Greetings from a new member in the Blue Ridge Mountains
Nov 16, 2016 21:17:20 #
Good Evening to all.
My name is Gavyn and my wife, daughter, and I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains on the border between Northeast Tennessee and Western North Carolina. Our property is at 3400 ft elevation, so we escape the summer heat of the southeast. We border the Cherokee/Pisgah National Forest, a 1.15 million acre national forest. We are within walking distance of the Appalachian Trail and many spring fed creeks. There are over 20 named waterfalls within a 90 minute drive of our house. I do a lot of day trips and short hikes because of the nearness of a tremendous amount of photo locations.
We are the host to a number of deer, turkey, and grouse that frequent our property. My wife has planted trees, shrubs, grasses, wildflowers that attract butterflies, birds, and other critters. We have had deer born on our property two years in a row, this year twins! We have had as many as 30 deer at one time in our backyard, and now we are regularly hosting 10 turkeys every day. We put out corn for them all year, but increase the amount in the winter. We do get some impressive snow from time to time and the deer and other wildlife struggle to find food. (No, I don't hunt so I am not baiting them.)
We all shoot with Nikon equipment. We each have a DSLR but I still shoot with black and white film as well. I also do the occasional outing with an iphone, but always have a camera close at hand.
I am a retired professor of physics, my wife, mathematics. Our daughter has her BA in History. Go figure.
I look forward to being a member of this forum. I plan on learning a lot and hope I can provide some useful input myself.
Happy Photographing.
Gavyn
My name is Gavyn and my wife, daughter, and I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains on the border between Northeast Tennessee and Western North Carolina. Our property is at 3400 ft elevation, so we escape the summer heat of the southeast. We border the Cherokee/Pisgah National Forest, a 1.15 million acre national forest. We are within walking distance of the Appalachian Trail and many spring fed creeks. There are over 20 named waterfalls within a 90 minute drive of our house. I do a lot of day trips and short hikes because of the nearness of a tremendous amount of photo locations.
We are the host to a number of deer, turkey, and grouse that frequent our property. My wife has planted trees, shrubs, grasses, wildflowers that attract butterflies, birds, and other critters. We have had deer born on our property two years in a row, this year twins! We have had as many as 30 deer at one time in our backyard, and now we are regularly hosting 10 turkeys every day. We put out corn for them all year, but increase the amount in the winter. We do get some impressive snow from time to time and the deer and other wildlife struggle to find food. (No, I don't hunt so I am not baiting them.)
We all shoot with Nikon equipment. We each have a DSLR but I still shoot with black and white film as well. I also do the occasional outing with an iphone, but always have a camera close at hand.
I am a retired professor of physics, my wife, mathematics. Our daughter has her BA in History. Go figure.
I look forward to being a member of this forum. I plan on learning a lot and hope I can provide some useful input myself.
Happy Photographing.
Gavyn
Nov 16, 2016 21:25:53 #
Welcome to UHH.
Hope you're not endangered by the wildfires.
Hope you're not endangered by the wildfires.
Nov 16, 2016 21:39:46 #
Nov 16, 2016 21:40:02 #
Nov 16, 2016 22:28:23 #
Thank you for the welcome. And thank you for your concern about the wildfires. We are fortunate to be in an area that has not been hit as hard by the drought.
If you look at the drought map for this region there are three counties in Tennessee that are not in the drought category, Johnson, Carter, and Unicoi. These happen to be the only counties in Tennessee in the Blue Ridge Mountains. And we live in one of them. There is a burn ban here but the area is so heavily forested that the leaf layer is quite thick. A blessing in how rich the soil is here, but not so much during dry conditions. Our property has flowing water on three sides and there are five springs on the property. And there are a lot of creeks and springs in the area. Also most people here are aware of the burn ban and respect it.
If you look at the drought map for this region there are three counties in Tennessee that are not in the drought category, Johnson, Carter, and Unicoi. These happen to be the only counties in Tennessee in the Blue Ridge Mountains. And we live in one of them. There is a burn ban here but the area is so heavily forested that the leaf layer is quite thick. A blessing in how rich the soil is here, but not so much during dry conditions. Our property has flowing water on three sides and there are five springs on the property. And there are a lot of creeks and springs in the area. Also most people here are aware of the burn ban and respect it.
Nov 16, 2016 23:04:00 #
Gavyn, Welcome to UHH. Look forward to seeing some of your images. Sounds like you live in a great area.
phyprof wrote:
Good Evening to all. br br My name is Gavyn and ... (show quote)
Nov 16, 2016 23:14:40 #
Thank you for the welcome.
Yes we do live in a great area, we say we live in paradise. My wife is from Los Angeles, (I followed the Beach Boys advice) and she has totally bonded with the mountains and the people here. We have four distinct seasons, and the benefit of our elevation is that our summer high temperatures are in the upper seventies. If it ever gets to 80, or 81, it only lasts for an hour or less, then begins to drop. We had three days this summer that hit 80 or 81. You can be outdoors all day long and not roast.
Yes we do live in a great area, we say we live in paradise. My wife is from Los Angeles, (I followed the Beach Boys advice) and she has totally bonded with the mountains and the people here. We have four distinct seasons, and the benefit of our elevation is that our summer high temperatures are in the upper seventies. If it ever gets to 80, or 81, it only lasts for an hour or less, then begins to drop. We had three days this summer that hit 80 or 81. You can be outdoors all day long and not roast.
Nov 16, 2016 23:28:19 #
Hi Gavyn
I am also a Tennessean from the Memphis area.
I have driven thru the area and I am jealous of the wonderful bounty of photo opportunities.
You truly are blessed to have them at your doorstep.
I also look forward to seeing those images.
Welcome to UHH.
I am also a Tennessean from the Memphis area.
I have driven thru the area and I am jealous of the wonderful bounty of photo opportunities.
You truly are blessed to have them at your doorstep.
I also look forward to seeing those images.
Welcome to UHH.
Nov 16, 2016 23:45:56 #
I guess your favorite summer phrase is "heat index". My dad was from Jackson, TN and it was hot there in the summer. West Tennessee can have some extremely hot summer days. Here the winter expression is "wind chill". Usually our winters are not much colder than down off the mountain, but last winter we hit -20 degrees F with a wind chill of 40 below. Needless to say I bundled up a bit more when I went out to feed the deer.
Nov 17, 2016 04:44:11 #
Nov 17, 2016 06:11:25 #
Nov 17, 2016 06:49:02 #
Nov 17, 2016 07:23:48 #
Hi Gavin and welcome to the forum from near by South Carolina. Maybe sometime we can plan an outing to take in some nature. I also shoot Nikon (D5500)
Nov 17, 2016 07:31:24 #
Nov 17, 2016 07:38:46 #
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