Once we left camp from the MST/Graveyard Trail intersection, we climbed a steep section and came around the side of a knob, past a set of footbridges that lead over the beginnings of a stream, onto the Art Loeb trail, and on up Black Balsom. After realizing that a hammock wouldn’t work too well on a bald mountain, we backtracked a bit and found a good campsite in a small wood, which gave us a bit of protection from the wind.

Once camp was set, we hiked back up Black Balsom and took some photos while we enjoyed the sunset. There were a few other campers on the balds, but we were pretty isolated from our vantage point. On the climb up, I remembered a tree and a set of stairs that I had seen on my last trip to the Art Loeb, a few Januaries ago with Dan Zook.

After the sunset, we hiked back down to camp for the night. We heard fireworks, most likely from Brevard or Asheville, but never actually saw any. The next morning, we hiked back down Black Balsom and to the Parking Lot where we built a fire at a nearby campsite and waited for Neecee to pick us up. We had a good trip, with little weather concerns (although it did get colder than expected). The hike was less than planned, but with the knee problems I was having, I can’t imagine going too much further. Hikes poles are high on my list of wants.

Most of the photos have been posted to the gallery if you’d like to look through. Thanks! Til later!

Friday, the first night, was on Looking Glass Rock. Normally a heavily-used trail by dayhikers and the overnighter alike, this 3-mile (one-way) trail was a brute coming up, but well worth the effort. At the summit, we were greeted by an overused campground; another 50 yards down the trail, a spectacular view awaited us.

I’ve hiked around North Carolina a bit and have seen Looking Glass Rock from afar while backpacking on a distant trail, but have never been to the top to see the view from a bald hunk of granite. Well it was amazing and a little scary - one little slip and you could start tumbling, and I have a feeling once you get momentum, it’d be hard to stop.

Giles was kind enough to carry a bunch of marinated chicken, salmon, and tilapia up the mountain, so we feasted like kings. We grilled it on my Grilliput, which has proven it’s weight over and over again.

The next morning, after packing up camp and checking out the view one more time, we hiked back down to the truck and drove around to the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP) and drove south to around mile-marker #420 at the Graveyard Fields Overlook. With a hug and a kiss, Neecee left us there and we descended the stairs to the stream coming from Upper Falls. We followed the Graveyard Fields Trail to the GFT-MST connector trail, then followed the Mountains-to-Sea Trail to the Graveyard Ridge Trail, where we wrapped around and came into a gap at a trail junction. Good thing too, because my knees were killing me. A while back I lost my trekking poles (probably left them at a trailhead) and hadn’t noticed how much I’ve come to depend on them - I used to have to wear a knee brace, but the trekking poles allowed me to use those alone. Even wearing the brace during this trip, I realized I really miss my poles…

Off-trail, near this intersection, we found a nice campsite with a fire ring and grass-covered ground. That’s one thing I’ve noticed about NC hiking: you frequently find these campsites that have nice, soft green grass that you can just lay in. It’s wonderful. Georgia doesn’t have that so much; more like pine bark and dirt…

The weather was beautiful - fluffy clouds with sun, and temperatures that were cool, seeming to rise while hiking and fall when at camp. I tried my hand at using the interval function on the camera, which I think turned out pretty well. There are a few things that I would have liked to change, and having a battery pack would have helped. It got pretty cold, so the battery didn’t last long; even though it was missing a bar, it only lasted 3 hours in the 50-degree weather. At 10fps, that only gave me around 8 seconds of video. Anyways, check it out (best in fullscreen mode):

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted any photos (April 27th, to be exact). It’s not for lack of taking the pictures - I’ve taken a bunch - but it’s the processing and uploading that I’ve been behind on. I’ve been busy working on Lucid projects, which I thoroughly enjoy, but take up most of my time. The few chances I have to get out, I bring the camera, but when I come back home it’s back to work, not developing. So I’ve had photos piling up for weeks.

