Hooray! The Meadow!

I have to admit that I have been incredibly lazy in my adventures outdoors recently. This is mostly because it is just so hot that I haven’t wanted to do anything except relax on my couch in comfy pants watching old Nickelodeon shows. Yes, probably a little lame, but I love it.

Either way, when I stayed at my parents’ house a few weeks ago I was trying to think of some place nearby that I could go to get some shots. I checked my Geocaching application on my Iphone and discovered there was a Geocache in the meadow on my parents’ street. I have been to this meadow many times, never really thinking much of it besides it being a place to escape and hang out late at night when I was younger.

I decided I should take my dog with me, you know, to get him a little exercise. I grabbed his leash and a bottle of water for him and we headed down the street. We arrived at the lake and turned left down the small path leading to Tom Harris Meadow. I decided I would leave the Geocache for the way out so my dog, Shadow, could have some time to play. We got down to the meadow and walked the perimeter. Off in the far corner we found a hidden dirt path that we decided to follow. I know this area is not very large because there are houses surrounding it. Either way, we found ourselves on the edge of the stream leading to the other lake. I took this shot of the logs reaching across the stream because I thought it looked strangely out of place compared to everything else.


We turned to head back when I suddenly heard something. I peered through the trees and spotted two deer having a mid afternoon snack. I tried my best for about ten minutes to get close enough to get a good shot. Shadow, not having a lot of patience, was bored by this and did not seem to understand the importance of quiet. Needless to say, I couldn’t get a good shot of the deer.

After our defeat, we headed to the back of the walkway to sit for a while by the edge of the second lake. While we were sitting, I looked behind me and spotted these tree roots. I loved the angles of the roots from the ground.


I poured some of Shadow’s water into a small plastic bowl I had brought. The original idea was that he would drink out of the bowl and I would drink from the bottle. As it turns out, he drank from the bottle and I got nothing. This was fine though. I love my dog and he obviously needed it more than I did.

So, just because of a lack of patience on Shadow’s part, most of the pictures we got were not very good. Instead of trying to post something amazing, here are two pictures. The first picture is a shot of the meadow. Nice green grass, a barrier of trees, and blue skies above. Complete quiet. The second picture is Shadow. Since he was part of this adventure, I figured you should know what he looks like.



Although this blog started as a project for class, I do believe I will keep it going. I plan to venture out of this area, especially with the impending fall season. I hope to get some amazing shots in the near future and look forward to sharing them with you.

Open Skies!

I spent last weekend house sitting for my parents. They decided to go to Charleston, so I was chosen to stay at the house to take care of the animals. My parents don’t live too far away from me, but for some reason I could not think of any parks near them. Then it hit me. There was one park that no one really goes to. It is rather hidden behind a large building. I grabbed my camera and tripod and set out. I couldn’t remember exactly where it was, so I had to turn around after driving right past it. I finally found the entrance and drove down the gravel road to Goddard Park.

I believe this park is mainly used by fishermen since they have easy access to the river. There are several short trails that run through this park. One of the trails is a narrow trail along the river’s edge that runs through the woods. The one further up is a gravel trail, mainly for bicycles, that ends at a dock overlooking the river. The last trail is a small paved trail for walking dogs. I believe all of these trails intersect among certain points, making it easier to jump around.

The one thing I remembered best about this park was the open field. Upon pulling in you can see the giant grassy field. It is a short walk from where the car parking is and is perfect for taking pictures of the sky. I wanted to try to get a good picture of the sky that day, it being a magnificent shade of blue with great contrast from the clouds rolling in. I set my camera and tripod up and snapped probably thirty photos with different shutter speeds. After looking at all of the pictures in order, I realized that it looked awesome to flip through the pictures quickly, watching the clouds role in. I was going to make a time-lapse video of it, but not having the time I decide to post this picture.


After finishing with my sky pictures, I started lurking around the park. I knew there were two Geocaches in the park, one of which I was determined to find. With a name like “Holy Geocache Batman," how could I not want to find it? I took my time on the trails, looking for more photo opportunities. When I found myself down by the dock over the river, I looked down a ways and spotted a little beach. It was very small with a log on it, but the way the shadows were cast upon the sand and the water made it look amazing.


I wandered around some more, making my way closer to the area for the cache. I found myself with 50 feet of it and decided it was a good time to duck off the trail and into the trees. Before doing so, I thought these two trees looked majestic in the sunlight. I liked the pattern of the bark with the angle of the sun behind them.


I got my shot and was finally ready to search for the cache. After stumbling around the woods for twenty minutes looking on the ground, I was about to give up. I kept searching, when finally I decided to look up. There it was. A giant black box with bats on it nailed to a side of a tree. I retrieved my prize (my first trackable cache to replace somewhere else) and started to head out. I looked down before leaving and saw something amazing. There was of course more fungus growing on the bottoms of the trees. I loved the colors in this, so I took my last shots of the day and headed home.


