Using Light in Your Photographs

One of the most important elements in photography is light. Take a photograph in the early morning light, of your backyard. Then take the same scene at noon and again late in the evening before sundown. Compare each of these photographs and notice the difference in each scene.

Does it seem you are looking at an entirely differenct place in each photograph?

Do you know why?

Stone Door

We recentlly took a photo day trip up to Stone Door. Stone Door is located in the South Cumberland Plateau State Recreation area of Tennessee.

We left very early even though it was rainy. The fog was thick as we got up on the plateau and near the Stone Door area. The visibility was about 10 foot, and we had a difficult time finding the parking area near the ranger station.

It is about a mile hike to the overlook, overlooking Laurel Gorge, and the Stone Door which is actually a 10 foot wide, 110 foot tall crevice between two bluffs. This crevice between the bluffs was used by the Cherokee Indians to climb down from the plateau to the gorge below.

The view at the overlook and from the bluff are almost too beautiful to describe. I will post a couple of images we took, but not even the images do justice to the view.

Sunset

There has been such a lack of snow this year it has been difficult to find landscapes that are appealing.  We took our daughter and her new friend to Harrison Bay State Park this weekend.  We were hoping to find something worth shooting in this drab season.

This is what we settled on, a nice sunset.
If you look hard enough you can always find something beautiful to photograph.

See more of my photos at my website.

Cumberland Falls

We took a short, quick trip up to the Cumberland Falls. Cumberland Falls is in Kentucky and it is a real nice one day trip from Chattanooga.

The waterfall offers a real opportunity for some waterfall photography. There are several good overlook areas for some nice views of the waterfall.

There is a lower view and upper view and one right at the falls (don't get wet).
We were very lucky the day we were there the water was pretty clear and there was a good flow of water. I decided to take a shot slowing down the water and making it appear soft.

Red Clay State Park

We recently visited a state park nearby named Red Clay. Red Clay is a State Historic Park located in the southwest corner of Bradley County in Tennessee, just above the Tennessee-Georgia state line.
The park encompasses 263-acres and includes a natural landmark, the Blue Hole Spring, which arises from beneath a limestone ledge to form a deep pool that flows into a tributary of the Conasauga and Coosa River system, called Mill Creek. The spring was used by the Cherokee for their water supply during council meetings. Red Clay served as the seat of the Cherokee government from 1832 until the forced removal of the Cherokee in 1838. It was the site of the 11 general councils.

There is a monument in the park for the Cherokee, that houses the eternal flame of the Cherokee nation.

Chattanooga- Market Street Bridge

I got a great photo opportunity recently. In
Chattanooga there are several bridges that cross the Tennessee River, one of those bridges is the Market Street Bridge.

The Market Street Bridge was built as a counter weight style draw bridge and once in awhile they open this bridge. I was lucky enough to find out when it was scheduled to open and I didn't miss the opportunity to get some great pictures.

The weather was not what we had hoped for, it was rainy and overcast. But we got a few nice shots and kept the camera dry.

Fort Mountain State Park

We took a short trip last week to a new place we have never visited before. We had hoped for some spring flowers but the elevation was a bit too high and spring was not really in show.

We visited Fort Mountain State Park near Chatsworth, GA. The park is at an elevation of about 2,832 feet and spring has not quite made it to the top of this mountain yet. But we did find an interesting place.

At the top of this ridge stands an old fire tower, as seen in this photo, and a stone wall. The wall was built around 500AD, and the builders are not known with any certainty. There are many theories regarding who the original builders were but no one has made a concrete determination. It is thought either Native Americans built the wall or Price Madoc, a traveler from Wales may have built the wall on this mountain.

The photo of the firetower shown here, was taken in the afternoon and shows you how the trees have still not started to have any leaves or buds. We took the photo with the sun highlighting the front and at our backs. A good way to take advantage of natural light, the light at this time of day always makes for a decent photo.