I’ve gotten most of the photos developed (except from the North Carolina hiking trip this past weekend), and am slowly but surely getting them posted. Shoot, I even have a few more San Francisco photos to go…

Now that I’m done whining, I’ll get to the fun stuff.

The upcoming PopPhoto Contest has me excited. They’ve got 6 categories (Action/Sports, Candid/Humor, Nature, Architecture, People, Travel/Places) and I’d like to enter just about all of them. They’re $10 per entry, so I’ve got to see how many pennies I’ve got when I get the choices finalized. I’ve got a few ideas on what I would like to enter for each category, but I’d also like your input too; if you know a photo that would work perfectly for a particular category, just let me know - many of my photos get lost in the shuffle and I don’t notice them.

This summer is turning out to be a pretty exciting season - I’ve got a bunch of trips planned and plenty to do. At the beginning of August, I’ve got a trip with a group of hikers out of Atlanta, including my friend David. Then two weeks later we have our annual Sapelo Island trip. That trip is my rejuvination for the rest of the year. A nearly private beach, a great campsite, and a big group of my friends: how could that not reinvigorate?

Also, we just got back from and Independence Day hikng trip in the Pisgah National Forest, southwest of Asheville, North Carolina. We left early Thursday morning and returned to Columbus on Sunday night. Aside from some knee problems, it was a good trip - the rain held of (for the most part), the weather was accommodating, and the views were spectacular. More on that later though.

Okay, there’s a lot to do tomorrow and if I’d like to stay on top of things, I need to go to bed.

Goodnight!

Oh, the sweet ones. Not really mine in the true sense, but they get me every time nonetheless. Without even trying…

Went to Macon last night and spent the night with Neecee’s parents to help get an early start on a few things we had to do on the house. While we were there, I gave John Haywood a call in hopes to see them all for a minute before we had to head back to Columbus for Neecee’s job.

John and Jess came over with their absolutely precious girls, Kyla and Zoe, sans Rain, and we got caught up on everything we’ve been doing since we last saw each other. John, like me, is seriously stoked about going to Sapelo Island over Labor Day weekend this year. Oh, Sapelo, how I can’t wait… I’m sure there’ll be updates over the next few months as we prepare for the trip.

I’m amazed at how grown up the girls are getting - Zoe, who is one of the most petite girls I know, is actually losing the baby look, while Kyla is downright looking like a young lady. They just grow up so fast… sob, sob… However, they haven’t seemed to have lost some of their trademark talent, such as Zoe’s party trick:

While we talked, Ketchup and Zen played rough and tumble in the yard. Although the photos make it look like an underground fighting match, Ketchup and Zen get along pretty well and the playing was just that.

I’ve posted these photos in a New Gallery, entitled “Macon Friends”, which will contain photos I take on our trips back to Macon as “out-of-towners”…

On an off-note, I’m really making a serious attempt to blog at least two to three times a week. I’ve already noticed the rust falling off my writing and my stories may actually become interesting at some point.

Beware.

Not so much in the way one might think, but I’ve been avoiding the responsibilities of everyday life to hang out with friends and actually live life. Wherever I may find it. Being self-employed has its upsides, but it certainly has its downsides too. For instance, when I wanted to go out the other day, I didn’t really have the extra cash, but luckily enough, Patrick needed help with his web design class and, in exchange for a few really simple html pages, he sponsored me a few beers. What lovely beers they were…

The outing to bring him his homework did give me a chance to check out the new Nikkor 50mm 1.4d lens I recieved recently. I have immediately fallen in love with it. The bokeh is wonderful and dreamy, while the focus is fast and sharp. Perfect for portraits, I think this (along with the trusty 18-50mm) is my new downtown/Cannon lens. Be prepared for more…

Got a few good candid portraits while sitting at the round table, all posted in the Downtown, Kinteic gallery.

