Some final shots from my trip to the Smokies. Or rather, my trip home from the Smokies.
I could have spent the week in a tent. Instead I spent it in a rather nice cabin, high on a mountain overlooking the Smokies. It was really roughing it. I mean, the cabin didn’t even have turndown service. Talk about rustic!
The barbecue in Tennessee is so, so good. Oh, how I miss thee. The following deliciousness was from Corky’s BBQ in Pigeon Forge. There are few smells sweeter than the smell of smoking hickory.
I started the trip home on I-81, but interstates are boring, so I left the trucks behind and made a beeline for the Blue Ridge Parkway. Driving along the deserted Parkway, I noticed there was a large black bear standing close to the road. I pulled over at the next overlook, fumbled around in search of my telephoto lens, and walked back to the general area. By then the bear had retreated into the woods, but I managed to catch a few photos. There turned out to be at least three bears — a large mom and at least a couple cubs. If you look carefully, you’ll see the mom checking me out — on her hind legs. You can bearly (ahem) make out a cub just below her. In honesty, by this point they were pretty far away — and I couldn’t really see what I was shooting. When photographing bears, I never make an attempt to get any closer to them. It’s always humbling to see these majestic creatures in the wild.
It’s another wild turkey! This turkey was standing by the side of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. I saw a lot of turkeys on this trip.
The sun set at the Pinnacles Picnic Ground at Shenandoah, which I had all to myself. If it wasn’t so late with lots of driving still ahead of me, I would have hiked the Appalachian Trail a bit.
And finally a shot of the moon.
Some more hiking today at the Smokies, and another dozen photos.
You didn’t think I’d visit the Smokies and not get a shot of a bear, did you?
It’s really hard to take a photo when you’re running. (Just kidding. Clearly the bear has no interest in me.)
I found a quiet place in the Smokies to go hiking today, snapping the following photos.
Waiting patiently for its turn at the flowering hole.
I believe this is a trillium. I stopped the camera way down and then “painted” the flower with a flashlight.
Nice legs.
That’s me hiking down a switchback.
Not a lot of great shots today. I did some hiking in the Smokies but spent most of the time in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Great Smoky Mountain National Park is the most visited National Park in the U.S., and even at this “low volume” time, there were far too many people for my tastes. As I tried to flee all the traffic, I was reminded of my visit to Canyonlands National Park this past December, when I had the entire National Park all to myself. It was wonderful.
That doesn’t happen in the Smokies.
The following peaceful scenes don’t capture the droning sound of hundreds of motorcycles zooming down the road, the loud noise billowing through the valleys. (There must have been some kind of motorcycle festival going on.)
After the sun set tonight, I headed into the Smoky Mountains for some quick nighttime photography. The next five shots are light paintings.
The next three photos are of the same scene, but with varied aperture, exposure, and type of light painting.
I took the following photos during the 8th Annual Ribfest & Wings Street Fair in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
The event included a hot wing eating contest with sauces such as “Blazing Bomb,” “Fire Pit Hell,” “Treacherous Tongue,” “Scorching Screaming” and “Next Day Disaster.”
And I do apologize for this next shot. The hot sauces had some interesting metabolic effects on some participants.
Is she going to make it?
Not so much.
The band Dishwater Blonde, based out of Knoxville, Tennessee.
There was also an ice cream eating competition, sponsored by Ben & Jerrys. This mom took the contest very seriously, coaching her son through the event. “Eat more! Eat more! Shovel it in!”
In the end there was a tie, resulting in a deathmatch between a boy and girl. The girl won. This will be hard for the boy to live down, I think.
The Atlanta band The Tams, playing on the main stage.
A stomach full of barbecue didn’t keep participants from dancing to the Tams. Not even participants pushing a stroller.
Peace out, brother.
I didn’t just take photographs of the International Pillow Fight Day in Washington, DC on April 4, 2009. I also took some shots that didn’t involve pillows. A selection follows.
The closest I get to shooting a self portrait is catching my reflection somewhere.
Notice the great skill with which I hold the camera, though. Holding a camera this deftly requires years and years of experience.
I like that this next shot has so many layers, even if it makes the photo seem busy at first. You see reflections of people behind me, people within the bus looking out, people across from the bus looking into the bus, and then people inside a bus even further in the background.
Wait, I said these shots didn’t involve pillow fighting, right? Well, in that case, I assure you these feathers have nothing to do with pillow fighting. I’m sure there was some kind of goose accident on the National Mall.
Sometimes a blown out photo turns out quite good.
A really short woman, or a really tall man? You decide!
Stand back!
Saturday, April 4, 2009 was a beautiful day to visit Washington, DC. The sun was shining, there was a cool breeze (at times gusting into a very strong wind), and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom.
And, also, a pillow fight with hundreds of participants broke out on the National Mall and, later, in Dupont Circle.
And I just happened to be in the right place at the right time to capture some photos.
Well, OK, maybe I was in on it, just a little. The event was part of the International Pillow Fight Day, which had participants breaking out the pillows all across the country and world. What better way to take out your aggression? The DC event was arranged by the DC Defenestrators, the local chapter of Improv Everywhere, a performance art group that causes “scenes of chaos and joy in public places.”
I photograph local Improv Everywhere events. In my first event a year ago, I participated as a member of the paparazzi chasing a celebrity down the National Mall. Except the “celebrity” was really a normal person. The celebrity, bodyguards, paparazzi, and contingent of fans were all in on the joke. The second Improv Everywhere mission I participated in was Conga Line Tours, which invited tourists to participate in an inaugural free tour of Conga Line Tours — where participants conga-danced between different points of interest in DC. I photographed that event.
Which leads me to yesterday’s event. A call was put out to have folks show up on the National Mall at 2 p.m., with hidden pillows. At 2 p.m., two members of DC Defenestrators would get into an argument, pull out pillows, and begin to settle their argument with fluffy down (or synthetic down). People nearby would try to break up the argument, only to whip out their own pillows and join in on the action. Hundreds and hundreds of people showed up with pillows, and soon it was a good-natured free-for-all. We repeated the sequence at 3 p.m. at Dupont Circle.
I didn’t have a pillow, but I did have my camera, so I did a “fluff” piece of photojournalism.
This was a great event. It brought together hundreds of people who didn’t know each other, from all walks of life — different ages, races, and backgrounds. Everyone was laughing uncontrollably, and people walking by broke into a big smile. It certainly was a spectacle to witness; not something you see every day. Participants also did a good job cleaning up any messes made from bursting pillows.
I snapped over 400 photos; 26 are shown below. You can also check out some shots one of my friends, Charlie, took. He was shooting with a wider lens so you can get a better idea of the scope of the event. (Most of mine below were shot at 200mm.)
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