Yesterday's Sunset

Here in the Chattanooga area, we don't have sunsets as much as we have the Sun disappearing behind mountains. The photos below, taken in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, show the Sun setting behind a section of Lookout Mountain known as Flat Top...

Giving the Economy a Little Prod

Tax Season is a welcome time for poor people, especially if they have a child or two they can claim. There's no waiting for the April 15 deadline. As soon as those W-2s come in from your employer, it's off to a nearby tax preparation professional to get 'em done. You're looking for someone who can get you some money as quickly as possible in the form of a refund anticipation loan. This usually means paying outrageous preparation fees for filling in some numbers that you could do yourself and paying usurious interest payments on that RAL, but you can usually have your money within a day or two.

For poor people, tax season is a godsend. It's a time to catch up on whatever big bill you've been putting off paying or it's a time to make a big purchase that you could otherwise never be able to afford. You see, if you have a child or two to claim and are poor enough, you qualify for the Earned Income Credit and a Child Care Credit, which means that you get back whatever money you've paid in through the year plus a significant amount extra.

So there I was with money in my pocket for the first time in a while. Instead of doing something sensible like putting it away for the many rainy days that lie ahead, I've been doing my part to stimulate the economy. It was time for the major purchase I've been putting off for a long, long time, a purchase I would not be able to make without some kind of financial windfall. It was finally time to buy a new camera.

When the New Year began, we (the wife and I) began browsing and comparing. I had a film SLR many moons ago, then purchased a digital point-and-shoot camera when digital cameras were still a new technology (and I was not so painfully underemployed.) My trusty Olympus was with me for many years through thick and thin before finally dying on me a while back. We thought about a nice digital point-and-shoot camera, but finally decided that now was the time to move on up to a digital SLR. The Nikon D40 seemed to be the basic jumping in point. We looked at kits and finally found two stores that were carrying the D40 with two lenses and a few other extras. The price between the two stores was three cents.

But we started the day at another store. Circuit City is going out of business and advertising big savings. Don't bother. They haven't gotten serious about liquidating yet. The basic Nikon D40, which has been listed at around $450 at several stores, was listed at $500 at Circuit City. Subtract their 10% liquidation discount and the camera was the same price there as everywhere else. No kits available -- no extra lens, no extra anything. Just a store full of customers wondering where all the discounts were. We went to one of the two stores with the deal we were looking for and laid the money down.

After spending Saturday night charging up the battery and beginning the slow process of deciphering the owner's manual, I awoke Sunday morning to the news that the same camera package was listed in the sale papers at the same store for $50 less. It somehow slipped the friendly salesperson's mind to let us know that they were about to mark it down. So Day One with my new camera was spent returning to the store to get some money back and delivering a few more minor prods to the economy. I haven't had a chance to do much except figure out all the camera's point-and-shoot modes and play around with them a little, but below are a few of the first photos with my new purchase. Many, many more to come...

Downtown Chattanooga: A Picasa Web Album

Downtown Chattanooga -- A Picasa Web Album

Downtown Chattanooga

Round Robin Challenge: Landmarks

The Round Robin Photo Challenge this time around comes from Carly...

Again, let's take an opportunity to show off our hometowns. I live in the Bay Area, so I have no real shortage of recognizable landmarks, so what I would do is try to show those landmarks in an interesting lighting circumstance, such as a sunset, or under special lighting conditions. But I want to see other places, and the landmarks that make those places so special. A beautifully designed building, an incredible bridge, or a monument of some sort, or maybe even an unusual road sign. It's all good!

Here in Chattanooga, one of the most recognizable landmarks is Lookout Mountain. It is visible almost anywhere in the Chattanooga Valley, and with one look at it you can pretty much figure out where you are. Here's what it looks like from across the valley on Missionary Ridge.



Here's another view from Missionary Ridge. In this one, you can see I-24 as it passes through the ridge on it's way toward downtown Chattanooga.



Here's a view of Lookout Mountain from downtown. This picture was taken on the Walnut Street Bridge over the Tennessee River. Another newer landmark is visible to the right. It's the Tennessee Aquarium, the anchor to Chattanooga's riverfront development.



Here's a view of the Tennessee Aquarium from street level -- Broad Street, to be exact.

Round Robin Challenge: Railroads

I haven't participated in a Round Robin Photo Challenge in quite a while. I'm hoping to do it more often as soon as I can come up with some new equipment (hopefully soon), but I couldn't pass up the topic of "Railroads."

Chattanooga, of course, is home to the Chattanooga Choo Choo, made popular through the old Glenn Miller song. This building, the Terminal Station, is otherwise known as the Chattanooga Choo Choo. It's now part of the Holiday Inn chain and you can sleep in railroad sleeper cars that have been converted into hotel rooms.



Then again, this may be the Chattanooga Choo Choo. On March 5, 1880, the first major public transportation linkage of the north and south was opened. The Cincinnati Southern Railroad, America's first municipal railroad system, began operations to Chattanooga. After a while, the trains on this run began to be called the "Chattanooga Choo-Choo."



There are several brick "sculptures" spread throughout downtown Chattanooga. There's even one at the airport. Here's a brick building. It's a model of the old Railway Boarding House.



Here's an old railroad marker that's seen better days.

I'd hoped to have more. I wish I'd had time to visit the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum...or the Incline...or just get some random pictures of trains, but these will have to do for now.

Lookout Mountain and I-24

A photo of Lookout Mountain taken from Missionary Ridge. I-24 runs to the left.
Chattanooga, TN

Lookout Mountain in B&W

The Round Robin photographers just recently completed an assignment to photograph a landscape in black and white. I was so inspired by their results, I decided to post this photo of Lookout Mountain taken in Flintstone, Georgia. I've posted the color photo before. I used a filtered B&W tune with a dark red setting to get the striking change.

Fungi

Derelict

An abandoned piece of railroad equipment being reclaimed by Mother Nature.
Flintstone, Georgia

Fishies

Lookout Mountain

A view of Lookout Mountain taken in the Chattanooga Valley. It's the middle of October and almost all of the trees are still green. Weird!

Public Art

It's been a while since I took this photo, so I'm not sure who designed this mod sculpture or what it's supposed to represent. But you can find it on the side of the road in downtown Chattanooga.

Monday Photo Shoot: Red Eye

John Scalzi at By the Way has the assignment:

Your Monday Photo Shoot: Show off a recent picture that is chock full of red eye. Because there's nothing more amusing than light reflecting off of retinas (Should that be retinae, John? Just wondering.), making folks and animals look like demon spawn.

Okay, I blew the Photo Shoot. Technically, it's not Monday anymore. The photo is not that recent. And it's not chock full of red eye -- just a little glow. The effect is better if you click on the photo and get the full size.
This is my grandson at his third birthday party, over two years ago. The excitement got to be a bit much and he crashed out in the floor. This is not a trick of light reflecting off retinas (retinae?), his eyes are really turning that color. The transformation is almost complete. In mere seconds Birthday Boy will become Cranky Kid, a true demon spawn.

Reflecting

The Sheraton Read House Hotel in Chattanooga as it appears reflected in a building across the street. Room 311 of the Read House is said to be haunted.

From the Shores of the Tennessee River

Another view of the Walnut Street Bridge, this one with the Southern Belle riverboat passing underneath.
Chattanooga, Tn.