Neecee’s brother Thomas has graduated from SCSU and is now in the Army as a 2nd Lieutenant. He’ll be eventually  shipping off to Iraq (better there than Afghanistan, I say) and his unit held an exercise to demonstrate to friends and family what they would be doing during their normal assignments. Thomas helps operate a Bradley fighting vehicle, which is basically a tank with a slightly smaller main gun.

Recently, Thomas got what’s known as a “Bradley Bite”, where he pinched his thumb where the rear door closes. The Bradleys pictured above are similar, but this Bradley has a wide, rectangular door that operates with hydraulics and has zero give. I’m actually surprised he did not lose his thumb instead of just horribly maiming it. Lucky Thomas.

The last time I had been to any exercise on Fort Benning was when I went out for a Hands On Training Exercise (HOTEX). That was amazing: you were actually able to shoot a variety of weapons, from AR-15s, to the Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle, and, amazingly enough, even a Bradley. I’ve always had a fascination with long-range rifles, so the Barrett was by far my favorite, but the Bradley was really interesting also. You don’t have quite the primal, “I shot something with a tool in my hands”, but rather you look at a screen showing your target and pull the trigger. I gave a good squeeze and, while I expected to shoot a round, I didn’t expect the hair trigger and shot four rounds. A few seconds later, I saw the target on the screen light up and I knew I had done my job.

This exercise was substantially different, as we couldn’t shoot any of the weapons ourselves, but it was really cool to see the Bradleys in action (by people who knew what they were doing). All in all, it went well and was enjoyable all around. I liked that the radio communications were broadcast through a PA system so the visitors could understand what was going on. Over the speakers, you could hear them receiving info: “Gas! Gas! Gas!”, where they would put on their chemical masks, “Fire! Fire! Fire!”, when they had locked on to their target, and so on. One of the things I remember Thomas saying he wasn’t used to in the Army was the amount of profanity, so while this was supposed to be a “family-friendly” exercise, I could hear the soldiers over the radio trying to regulate their language; I’d hear “Gosh Darnit!” when you knew for a fact that’s not what they wanted to say…

I used my long lens (70-300mm) the majority of the time, and am beginning to learn that it’s the lens to use at any sort of events like this. The closest you could get to any action was about 50 yards from the firing line, so being able to stand up on the bleachers and get a view from high was great. I’ve posted the photos and even have a couple of Thomas in all his gear and glory (and military-issue glasses).

Lately I’ve been really busy. From coding a webpage using Flash (I have no idea how to write ActionScripts), to going through hundreds of photos from my San Francisco trip, I’ve been swamped.

Not to mention organizing my model library, creating 3d environment templates and updating stock models.

I’ve got a to-do list out the door.

Later this evening, I think I’m going to take a break from the web design and go through some photos. I think I’ve got 150 or so that I’ll post, and another 10 or 12 that I really like. I’ve also got a photo of Carrie and her friend I’d like to send her way, as well as a few photos from around the house (all of which are actually still on the camera - bad Phillip!).

I’ll get caught up. Eventually. If I just keep at it, the list will get shorter and shorter - it’s bound to happen.

I’ve been on Facebook a lot lately and actually just signed up for Twitter, although I think I like Facebook better. Facebook has the exact same friend-update feature as Twitter, but FB also shows when I upload photos to Flickr. I will only allow myself one webpage for social networking (sorry MySpace), and FB just seems to be the obvious answer. I just don’t like the games and apps and whatnot. But at least it’s a little more toned down than MS…

More to come. Maybe I can publish my WP posts on FB…   <— look at all the abbreviations!

See you later.

Neecee was selected to speak at the CCCC conference last week in San Francisco. It’s a very big deal in the English composition world, and to be a speaker at the conference is very prestigious (no bias whatsoever). She’s been working for months getting her presentation together, and I’ve been working for months figuring out where and what I want to visit in San Francisco. We would be staying for 5 solid days. Needless to say, we were both very eager to hit the road that Tuesday night.

I had ordered brochures and pamphlets from the Visitor’s Center and marked each point of interest in my GPS. From where we parked the car at the Atlanta airport to where our hotel was, the GPS proved worth its weight in gold.

