Spring Pine

If you had to pick one thing that defines one's visual experience of central North Carolina, it might be the pine. From the scrub pines that congest every new growth forest to the giant tall pines in old cities and towns, you will find plenty of green needles in this state. So, feeling a little burnt out this afternoon but frustrated by a late NC spring that hasn't given me much to photograph, I took this shot earlier maybe 100 yards from our place.

Daffodils at Duke Gardens

Today marked the last day of a one week vacation, during which I had hoped to take a lot of photographs. In the end, I was far less prolific than I'd hoped. However, this morning, we did get over to Duke Gardens for about an hour. These daffodil images were probably the days best images.

Larger versions of these images will soon be posted on my flickr page, which increasingly I am using as my primary site for posting photographs.

Barn at sunset

It's a been a good long while since I got out to shoot. For the past few days, I've been visiting my parents in central Illinois, the land of much better sunsets than we get in North Carolina. I took this shot just outside of Macomb, IL on the way home from a visit to see my grandparents.

All in the eye of the beholder

I recently entered four of my pictures from my trip this summer to India for consideration into an international photo exhibit. Two of them were selected, which doesn't mean much as the flyer advertising the exhibit promised that they would try to include at least one image from each submitter.

What's intersting to me is that the two images that got selected were not the two I expected. Here are the shots that got in:



And here are the shots that got rejected:


Originally, I just submitted the latter two (which got rejected), and I only submitted the first two (which got accepted) as an afterthought. In terms of image quality, I'd rate the images on opposite ends of the spectrum. The image of the doors is probably the best or second best image (although not a great fit for the theme of the exhibit), but I've never thought much of the image of the young girl. On the other hand, I really like both images that got rejected.

It's a common theme for me with pictuers I take. Other people often prefer images that I don't.

Finally, to digress, it's a very late Spring in North Carolina this year, which has delayed my anticipated return to picture taking. Hopefully I'll be able to get something posted in the next week.

Time for photography on the horizon

It's been seven very hectic weeks here, as evidenced by the unusual quiet on this blog. However, a much needed lull is in sight, and I'm hopeful that I'll be able to get some decent images taken, beginning next weekend. Stay tuned...