I actually really love this park. With barely any people there, it is relaxing just to walk around by yourself.

Way up the Mountain

For the past three years, I have driven by Kennesaw Mountain countless times. I even lived right at the base of the mountain for a while. Surprisingly enough, I had never been up there. The other day, it finally happened. My boyfriend and I decided it would be a good day to hike uphill. I had no idea how tiring this trek was going to be. I also made the mistake of smoking my last cigarette before we started off, something I really shouldn’t be doing before hiking. Either way, we made our way up the trail. These pictures are again, not the best. It was so miserably hot and I was so tired from the uphill movement that, I will admit, I got rather lazy.

This picture is from the beginning of our hike. About five minutes after we began our way up the trail I looked up and just thought it looked beautiful. It was a gorgeous sunny day and the way the forest was lighting up made everything look so green and lush. I really liked the contrast of the rock in relation to the almost straight line of trees behind it. This just looked so inviting that I had to attempt to capture the invitation to the mountain.


After about another thirty-minute walk we found ourselves taking breaks. We would sit for a while, enjoy the view from the mountain’s edge, and then press on. When we were getting close to what I thought was the top I was searching for a shot of something. I kept looking off into the forest when my eye caught this amazing looking mushroom. Mushrooms in general gross me out, I cannot eat any kind of mushroom prepared in any way, but I do like the way they look. Maybe this stems from a love of “Super Mario Bros.” as a child. Either way, I thought this mushroom with curtains looked interesting and lonely. It seemed to be calling for me to take a picture of it. This is what I got.


I got my shot and we kept going. Brian kept promising me that we were almost there. We got to a clearing at the top, which I assumed was our destination, and took a couple pictures of the city through the haze. It was too difficult to get a good shot of the city from up there though.

I thought we were done and ready to start our descent, but Brian informed me that we were not at the top. We headed up some stairs and a shorter path. Along the way were old war cannons and war memorabilia. It was rather interesting, but nothing really photo worthy. We finally reached the actual top of the mountain. It was beautiful up there, but it was impossible to see anything. Atlanta was too hazy from smog and the trees covered the rest. I finally decided on a picture of these rocks. I just found that the colors looked gorgeous in the sunlight. Almost like they were sparkling. I know, it’s not the greatest picture, but you get what I was going for.


I really enjoyed the hike, although it was incredibly tiring. I especially enjoyed the way back down. Down is always so much easier than up, I don’t care what anyone says.

Walking on the Hooch

Over the weekend, my boyfriend and I went out to take some more pictures and to go Geocaching. I thought I was running out of parks in my immediate area, so I logged onto the Geocaching website and found that there were eight Geocaches in a park not too far from my house. I looked it up and discovered that it was the Chattahoochee Nature Center. My boyfriend and I headed over there, paid the eight-dollar entrance fee, and started our adventure.

I was actually a little surprised that I didn’t know this was around the corner from us. They have multiple exhibits through the center as well as some trails leading to the different areas. In the Discovery Center, we found this large room with all different kinds of insects preserved in cases. There are about 30 drawers filled with varying species, all marked with a number of points. We asked the lady at the desk and she explained that they have a point system to trade things. The program they have set up allows children to go out into nature, anywhere they want, find a bug, research it, and bring it in to the Nature Center for points. The points are then logged into an account for the child so they can save their points for future trading purposes. I think this is an awesome idea to get kids interested in nature.

After leaving the building, we made our way down a path in the aviaries. There were all sorts of amazing birds. There were several species of owl, some vultures, hawks, and a pair of Bald Eagles. Unfortunately, they were all in cages, so picture taking was difficult. Instead, we found these strange looking man-made birds’ nests. They were just hanging there, all spiral-like, and we thought they looked interesting.



When we were done with the aviaries, we headed over to see the beavers. Of course, they were sleeping in a corner where we couldn’t see them, but honestly, I don’t blame them. I would hide in that corner too. On the trail, though I spotted this twisted tree. I just thought it looked kind of neat, the way it was bent over and twisting around itself. We spent some time on this trail, winding in and out of the butterfly gardens. For a butterfly garden, there really weren’t too many butterflies though. I guess because of the heat and time of year. Maybe next time.



Before we headed back to the car, we decided to spend a little extra time and cross the street to the River Boardwalk Trail. It was a short half a mile walk around the entire boardwalk. I really wanted to get a good picture of the river, but of course, no luck there. The lighting just was not working out well that day. I did manage to get this picture though. I know, not the best, but I do like the way it is focused.



I really enjoyed this trip to the Chattahoochee Nature Center. I definitely suggest this to anyone looking for an easy trail with some wildlife worked in, especially if you have kids. Well worth the price. There are also several Geocaches in the park, one of which is probably the best and most startling I have seen. I don’t want to give it away, so go check it out when you have some time.

