Radnor Lake: Nashville, TN

Just a quick post to share another visit out to Radnor Lake.  This is another visit to the lake during sunrise.  This is from the exact same spot as my previous post, at the exact same time, but with two completely different results.  Just because you have shot from a spot already doesn't mean you can't create something completely different the next time.

Radnor Lake: Nashville, Tennessee

Radnor Lake is one of my favorite places in Nashville to photograph the sunrise. It is a bit of a drive, and the park open only a half hour before sunrise, but it is far enough away from the city for it to be absolutely quiet at  6 AM. The only noise heard at this hour are bugs buzzing around and the sound of wind rustling through the leaves. Well, that is the case on most days. This morning I had inadvertently angered a beaver, and it began swimming back and forth in front of me, slapping its tail in the water.

Since I wanted the water to appear as clear as glass, the waves that it was creating was not going to make that possible.  I turned off my flashlight, and quietly set up my camera, then patiently waited for 10 minutes until it finally stopped. Over the next hour and a half I made several photographs, and my very first video, of the sunrise over Radnor Lake.        

Tennessee State Fair: Nashville, Tennessee

In the last few weeks, I’ve made a concerted effort to get off the couch and take pictures.  It didn’t matter where I went, or what I photographed, but I was tired of reading about photography, reading forum posts and critiquing what others were shooting.  I’m not knocking these things, they are truly helpful in becoming a better photographer, but I was only doing these things, and not getting out and shooting.  I can spout off the latest gear, the latest rumors of what camera is going to be out in a few months, I can recite what program is best for HDR or how to make time-lapse video, but I hadn’t gone out and done any of these things or tried doing them myself.  This had to stop.  I had to get out and make my own pictures.  I had to start learning from firsthand experience.  This was one of those attempts.         

When I made the decision to head out to the Tennessee State Fair, I started trying to pre-visualize what I wanted to come home with.  I knew there would be color, lights and motion, so I focused on trying to capture that.  I knew the best pictures would come either while the sun was setting or when it was completely dark.  I wanted to capture the light streaks made by the movement of the rides, which would have been impossible in broad daylight because my shutter speed would have been to fast.  I had read countless articles on how to do this, I peered through the exif data on hundreds of similar pictures on Flickr to find a ballpark shutter speed to shoot for, now I was going to go out and try to put that to use.

While I don’t think these are award winning images, I think I met my expectations on what I thought I wanted to capture.  I had put to use all the information I had amassed over the last few years of reading and learning and actually made some images I could be proud of.  Now I just have to keep pushing myself to get out the door and see what is out there through the lens of my camera.     

Saunders Ferry Park: Hendersonville, Tennessee

Waking up at 4am is not something I particularly enjoy doing, but I sure do like the results.  These photographs are from a recent trip out to Saunders Ferry Park with a few of my fellow photography friends (Thanks to Scott O'Neal for the location).