It has been a while since I shared my day to day photos. I have been pretty busy, so this will be a long blog with a lot of photos. We will jump right in with some sunrise photos. If you cannot guess, I am fascinated with sunrises and sunsets. The colors are just so amazing. Since I get off work at 7am, it has been the perfect time to go chasing the sunrise, and just down the road from my work place is Southeast Clarke Park, a nearly perfect place to get photos of said sunrises. On February 11th, 2022, I was not disappointed. It was a gilded sunrise, gold fading to bronze before the sun turned the sky blue. The first of these photos were taken with my camera.
The next are taken with my phone.
On the 18th of February, I had not worked and had to drop my son off for work on UGA campus. I happened to bring my dogs, thinking we may decide to take a walk. It had rained the night before and the clouds were still pretty thick, but I noticed a break in the clouds, almost like someone had pushed back some curtains. I thought that it was in the perfect place to reflect onto Lake Herrick, so we headed there. As I got to the big bridge, I looked out and, sure enough, it was amazing. I only had my phone with me, so I used it to capture these images.
This one is absolutely my favorite photo of Lake Herrick ever! With photography, at least half of the equation is being at the right place at the right time, and that happened here. You will see on later photos, that the clouds did move on and the break in the clouds was no longer directly over the lake.
After walking around the lake and getting several shots from different locations, I noticed a flock of ducks that landed on the other side of the lake. I was hoping they would swim my way, but most of them stayed far away. One duck, though, came our way, so I got some great photos of him.
I thought Moose was going to go over the side of the bridge when that duck got close to us!!!
On the 21st of February I got off work and headed towards Southeast Clarke Park again. It was actually a dreary morning, so there were no good sunrise photos, but I have been paying more attention to birds and trying to get photos of them, so here are some of the birds I photographed.
I love this photo of the geese! There is a lot of action and the one goose looks like it is missing it's head. I believe this is two of the couples of a flock of geese that hangs out in various locations on the east side of town.
The next morning, the 22nd, I took my son to work again and decided to take the dogs and walk them in Dudley Park.
Though it does not appear that they are enjoying the walk, they were, they just did not want it to stop for me to take a photo.
Since it was a dreary morning, one of my goals was to recreate one of my favorite photos of the pedestrian bridge over the river on my camera. To get this, you do have to climb down a little hill to the riverside. The rain the night before made this a treacherous little climb, but with the help of my dogs, I did it and got the photos.
I love the spooky feel of the bridge and river when it is foggy out. One of the main differences, though, from the last time I took the photo is that there is a lot more debris in the river. I also got some photos of the obviously evil squirrels that Moose wanted to chase.
One of the small, purple flowers just starting to bloom.
And a really cool photo of a raindrop on a leaf.
The next morning, I took my son to work and was not expecting a decent sunrise since it had been so dreary and rainy. I was driving through campus, and about to head home, when I realized that there was an amazing sunrise starting. I quickly drove to the top of North Deck on UGA campus to get a better look. Here are some of the photos.
From a sliver of a promise...
to a full blown purple Heaven...
to a golden glory!
My wonderful Dragon Soul reflecting the sunrise perfectly.
A breathtaking end before it faded to daylight.
The next morning, I was getting off of work, and the world had turned foggy again. I decided to get photos of more birds and some early daffodils that were blooming.
But there was just something about the fog that made me want to take some spooky photos of the trees and I was very pleased with the outcome.
I find these photos just pleasing to the mind. I also chose to make them black and white, because I felt it looked better.
I did not get any photos over the next few days, but on Sunday, February 27th, I had the joy of visiting my dear friends that live at Presbyterian Homes in Oconee County. This was my first time visiting Presbyterian Homes and I was very impressed with it. It is a beautiful location with three sections; individual houses, an apartment building and a an assisted living area. They specialize in Alzheimer's and dementia, with couples or individuals being able to progress from full independence to assisted living as needed. It was beautiful and I got a lot of photos. I took photos of my friends and their house, but will not be showing most of them here for privacy sake. I will, however share the outside photos and flower photos I got.
The main entrance above and below. The assisted living part is in this area, along with a pool, a workout room and the cafeteria.
The apartment building
The housing section.
Quiet little streets with sidewalks everywhere for walking.
The center of one of the blocks which has a fire pit and a lovely sitting area around it. What a great place to meet up with neighbors and socialize.
Several years ago, this couple was adopted by a young cat that decided that they were her preferred staff. Since they traveled a bit at that time, I would often come over and take care of the cat. She was never happy to see me, since I meant her servants were gone, but she put up with me. So, when I visited them in their new house, I had to visit with the cat. She was, of course, hiding in the closet.
"Wait, who is this demon coming to visit me?"
"Oh, no! I know that smell!!!"
"Out! Out fowl demon! You will not be sending my servants away again!"
The one thing I wanted to share with you is this old wooden train toy that my friends have. I love it!
I also had to get close ups of all the beautiful flowers.