The Dam Waterfall

Yesterday the stormy weather finally broke long enough for me to spend some time in the woods. I decided to go to one of my favorite spots. I drove a few miles up Hwy 9 from my house and made the turn into Vickery Creek. This park has several trails that wind approximately two miles around the river. I chose not to go in my usual entrance this time, seeing as though I was by myself. My normal entrance consists of a steep descend among a rock facing. You can usually find people repelling from these rocks if that helps you with the size. I had my tripod with me to get better pictures, so I decided it would be a bit safer to hike from the other side of the river.

I started walking up the trail when I realized the way I would usually go also would require some skill. It would be a narrow squeeze on the edge of cliff overlooking the river. I looked at the map and noticed there was one more trail that would lead me to my destination. I took it. A trail I had never been on before. I took a right at the fork; camelback and tripod strapped to my back, and found myself climbing in elevation at a rather rapid rate. I was still able to hear the river; however, looking down proved I was high enough up to not see through the dense trees to the water. Looking back to the trail ahead of me, I noticed this.



The shadows bouncing off the floor of the trail with the tree roots looked beautiful all of a sudden. I set up my tripod as close to the ground as possible. I wanted to capture the contrast of the ground with the roots growing up from the earth.

Continuing down the trail, I was finding so many things I wanted to photograph. I was wasting too much time if I wanted to reach my destination with enough sunlight to get the shot I wanted. I forced myself to leave my camera alone for a while. That only lasted for about ten minutes. What would have taken me half an hour to hike took me a little over an hour. I finally reached the spot I was looking for. I looked over the edge and saw several people sunbathing and taking pictures. I noticed a new trail though. Since I wouldn’t be able to get my shot right then, I decided I should explore. I walked down this trail, right along the river, noticing I was dangerously close to the edge the whole time, and found a rope swing. The thought crossed my mind to just go for it and jump in, but I had to get back to get my shot.

On my trek back, I discovered this interesting tree. There were all of these things growing up the side. I sat with my tripod, playing with different shutter speeds and settings, and took twenty different shots. I finally decided on this shot.



After finishing with the tree, I walked back to my entire reason for coming to Vickery Creek. The people were finally gone. I had the place to myself. I had the waterfall.



This is the Roswell Mill Dam. It's a 30-foot dam and millrace that was constructed in the mid to late 1830’s on Vickery Creek to supply water to the Roswell Mills. I love this waterfall. I sat with my tripod and once again started playing with the shutter speeds on my camera. I was trying to get a certain shot I recently learned how to do. It was going to take some time though. Thirty minutes and 45 pictures later, I finally got what I wanted. I wanted to capture the flowing movement of the water. This is is my favorite picture from this trip.

The first trip out...a bit of a rush though.

Last year I discovered the great thrill of Geocaching. Going out on these adventures in search of a small container, usually hidden away in the woods, I have discovered several rather beautiful places around Atlanta. Recently I have decided, for the purposes of this blog, that I will try to take my love of nature and photography to try to capture some of this beauty on film. To add to the influence of this blog, I have also recently been occupying my time watching a show on The Weather Channel, “From the Edge with Peter Lik.” This show features a landscape photographer searching for some of the most beautiful places in the United States to capture on film. This show has inspired me to imitate on a small scale, or at least attempt to imitate.


One of the easier trails I have found is in the Dunwoody Nature Center. I never would have found this place if it wasn’t for looking for a Cache. This small preserve has several winding trails, but nothing too tedious to walk along, as well as a Nature Education Center for children. While walking this trail I discovered several picturesque spots. This first picture is of a stone wall near the beginning of the trails. This was not the best time of day to try to take pictures, but I had to get something. I really loved this wall. Every time I return to the Nature Center the wall looks slightly different, depending on the water level from the creek. This visit showed a really low water level, but the wall still looked amazing in the middle of the trees.


This next picture is from the underside of a rather large rounded bush I had found. I really don’t know what type of plant this is, but it created this natural rounded shelter. Trying to take a picture of the outside of it was nearly impossible. The dimensions become skewed from the outside, so I decided to move slightly inside the bush. From this angle I was able to capture the sun shining through the leaves as well as the shelter feel to the bush.


This last picture is my favorite from this hike. As I was walking back to the car I found a broken tree stump. The rest of the tree was nowhere to be seen, but the lonely stump called to me. I was drawn to the patterns from the break on the inside. I spent most of my time taking shots from different angles to find the best one. I really loved the contrast between the different sides of the break and the splintering of the wood. I was trying to capture all of the small details in the wood on this.

This hike and picture taking adventure, I will admit, was a rather rushed one. Unfortunately, I did not have the daylight I needed to take the best shots possible. My next hike and picture session will definitely be more planned out and will provide much better photo quality. The next one will be in the early morning hours in a park. I haven’t decided exactly which park yet, but I am leaning towards a trip to the waterfall.