Our web diary

Nashville

Last weekend we made the long -- and I mean long -- trek to Nashville, TN.
We left Friday afternoon and came back Sunday. Poor Sean was tired tired tired of driving by the time we got home on Sunday evening.

We went up for TCW's manager meeting and stayed at the Opryland Hotel. My goodness there really are no words to describe the large-scale of this hotel.
We had been to Nashville together last April just after Sean started with TCW, which was a good thing because there wasn't too much time to sight-see and it takes about 20 minutes to get from your hotel room to the lobby. I had made an appointment at the hotel's salon in the morning to have my hair cut and styled, something that has been long overdue. And after Sean's meeting we had enough time in the afternoon to walk over to the outlet mall across the street and make a quick circuit (with one or two stops along the way, you know I can't walk past the shoe stores) and grab a bite to eat.
In the evening we met with the the other TCW managers and their spouses for a dinner cruise on the General Jackson Riverboat. It was a lovely evening spent with some very warm and interesting people. The after-dinner entertainment was an acrobatic act from Peking. Pretty amazing flexible asian people whose talents I know I will never be able nor want to emulate. Sorry no pictures but out of context they just look very peculiar.

Some of the pictures Sean took will be posted in the gallery.

Camping Trip

It all started with just one simple statement. Let's go camping! Since we've been meaning to make a trip up to Whitewater Falls just past Highlands, NC why not drive up Saturday, and pitch a tent? This way Sean could take pictures of the Falls on Sunday morning bright and early. Well to go camping you need stuff ... sleeping bags, a tent, something to cook with, something to cook in, flashlights, coffee pot, bug spray, ice, food, marshmallows etc for s'mores and on and on. I still think a night at the Hampton would have been cheaper. Right now we still plan to re-use much of this stuff (can you say eventual grage sale?) so we may end up actually getting our money's worth. Where I'll store it is another question best left for another day.
It had been years since either of us has gone camping. Years I prefer not to count since my counselor days at Camp Squeah in Hope, BC. I can say it sure is easier to drive up to your campsite and unpack a car instead of having to hike it up with it in your backpack. We had our moments ... Sunday breakfast was a disaster ... as Sean put it it was a good thing the coffee was kind of thick since it least it stuck to our stomachs, but we will do it again. It was actually kind of fun. We went to Dry Falls and Whitewater Falls - mother nature at her finest. I think Sean got some great shots with his fancy filters and such but I had fun with my little camera too.
There are some pictures in the gallery to look at. Really you should go.

Update

I guess we have been pretty lax keeping anything updated on the website.

I finally got around to posting the pictures last week from the Bele Chere Arts Festival in Asheville, NC. This is one of the bigger arts fairs around the area and I wanted to see how other Photographers were marketing their work. I hope to be able to do fairs like this one next year.
It was a fun event. It's a little long for a day trip to see 6 photographers, but I did get to ride in a helicopter for $15.00.

We did the farmers Market again this weekend. I had acquired a new display stand and started putting out some larger pictures. We had a good weekend. I sold the Gerbera Daisies, The black and white rose, the Charlotte shot with the Moon over it, and the crayons on the bottom left. I should have even more 8x12 images out next week.

In the last month, I also upgrade to the Canon EOS 10D and acquired a Alienbee B400 flash unit so I can start learning portrait photography. The 10D is quite a bit heavier than the Rebel. I think I will like it, but I do miss some of the button placements on the other camera. I really like the 9 frames burst in can do. That would have been nice to have at the Steeplechase earlier this year. I sold the Rebel to a gentlemen in Philadelphia for around 700 dollars. I had previously sold the kit lens for around 180 on ebay so it cost me basically $120 to own the camera for about 9 months. Pretty good rental rate.

That's all for now