Photography is amazing! I love to capture a special moment but more importantly, I love to capture the feeling of the moment! This summer I focused on photographing my own family. We took a few vacations and while I am no landscape photographer, I did some research and then tried to put it into practice on our trip. If you know me, you know my happy place is the beach, however, I also truly love the mountains and this summer we were able to take a trip to Tennessee for a wedding but also got in some great hiking, white water rafting, exploring, Dollywood and a wild west photo session! All in all, I'd say it was a picture perfect vacation!! While these are just a few of the pictures I took (I've gone through about 3000 already), they just give a small taste of the fun times and memories we created. As I sat here going through them all, I felt the smile that was plastered on my face as the images took me right back to those mountains. I could almost smell the fresh air and hear the kids voices as they excitedly squealed with delight or tried the new whistle their Dad taught them that he learned from his grandpa to use when they were in the woods together. THAT is what photography is about and THAT is why I love it!
This was the second part of our stay in the mountains. At this one, the rest of our family joined us as well as the wedding party!
I am a sucker for wildflowers and details! I loved this little birdhouse!
While we were busy most of the time, we also took time to just chill, relax and...whittle!
This hike was to Laurel Falls.
This one was taken in Cade's Cove.
Sometimes when you give your camera to a random stranger so you can be in the shot, ...you take what you get:)
Now these pictures were so exciting for me as I was playing with my settings to get a desired effect and IT WORKED!
This one reminded me of a fairytale story.
we found a little spot to have some fun playing in the water. This spot made a kind of water slide but as you can clearly tell from my brother's face, the water was a bit chilly for our Florida blood. It didn't stop the kids from shooting down the water, but lets just say they did it quickly! LOL.
I could not get enough of the beautiful scenery!
Many years ago my husband and I got the chance to go to Hawaii. While we were there we saw these little rock towers everywhere we went. We added a few of our own but also decided to find out more about them. I don't know why that was the first time we had ever seen them, or maybe it was just the first time we had ever noticed because sice then, we have seen them all over our travels. The research I did came up with these various reasons why these little towers are built:
- to invoke protection by various cultures
- to connect the earthly with the spiritual
- as an altar
- for wish forming for oneself or family, with each rock representing a wish
- to mark trails
- as a way of marking ‘I was here’
- on graves to stop scavengers or as a mark of respect
- for fun
We did it for fun and to add our own mark on the world naturally. So, here in Tennessee on the trail to Ramsey cascade we left our tower.
Everyone loves nature....This guy was enjoying watching us play in the water.....I DID NOT enjoy watching him.....but I did until we left to make sure he stayed put!
We also enjoyed some fun time in Gatlinburg. I have always wanted to do this type of photo so my husband found a groupon and off we went. It was a blast! This one was taken by Wild West Photos in Gatlinburg.
We also spent some time on the water and in the air with white water rafting and ziplining. I did not take my camera to the treetops so I do not have those terrifying moments documented...but they were fun...when we weren't trying to gasp oxygen from climbing a mile's worth of steps!!!
However, the rafting company got these shots..there were several shots but this one was the best of them with everyone looking...In most of the other ones my Dad is somewhere inside the boat and my youngest son is looking terrified! In ALL of them my husband is yahooing! :) It was a good day!
As for the trip in it's entirety, including my nieces wedding...(which I already blogged earlier), this picture completely sums up the whole experience! I love this little munchkin! Sophie Jean puts the exclamation point on what was an epic family vacation! :)
Tennessee May 2014
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