The first week of March, I attended the GECC (Georgia Emergency Communications Conference) at the Classic Center. It was a lot of fun and I learned tons, but it was also exhausting. The switch from nights to daytime was hard enough, but I ended up doing a lot more walking and my knees were not happy about that. On March 1st, the one day where they did not provide lunch, I took my camera out downtown and got some photos. Of course, I started with the sunset, taken from the top of the Classic Center parking deck.
Oh, yes and the wonderful shadow of a large construction crane. lol
It looks like an alien.
The colors are just so amazing when you focus in close to the horizon!
The other thing I took photos of was a bike rack in front of the Classic Center that I really liked.
Such a unique design, I just had to take photos.
On the way from the classic center to Chick-fil-a, I passed a wall of delicate yellow flowers that I just had to photograph.
I was back to work that weekend and on the 7th, I discovered that Spring was sprung at Southeast Clarke Park. I was able to get some really great shots of the first blooming flowers.
I also took a couple of photos of some vultures flying overhead. I know, not the greatest, but they look wonderful against the sky.
Earlier, if you will remember, I got some photos of a beautiful red shouldered hawk, but with my phone, not my camera. Well, I discovered him and another hawk behind Cornerstone Church by the park. It looks as if he and his mate live in the forest back there and often hunt in the area. I have been stalking them ever since, trying to get better photos. On this day, I did not get any with both hawks, just with the one who I believe is the male.
A little unfocussed here
A great shot - those piercing eyes!
Then he flew up into a tree, and when I followed him, he flew off into the woods. I really need to make me a bush costume so I can sneak up on him without him seeing me.
On the 13th, I went back to Dudley, but this time during the day time on a bright, sunny day. I got some great photos of the new additions to the park, a natural amphitheater (a large, sloping field with a cement pad at the bottom to be used as a stage, but currently has a movable basketball hoop on it), a covered gathering area with picnic tables and some bathrooms. The bathrooms are not yet open, but I am hoping they will open soon.
Looking down the hill from the path to the bridge.
Looking down over the field to the gathering area and bathrooms. I look forward to seeing performances here.
They still have the round-a-bout and the wonderful curved wall.
And the round opening looking down on the lower field, river and paths.
The entrance path along the river.
Where they are working to rebuild the famous train trestle.
The river from the pedestrian bridge (yes, the one in the foggy picture).
Another view from the bridge
The river looking towards Oconee Street and its bridge.
The sunflower artwork with a young couple sitting under it (they later loved up Moose and Pepsi).
Some different views of the sunflower artwork with the sun shining through.
And another Spring flower.
One of the things I forgot to mention is that I got a new set up for walking my dogs. It's a belt with special stretchy leashes that can be adjusted for length. It is a great help for letting me walk the dogs while keeping my hands free to take photos. It also has a pouch on it that I can keep a water bottle for the dogs and treats in. I am really glad that I got it! I really look forward to eventually using it to take the dogs on hikes at different parks nearby or in the mountains.
My last set of photos are from the dog park in Southeast Clarke Park. These were taken on the evening of March 17th of the sunset and the full moon.
We had one half of what is called Dog ears, where there are clouds to the sides of the setting sun that have a partial rainbow in them.
Easier to see with a wider shot.
And just the pretty blue sky with light clouds.
The sun shining through the trees.
The sunset begins.
It was very gentle and not an explosion of color like other ones.
And the moon came peeking out from behind the trees.
These last two (above and below) were taken with my phone.
So, I now go out in the mornings, often stalking the hawks and other birds to get photos, but I will not be out as much in the mornings that I do not work due to Jonathan finally getting a car!! Yay! He also got a new job working as a cook at Up on the Roof in Alpharetta. He will be commuting there for now, but hopes to eventually move there. I'm not too excited about that, but I know the baby birds have to fly from the nest at some point. Jason is clear up in Ohio, so Alpharetta is at least visiting distance.
My final photos to you are the 6 photos that I chose to make my large framed photos from. I bought some poster size frames from a friend who had some extra that were taking up room. I have more than 6, but for now I am starting with 6 photos. The frame is 24 inches by 36 inches and the photos I got are 18 inches by 27 inches. Right now I am working on cutting the art paper I got to mat with. If I can sell these, I will be ordering more photos to frame and sell. I also am thinking about starting to go to yard sales this spring to look for more frames to use to sell my photos in. After checking prices for framed photos in this size on art sites (such as Etsy) I will be pricing these photos at $100, but hope to do some smaller framed photos in the future. If you have a favorite photo that you would like framed, please feel free to message me and I can see if we can work something out. I know these photos of the photos aren't the greatest, but I took these to use for trying to match colors for the mats and wanted to show you how nice the prints were.
Water Lily
Waterfall on Mt. Jemez, New Mexico
The Grand Tetons in Wyoming
Tree in the mist, Athens GA
Common Blue Damselfly
Lake Herrick in Athens, GA
A digital copy of all of the photos will be available in the shop for $3.
Thank you all and I hope you have a wonderful Day!