show off some photos.  It's free and anyone can play along, which I like to do when I have a photo or two handy to fit the topic.  She comes up with a new topic every Monday.  This week's topic is animals, preferably something wild and exotic.



I captured this landscape/action photo after a snow storm last winter.



The Hypnotoad. This was a late night visitor at a previous address, circa 2009.

For extra credit, Carly wants to see some pets.



Dixie and Scappy. Dixie is the black and white. Scrappy is the brown. These are daughter Dani's dogs.



Mason. Son Chris's dog. My son also has a dog named Dixon.

The Tornado Outbreak

The April 27 tornado outbreak throughout the Southeast is old news now, but I wasn't online at the time. There was a lot of activity and damage all around us, but we got off lucky. One big twister touched down and wrecked a nearby subdivision, then rose and passed right over us.

The following pictures were taken on my first expedition outside after the morning storm. There would be a much bigger tornado and much more damage later on that afternoon.






I'm going to post more tornado damage photos over the next several days.

Honest Charley

A self-portrait of sorts, this is a reflection off of a shiny car body at the 2011 Chattanooga World of Wheels show.