Happy Holidays from Smyrna!

Downtown City of Smyrna Christmas Tree

Last year, I went to downtown Smyrna—the Village Green—to photograph the tree. But I didn't spend a lot of time shooting the tree. You see, I got distracted by all of the cars and spent most of my time shooting long exposures to get the traffic light trails.

Arabia Mountain is Other Worldly

Yellow daisies at Arabia Mountain

I had scheduled a beach trip for the September full moon, but my trip got rained out, and I really don't have a go-to place to shoot the moon in the Atlanta area. Although, that's something I've been wanting to find, but more often than not, it seems to either rain or be extremely cloudy on our full-moon nights.

Time for Chihuly

A sun flare makes Chihuly even more beautiful!

The Atlanta Botanical Gardens (ABG) had a Dale Chihuly exhibit in 2004. I didn't get to see it that year, but they've retained a couple of his sculptures. One of them is outside in a fountain in the Levy Parterre. I can't imagine what that fountain looked like without it because that's the only way I've seen it, and it just seems to belong. And every time I see it, I'm amazed that it survives the elements the way it does—it's outside in the heat of summer and in the cold of winter.

Free Birthdays at the Georgia Aquarium

Here's looking at you, kid.

This post isn't so much to make you ooh and ahh over my photography skills as much as it is to make you aware of a wonderful offer from the Georgia Aquarium. If you are a Georgia resident, you can go to the aquarium for FREE on your birthday. How cool is that!

Copper Creek Sunflowers

Viewing Platform in the Field of Sunflowers

I got a call from the owner of Copper Creek Farm inviting me to come up and photograph the sunflowers before he cut them down. You may remember the photo of the barn that I took for the calendar project last fall. Well, he has to prepare the area to plant the corn, so the sunflowers were to be no more—until next year, that is. He rotates the crops to keep the soil from getting worn out.

Balloons Over Fayette

Three hot air balloons over Fayette.

One of the photography clubs I am a member of announced a meetup for a new hot air balloon festival. I debated about going because it was unclear how many balloons there would be or what the surroundings would be like. I did a quick Google Maps search, and it did not appear that there was any water where this would be held. It is so beautiful to photograph balloons, particularly at night, next to water.

We Salute You: Part 2

Marietta National Cemetery with Flags Flying

In December, I wrote about my visit to Marietta National Cemetery and the beautiful wreaths that were placed in front of almost a third of the stones. It was a beautiful sight to see. I had also told you a little about the history of the cemetery.