Merry Christmas To All!

I hope you all have a Blessed and Merry Christmas!



I will be posting more again after Christmas as I test out my new Christmas camera.

Deer in the Park

I actually took this video last Sunday. It was right in front of the Park Ranger Headquarters by the Sugarland Visitor Center.



I could not get my camera to focus well on the deer unfortunately. The video is actually the most in focus thing I got. But I have hope for an very very very good upgrade for Christmas.

And since I haven't taken the time to process anymore of my photos from last weekend. Here are a few of the others. I actually put these up on Etsy yesterday. They are only $10.00 there. And if you're reading this and would like one to give for a Christmas present, I can give you a 50% discount.


I really do like wildlife.















This unexpected snowy day in the mountains was so much more beautiful in person than any of my photos captured. This one came the closest though.























This was one of my first photos after moving here. This is the leaves were on the ground. I just saw them, thought they looked nice, and clicked.









And this is what I consider to be my best photo to date. It was at the bottom of that long hike a few posts back.

A Lazy Weekend Playing with Photoshop

Well, it was a long week, and despite the beautiful weather outside, I just stayed in this weekend. My mom found this site for me called Fan Art Review. You can post photographs and art, and have it reviewed by other people who also post their work. There is a small monthly fee for the site, but the feedback you get is worth it (at least to me). It was from going there that I started playing with making the mixed media photos as seen in the last post. It also inspired me to start trying making digital art pieces from nothing in Photoshop.

This was my first piece. I titled it "Glowing in the Dark". The link on the title goes to the listing on Fan Art where you can see the image without the copyright. Fan Art protects the images from being stolen with their code.


This was my second piece, and so far it is my favorite. It is titled, "Flying in the Light".

Based on the reviews on these pieces, I think I am going to create a new Zazzle page for these images. A number of the reviewers mentioned that their children really liked them, and Zazzle has many products that appeal to young people.



Fan Art has these contests that you can possibly win prizes for. And the deadline was coming up for the Halloween photography and art contest. So I made/found these to enter into the two contests.

Happy Halloween

Morning After Halloween Bird

It's just been a fun and relaxing way to spend the weekend. I hope you all enjoy my pieces.

Sunday's Adventures

I have worked 47 hours in 4 days, so it has taken me much longer than I expected or wanted to get to this post. But better late than never, right?

It rained all day Saturday, so it was not a good day to go out and take pictures. We did go see two shows at Dollywood for the last day of the Gospel and Harvest Festival. While waiting between shows, I did find this nice leaf arrangement sitting on the bridge.

This is my first attempt at using a waterstamp on the image to protect it. What does everyone think?

And this is what it looks like after I played with it all evening.

I've really just started playing with the fun of mixed media pieces. But anyway, back to Sunday's adventures in the Smokies...

Sunday was most sunny, well sometimes it was mostly cloudy, but at least there was no rain. So after church we set out on a drive into the National Park. We went a different route than usual and went down Wears Valley Rd. It is one of the back ways into the park from the Tennessee side.

My whole goal for the drive was to see Meigs Creek Falls and The Sinks. We ended up taking the long way around because I didn't bring the map. So I was just trying to remember what the map looked like and said. So we took a detour down to Cades Cove, but we eventually found the right way.

So this is Meigs Creek Falls:



And this is the Little River that Meigs Creek Falls feeds into:



I had a stranger take this photo of me at the Falls.





I think it turned out pretty good.










Just down the road from the Meigs Creek Falls is a part of Little River called The Sinks. I think we kind of lucked out while there and their were two guys kayaking down them. I got a video of one of them going down.



They climbed up the rocks on the side, went over the road, and went down two more times while we there.

So my mom was with me...



















I saw this guy climb out to this rock and it would make a good picture point. So I handed mom the camera, and climbed my way out there. Here is what we got...



I had forgotten to change the camera from video mode. So after climbing back and realizing this, I reset the camera and climbed back out to the rock. Here is the resulting photo.


I know this post was a little photo and video intensive so hopefully it didn't overload your server. We had a good trip out on Sunday though. The fall colors while not as numerous in some place were still brilliant. The extra rain this year seems to have made some trees turn later than others, which meant the overall colors at one time were not as brilliant. But it has also meant that the colors last longer.

I really do love living here. There is always something to see or enjoy.

George the Walking Stick

My friend, Rebecca, asked me what my walking stick's name was...I asked it. George seemed right to me. So here is my photo of George leaning against a boulder by the river.


And because I am trying out my mixed media skills...the Real George glows out.


More to come soon on the rest of today's adventures.

My First Real Hike

When I set out on Saturday, I knew that I wanted to hike at least one trail. Up until then I really only gone on the paved trails, and I'm not really sure a paved trail should be called a trail. I had stopped at the second of the Campbell overlooks to take some pictures of the fall colors. This link goes to my best photo at the first Campbell Overlook. I did not end up taking any pictures at the second over look.

When I got out of the car, there were 3 young men talking together. I overheard one of them lament how the people were just enjoying the view when it was actually really great down below. I couldn't resist and asked them "What's down below?" They said there was a trail down to the valley and the river. I looked down the hill and joked that I thought I might kill myself getting down there. They said no, it was easy, the trail was just over to the left. So despite my reservations, I set out.

The main part of the trip down was relatively easy. There were just a few places where you kind of had to guess which way the actual trail was. There were a few spots where my feet got a little wet crossing the small streams coming down. The difficult part started when I wanted to get closer to the water than the actual trail led to. But I think the photos were worth it. This link is to my favorite one looking downriver. This link is my favorite one looking across the river. This link is to my second favorite one looking across the river. I also like how this zoomed-in close-up view looks.

I took this photo of myself while resting of on a rock getting ready to climb back up.

I also took this video of the river.


Before I started back up the trail, I looked around and saw a fallen tree limb that looked to have a good diameter for a walking stick. So I broke it off at what seemed to be the right height. I ended up being very grateful for that stick at I climbed back up. I still have the stick in my trunk and have used it since. It is just the right height, and so far has supported all the times I've leaned on it. Sometime soon I will try to get a picture of it.

But with many stops and rests on available rocks and against trees, I did eventually make it back up the trail. I'm not yet in good enough shape to make it on many of the trails available, but this one was just barely within my capabilities. I am glad I did it, and look forward to many more.

Welcome to My Adventures in the Smokies

I recently moved to near The Smoky Mountain National Park, and I have been trying to think a topic to blog about. Thus, we now have my Adventures in the Smokies blog. It will be mostly about the forays I make into the Smokies and the surrounding areas, mostly on the weekends.

I am an amateur photographer and just love to take pictures. In the month I have been here, I have taken over 1000 photographs. Now of those, I only think just under 100 are good enough to show to the public. I will keep the photographs to my Zazzle page so that they cannot be stolen, but I will post my videos here. Now the videos are not as good because I don't have a steady hand. But they will give you an idea of the beautiful places in the area.

I do have a weakness for the beauty in rivers and waterfalls, so there will be more of that than anything else most likely. Here is one of my videos from my short foray up the Rainbow Falls Trail.


Well, I hope you enjoy this blog. The Smoky Mountain National Park and the tourist attractions near it are a great place to visit or live. I hope to be able to share with at least a glimpse of the beauty and fun in the area.