This is a shot that I failed to download. This was made less than 300 yards from the Great Stone Door visitor's center. The second shot is of Savage Falls in the South Cumberland State Park from the Savage Gulf entrance.

(Download)


(Download)

Being in the "high risk" of coronavirus we stay home a lot but we look for the opportunity to get into the woods. Here in TN we have a lot of state park with wonderful trails so we look for different ones each week. I use these hikes to utilize my hobby. TN parks are beautiful and the ones we choose are the ones that most people don't use. The 1st and 3rd pictures are from the Great Stone Door trail and the 2nd and 4th are from the Hidden Passage trail.

(Download)


(Download)


(Download)

Like you said I would think that she would go early on. For 4 weeks I have been saying that. I don't know what the problem is. Every time I have worked with her, she has been great. She is my favorite at the shelter(for now).

Thank you for all the kind statements. This is a job of joy. Merry Christmas to all.

I would like to share with you a few of the pictures that I made at our animal shelter for Christmas. These are shared online to help in their adoption. Not only are these fun to make they are quite challenging. Since most of these cats are strays, they haven't had a lot of human contact.

(Download)


(Download)


(Download)


(Download)


(Download)

For the last 55 years I have shot Nikons and I currently use both a D700 and a D810. Also, I have a Fuji X-H1. Your question is a difficult one to answer when only you know what you are looking for in a camera. Mirrorless cameras are a different animal and I find that they open up a different style of shooting. The Fuji for me has been a great deal of fun. It is also very light compared to the Nikons and easy to use. However, when it comes down to the business of getting the best results I pull up the D810. I know that none of my cameras are the same as the ones you are looking at but this is the contrast I see in the Nikons and Fujis.

Dirt Farmer the above reply is for you. LR and PS are really great and I like learning more about them. It was much simpler in the darkroom days. But it took too much time and I still have a finger that shows what the chemicals do to them.

Thanks I appreciate the lesson. I'll be giving it a try.

Thank you for responding to the two pictures. There have been some interesting comments. I will agree that the sky has the appearance of over saturation. There are possibly two reasons for this. The shot was made about noon toward the northern sky (45 degrees from the sun) and the other was that being a 5 shot stack with 1 stop per shot variance the sky just stacked dark. There were no clouds in the sky. Some said that I should have moved a little to the side to not cover the sign at the top. I should have taken more time but being in the middle of a US highway I was doing things in quick fashion.

The convergence of lines bothers me and I tried in LR and PS to straighten them but my skill level is lacking to make them work. It is amazing that even though I mentioned it in my opening it was thrown back at me like I did not see it.

The shots were made for a company that wants to display pictures of the buildings they had work on. It was my intent to be a little dramatic with them to get their customers and potential customers attention.

I do understand that we all have different taste and I find it interesting that over the years in observing the critics on this site, that some of these are really good “Monday morning quarterbacks”and some not so good. I have hesitated to put photos in this forum for this reason. Some times it is good to put yourself in the photographer’s shoes when looking at a picture. Even though some of you will take this critically, I really do appreciate the feedback. I do respect your opinions. And most of all I enjoy seeing your pictures, even when I would not shoot them myself.

I was asked to try a picture of our local courthhouse. The norm is a daylight, thus I wanted to try something a little different. Which do you prefer? The nightshot is a HDR with 5 shots blended in Lightroom and the day shot is also a blend of 5 shots in LR. Forgive the distortion and the unlevel. These were shot with a Nikon D810.

(Download)


(Download)

I was not sure that this cat would cooperate. After all, it is a stray. When I started to put the hat on him, I thought this is rather risky. Just went slow and he did nothing to tell me he was unhappy. After all, he is a celebrity.

Volunteering at our local animal shelter each week as the cat photographer, I was challenged to come up with a Halloween shot. Shelter kitties are not the most cooperative creatures. Most give you fractions of seconds to get the shot in focus and sharp with expressions. When I finished this weeks shots I went back to one of the black kitties and set up this shot. The kitten was actually very cooperative letting me attach the hat and place some of the items on and around him. My biggest mistake was to us a black towel for a background. I think it would have been better with a gray?

I had one of these Fords with the straight 6 back in the 60's. In high gear it would "move" down the road. I granny it would walk up a "steep" hill. I hope you get to try it out when finished.

You will enjoy Nashville. There is the Parthenon, the Hermitage, and if you want some fun shots walk up and down Broadway (lots of Honky Tonks and good eats). The Country Music Hall of Fame is interesting along with and ever changing skyline. A trip to the Grand Ol Opry on Tues, Fri, or Sat is good for some more pictures.

You are absolutely. I was only there long enough for 4 different ropers. And thanks to the speed of the camera, I came out with three shots worth keeping.