On Monday I went to Jackson Lake to photograph the fireflies, but I also took a few pictures of the lake and the nearby waterfalls. I have never found Jackson to be as photogenic as O’Donnell or Dimmick, but it is still a pretty place.
Losing altitude.
Literally, as we descended from the Mountain back to Nashville today. Keeping my streak of lazy mornings alive I did not get up for sunrise again this morning. We did manage one last walk on the Mountain Goat Trail, and really enjoyed it. The morning was so lovely and peaceful. Our walks are really one of my favorite things about going to the cottage. Liz and Luke headed out soon after nursing and I hung around to clean up a bit. My reward was lunch at the Mountain Goat Market. They were super busy, but I got to say hello to Eric and enjoy my food on the terrace.
The drive home was pretty uneventful. I took the highway as much as possible and stopped at the tractor dealer in Murfreesboro for the part I ordered. Back at the condo we gave Luke a bath. He is pretty relaxed about them these days. The PTO shaft for my finish mower came today, so I should be able to mow tomorrow. Provided it isn’t storming, which is a real possibility.
Fireworks.
Last night I went over to campus to view the fireworks show. Due to a closed off road it was a bit of a hike down to the lake, but worth it. The display didn’t last very long, but I took a number of pictures. I have never photographed fireworks before, so they didn’t turn out great. It was still a lot of fun though.
L.H.O.O.Q.
Well, it is officially (as declared by me) firefly season on the Mountain. While we were up there these past few days I was able to go out and photograph them some evenings. I had a blast and am fairly pleased with some of the results.
Day 1 – The front yard.
In some ways the front yard of the cottage is the ideal location – nice trees, easy access, and tons of fireflies. However it suffers because of the lights from the military museum next door. They cast a sickly glow over everything. I was still able to get some pictures before they came on though. I’m not crazy about my compositions, but I was a bit lazy and waited until the last minute before setting up.
Day 2 – Jackson Lake.
I set up three cameras here, and was a little lazy. Instead of manually controlling and adjusting the exposure I set it to automatic. Part of this is because the cameras were so spread out. The first camera was set on a little waterfall. Unfortunately there weren’t many fireflies there at all. The second camera was on the dirt road. More bus there, but not a ton. The third was overlooking the lake. It was also lacking fireflies. This was a disappointing evening because the compositions had more interesting elements, but the lightning bugs just didn’t cooperate. Maybe I will try this spot again.
Day 3 – Campus Forest.
On the back side of campus there are a few thousand acres of managed forest. There is one maintained road going through the heart of it and lots of trails. It is always a very relaxing place to be; I photographed the fireflies a number of times there last year. Once again I used three cameras. I got there a few minutes later than I would have liked, so focusing was a little bit of an issue, but I’m pretty pleased with how things turned out. One camera was set up on the road, and the other two were on trails. I’m thinking to remove the biggest firefly trails in all three pictures, as they are rather distracting.
Day 4 – Mountain Goat Trail
I had never thought to photograph on the trail before, but our evening walk inspired me. So I set up shop near Pearl’s at the en of the wooden bridge. I pointed one camera back at the bridge. It didn’t capture that many fireflies. The other two I pointed down the trail – one with a shorter focal length, the other a bit longer. I think this spot has potential for some better photos, so I will return.
I definitely can’t wait to get back to the mountain soon. I’m not sure when that will be though. The fireflies are such a fun challenge. There are some new locations I want to try as well.
Happy birthday America!
My alarm buzzed at 4:30 this morning and I immediately turned it off and went back to sleep until eight. Liz nursed Luke in the meantime, and then they went back to sleep until ten. So not a productive morning. No walk or goats. Our friends Michael and Sally came up just before noon, and we had a great time together. We just relaxed for a while at the cottage and then took them on a little mountain tour. We saw the natural bridge and several overlooks, went to the crafts fair, and of course went to see the goats. Luke was incredibly well behaved the whole time. After Sally and Michael left we went to dinner at the Blue Chair tavern. We sat outside and enjoyed the fresh air. I played with Luke for a little while back at the cottage, then drove over to campus for the fireworks show. Roads were closed and so I had to walk all the way from the main chapel. Tons of people were there. I set up my camera next to the lake. The show started fifteen minutes late and lasted all of twelve minutes. It was pretty cool though. I’m not sure how my pictures turned out; probably not great. It’s a little bit of a downer that we’ll be leaving the Mountain tomorrow. I don’t really want to go back to “real life”.