We had chosen redeye flights there and back to maximize our time out there and save money, so we arrived around 10am on Wednesday. Neecee had a session she wanted to attend that afternoon, so after checking into the hotel and dropping her off, I headed out with the camera in hand.

We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott on 2nd St. (for a deal! Thanks Chris!), which is in the heart of downtown SF, between SOMA the financial district. I wandered from Union Square, with the Versace and Prada, up to Nob Hill, towards Chinatown, seeking the “Gateway” mentioned in the brochures. I found the gate and, being less than impressed, I started looking for a drink.

As I was walking along, I saw a Guinness sign protruding from the side of a building, seemingly from a sushi place. As I walked toward it, I saw that the sign wasn’t advertising Guinness for the sushi place, but for a tiny Irish bar in the alley next to it. Almost hidden, it sat far back from the streetfront, with only a couple of tables and chairs out front. Just enough to let you now it was a food/beverage place. This cozy joint, the Irish Bank, turned out to be one of the best places I ate in all of San Francisco. I had a great conversation with Courtney, a patron, and the bartender, who gave me great advice on where to go, what to see, and where the natives eat and drink. I learned of a roller derby tourney, how cool the industrial district was, the best bar for heavy metal (hint: it’s directly across the street from the industrial district) and how to get a boat tour from a local on the cheap.

After I left there, it was about time to head back to Neecee, so I meandered around Market and Mission on a roundabout way back to the conference center. After I met Neecee, we went back to the hotel and slept. Sleep we hadn’t seen in 32 hours…

More to come; also some photos are up on the site.

I’ve always loved Flickr. I love the community of (mostly) great photographers, the comments, critisisms and the ability to easily browse your friends’ photos in one place. The problem I’ve run into is the use of my photos without permission. Every  time someone has asked me to use a photo, I’ve agreed; it’s the times when I happen upon a photo of mine that I didn’t get asked to use that bothers me.

I use Zenfolio for my very best photos. This service allows me to sell prints (and now licensing!) directly from the website, allowing me the ability to pay for the sites and occasionally add to my camera gear. It also uses a very high-quality print company for its (my) products. I like the way it’s set up and that you can add it to your own domain. The thing I don’t like is the lack of community as Flickr provides. It’s a lonely website amidst a sea of internet pictures.

My solution to the problem has been to separate every photo, serving the best to Zenfolio and the one-offs and the like to Flickr, under an open Creative Commons licensing. This has worked only so well — it’s solved my copyright problems, but has cut the amount of exposure my photos get, especially the best ones. It also forces the user to go to two entirely different websites to view all the photos from one trip/event.

My new solution (and hopefully the best and last) is to upload every photo to Flickr, using a very apparent watermark and limiting it’s access. The best will still be sent to Zenfolio, where prints and licensing will be available.

I hope this works out well for both the viewer and myself. I should have everything set up by mid-next week, but don’t hold me to it. I hope it’ll be easy to manage from my end and easy to locate photos for you.

Architectural HDR

Yesterday I went out and about downtown to play with High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography. I decided to capture some of the well-known historic houses. I’ve seen these houses many times driving to and from downtown, but never really had any real desire to shoot them. When I wanted to go do some HDR, I thought that these houses would be a good way to get these shots without replicating photos I had already seen from brochures at the Visitor Center.

I think they turned out well and I’d like to see what else makes for a good HDR subject. I’ve gathered that clouds (whether wipsy, puffy, or nearly overcast) really help, and photos that are composed with a lot of distance between the foreground and background subjects.

I used a tripod-mounted Nikon D200 with a Sigma 18-50mm 2.7d lens to shoot 5 bracketed exposures. My exposure settings were at around f8, ISO 100.

In all likelihood, I’ll be adding and contributing more to HDR, so keep your eyes peeled. In the meantime, the HDRs I took yesterday can be found at my gallery here and on my Flickr page.