Photos 79-85/365

79/365 ~ Carl Sandburg Home

My first visit to this local landmark! I had a wonderful time today exploring the grounds and getting to know Cady and Kevin, one of the couples whose wedding I will be shooting later this spring. What a lovely property. Kim Maxwell and I are already making plans to visit again soon!

The Carl Sandburg Home NHS is located on 264 acres in Western North Carolina. In addition to tours of the Sandburg Home, visitors can enjoy over five miles of trails, stroll through gardens and greet the descendents of Mrs. Sandburg's dairy goat herd. A typical visit lasts 2 hours.

80/365 ~ A beautiful poison

Beautiful in color and form, the Bradford pear tree is native to Asia. When introduced in the United States as an ornamental tree, it thrived. Wildlife love the fruits of the Bradford or Callery pear and an abundance of trees are spread via birds and squirrels, appearing seemingly out of nowhere overnight.

The Bradford pear tree is known scientifically as Pyrus calleryana. Bradford pears are quick-growing deciduous trees that reach approximately 50 feet high when mature. They produce white flowers and small, inedible fruit.

Bradford pear trees are primarily grown as ornamental trees for their spring flora. The fruits, which are inedible raw, can be used to make wine and seasonings.

Pyrus calleryana seeds are considered mildly poisonous to humans. When ground between the teeth and ingested in large quantities, glycosides in the seeds mix with stomach acid to form cyanide. It is hard for a human to ingest large enough quantities of Bradford pear seeds to cause even a mild reaction. When poisoning does occur, it may manifest as a mild fever, stomach upset and dizziness.

Fun Fact ~ The Sierra Club gave the Bradford pear the moniker of "Frankentree" because these originally sterile trees have hybridized over the years to gain the ability to produce fruit and seed.

81/365 ~ Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer - and often the supreme disappointment. ~ Ansel Adams

So true. What I saw in this photo was layers and layers of colors - the green grass then the golden wheat grass then the white and pink flowered trees then the range of Blue Ridge Mountains all topped with a layer of blue sky and puffy white clouds ... unfortunately I'm not so sure my camera captured all the layers I could see but I did have fun trying and isn't that what this hobby is all about!

82/365 ~ Hide-n-Seek

These ducks look like they are playing the innocent game of Hide-n-Seek. While Mr. Mallard counts to ten, Ms. Mallard cutely ducks her head into her feathers thinking that as long as she can't see him then surely he can't see her, right?

Hide-n-Seek was one of my favorite games as a kid but it always made me feel like I needed to go wee-wee. Something about being sneaky I guess :)

83/365 ~ “An optimist is a person who sees only the lights in the picture, whereas a pessimist sees only the shadows. An idealist, however, is one who sees the light and the shadows, but in addition sees something else: the possibility of changing the picture, of making the lights prevail over the shadows.”

So I'm an Idealist I guess. What I really am is a PHOTOGRAPHER because I see the light and the shadows and I see that they are better as one, that together they bring harmony.

84/365 ~ Lake Jocassee Shoreline

Today we took a motorcycle ride in the car. What? Yes, we wanted to take a ride but the air was a bit chilly for the Yamaha so we took the car and drove down Highway 11 stopping by Jocassee to check on the water levels. It's been a while since we've been to the ramp. It's a favorite dive spot for local scuba fans. I've never been a huge fan of it because I hate the rocky pavement and the hill is a pain with a scuba tank on your back. Today's visit was very different. We were the only ones there and I fell in love with this little pine tree trying to grow through the rocks. I wonder if it feels as out of place in these rocks as I do in a wetsuit? Ha!

85/365 ~ What's on my shelf?

I'm often asked, "How'd you learn to do that?" The answer is often, "I just looked it up on the internet," but there still times when I actually "buy the book." The books that taught me the most about photography and that were written in a language I could understand are by all by Scott Kelby. I've lost or let someone borrow Book 2 but still refer back to books 1 & 3 almost weekly. Kelby's Lightroom book and Matt Kloskowski's Layers books are entertaining and full of neat tricks for photo editing. I find inspiration in 'Charleston' and 'Our State' (honestly, I can't live without reading these EVERY month!) We rarely hop on the Yamaha without checking out at least one of Hawk Hagebak's Motorcycle Adventures books. Of course the thickest and newest book in the stack is the Canon EOS 7D book. I've got A LOT to learn about this new camera and I want to make the best use of every single feature!