I was standing on a concrete bridge across a river in North Carolina and made two views. The first is obvious, the second is the same view of the river but this time framed through an opening in the concrete railing along the roadway portion of the bridge. I like the second one best.
Ever drink it? Hard to find some places today. As a kid growing up in Arkansas I “swam” in it…and my teeth shown results from all that sugar still today…silver and gold fillings and crowns.
It was a hot, humid 90-degree day when I decided to go visit the base of a large lake dam near our home in SW Virginia. When I arrived I noted that water was being released from gates at the base of the dam, into the Smith River below. This is done periodically to help the natural habitat of the trout-laden river, which is not only a popular place to fish, but also to kayak. When water levels rise, rapids result and kayakers love that. Anyway, the closer I came to the river while walking down a steep slope I noticed how the air temperature was rapidly dropping, and when I put my hands in the river it felt like ice water. As the cold water mixed with warmer air further down from the dam, a misty fog began to appear…as you can see if you look carefully at the top center in the photo below. While walking along the riverbank, it was as if I were in an air conditioned valley…the coolness all being supplied by nature…a wonderful experience. But then I eventually had to climb up the steep riverbank to where my car was parked and that brought me back to reality. It was, however, fun while it lasted…and the “air conditioning” was free.
While I do not like what sometimes results from hot day, summertime clouds (severe storms) I do like the way they make such interesting photos. My goal with these two cumulus cloud images was to show them with trees in the foreground. Pine trees like these added to the composition.
These colorful roofs on small houses in Rocky Mount, Virginia made for an interesting composition, especially with the red brick chimney in the center. I like metal roofs because they can be painted…but probably would not want one on a house of my own. Might be a bit noisy in a hail storm.
Here are some images of what I saw while wandering about nature in the summertime this year…heat and all.
The brief story behind the photo below is as follows. One hot afternoon recently I was sitting on our back porch and as my eyes wandered around I saw that my neighbor’s Crape Myrtle was in full bloom. From where I was sitting my view of the Myrtle was through a dogwood tree that sits between our houses, and the more I looked the more I thought there might be a photo there…pink flowers behind the dogwood tree, with the Myrtle flowers out of focus. So, I went inside and got my camera, put a telephoto lens on it and made my composition. Nothing that special, but I like it.
One of most beautiful settings in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in SW Virginia is Philpott Lake, with boating, swimming, fishing, hiking and camping opportunities. 100 miles of pristine shoreline, with numerous hidden, quiet, shadowy coves in which to explore.
