Blue Ridge blog

Valle Crucis Livestock

Another photo taken early this morning near Hwy 194 in Valle Crucis. It is a familiar scene to those living in the area. Oh and I forgot to mention that in the previous two posts as well as with this one, I did do a bit of liberal post-processing in Photoshop. I maybe added a little bit of a vignette or did some selected saturation/desaturation of colors but that is about it. Nothing drastic, just being playful.

In yesterday's comments, Andrea introduced the concept of EcoPorn to me:

" As I understand it, it is a nature photography critique term that says something along the lines of: the people who take only "perfect" nature photos (making sure that all signs of development, pollution, etc. are out of the view finder) & proliferate them in nature calendars, magazines, etc., are in a way, doing a disservice to conservation..."

I chewed on her words all day and can't seem to get settled with the concept of ecoporn. On one hand I absolutely concur that we are losing precious landscapes. My own county has allowed some brilliant construction and billboards (insert heavy sarcasm) in our area. Yet, I don't believe that the act of photographing beautiful landscapes proliferates the destruction of land by giving a false impression of the bountiful amount of such landscapes. Instead, what kills beautiful space is either the lack of value for such property and/or the absence of planning/conservancy for these places. And indeed, I have also come across stunning development and architecture that cohesively blends man's need for shelter with the environment.

And in that spirit, I point you in the direction of two photographers on my blogroll that often have stunning shots of their manmade environments. Please visit Tamara at Luminous Lens and Dean at his DMB Photoblog . And Andrea, thank you for introducing the whole Ecoporn concept to me. It has been some tasty food for thought.

The house I would live in...

if I had my choice....This home is on the Watauga River Road and just seems to beckon me.

On Watauga River Road

I could have slept in this morning but it was snowing and I had hopes of scoring some snow images. I wondered towards Valle Crucis and for the second time this week, travelled the River Road. With torrential rains pouring on the mountains during the evening, the Watauga River claimed, in parts, the road bed.

I have more photos that I will try to post later on....

Another Observation

I went to Harris Teeter grocery store today. The shop is elevated above the rest of the town of Boone. It is a misty, rainy day and wisps of clouds float about the trees on a nearby ridgeline....

Two years ago I shot roughly the same view...

But, so as to make sure that I don't leave nothing out, I admit that if I swing my lens to the left a little bit and pull back on the lens, then the following view is what is seen....

A horse silouhette...

I took this photo yesterday afternoon when the weather was far more agreeable than it is today. Believe it or not, this is a white horse that was turned dark because I made the conscience decision to do so and translated that information to the camera. The photo is a gray scale image because frankly, there was no apparent color in the image anyway.
While I was out and about in the field, I noticed a mother and her two sons riding their bikes on a gravel road. I stopped them, introduced myself, and took several photos of them that will probably appear in the newspaper. The children were young, ages 5 and 2 and were happily feeding the horses handfuls of green grass. While watching the kids, it struck me that life was good for them right now-- so simple and uncomplicated--with nothing more important for them to do than go on a walk with their mother and visit neighbor's horses....just a simple observation I made.

Big Sky

I've become fascinated with the color and texture of the sky lately....

A Blizzard in Boone

I know, I know. This isn't a snow photo. I took several photos of this bird's nest yesterday at the edge of the Indian Meadow below our house. It was 60 degrees and I was loving it.
This morning I woke up at 5:30 to take eldest daughter to meet the bus which takes her to All State Orchestra auditions in the Big City. The ground was covered with snow and the wind was and still is whipping so hard that it is near white out conditions. I need to venture out later and will attempt to take some photos.....
Eldest daughter just text messaged me and said that it is a beautiful day in the Big City and it feels like summer to her compared to her early snowy start. She is sixty-third in line to play her cello. She'll be there a while...
Gonna go now and make french toast and bacon for 3 hungry teenagers who spent the night with my youngest. Gee. Do you think that 10:45 am is too early to wake them?

A Kingfisher and flood debris

I took my everloving sweet time getting out of bed this morning. When I did finally decide it was time to get up and at 'em, I took the really, really long way to work--via the Watauga River Road. Nothing popped out at me to photograph 'cept maybe this kingfisher. The bird was too far away to get a tighter shot, but reckon this shows at least shows a bit of the environment.

I think I'm going through a creative lull...

As the bumper sticker says:

...If only I was as good as my dog thinks I am...or something along that vein of thought.

While taking photos of dead leaves on the side of my driveway this afternoon, Harley sits to ponder my actions. Or maybe not. Regardless, she patiently waits without complaint while I go about my business. If only other beings were as good as my dog then life would be perfect.

Snowboarding in Carolina...

Hopefully I will have time soon to comb the countryside for my typical kind of photos. Wait. Do I have a typical kind of photo?
I've been outdoors but yet my adventures have been mainly slopeside as I've been banking up on winter sports/activities. I like this shot but sadly the background is unsuitable for the stories that I've been assigned. I have enjoyed hanging with the slope rats. I wear my long lens and everyone becomes a hot dog workin for some digi time. Good people, the whole lot of them.
Hope ya'll are well. Tonight I have a bit of free time so I intend to drop by and say "Hi".