Skywatch Friday

A Waterfall along the Upper Tremont Road in the Smoky Mountains

March 4, 2016 /

Good-day, kittens & dawgs! You may remember my absence in a couple of Fridays ago. I played hooky in cyberspace in favor of spending it in God’s beautiful world. It was an absolute gorgeous sunny, spring-like day. To set things right, I’m sharing this photo with the SWF team!

Waterfall along Upper Tremont Road in the Smoky Mountains
Waterfall along Upper Tremont Road in the Smoky Mountains

Mid-week, I shared Falls and Fallen Logs where I posted a snippet of the above waterfalls. Just imagine you’re looking off the left side of the photo and that’s where the first image from Wednesday fits into this scene. 😀

Do you remember the fallen log with the fungus photos? Also from Wednesday. I was standing beside the fallen log and shot this image from across the road. Naturally, the sun flare got my attention, which meant I had to capture the moment.

Upper Tremont Rd in Smoky Mountains
Sun flare over a small mountain stream

The last image I want to show you is how the trees appear to grow straight out of the rock on the side of the mountain. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this sort of thing in the mountains, but it still blow my mind! How do they do that?!

Upper Tremont Rd in the Smoky Mountains trees growing out of rocks beautiful sun flare
This was awful conditions for shooting. The rocks were in the shadow and the sun was shining bright. All I could do is my best; while it isn’t the best I kinda liked how it turned out. The overexposure didn’t wash out the sky too badly and it gave the image a misty sort of look, don’t you think? The sun flare adds a nice touch even though it’s a bit too close to the edge.

 

Technically, it’s still winter. However these pockets of spring-like conditions inspired my photo-art contribution for s-A(R)T-urday.

iPhone capture using DistressedFX app with Wren effect for background layer. After uploading image to computer, I opened in Pixelmator to add the vintage children swinging silhouette (free resource from web, here.) as a new layer and applied Freesia Vintage effect. Finally, I added copyright info to lower right corner and the Charles Dickson's March inspired quote.
iPhone capture using DistressedFX app with Wren effect for background layer. After uploading image to computer, I opened in Pixelmator to add the vintage children swinging silhouette (free resource from web, here.) as a new layer and applied Freesia Vintage effect. Finally, I added copyright info to lower right corner and the Charles Dickson’s March inspired quote.

~All images captured with my big girl camera ~ Nikon D7000 & preferred lens Nikkor 18-105mm zoom, unless otherwise noted.~

Now, I’m joining Lexa in Celebrate the small things.

I’m celebrating…

  • unexpected bad news with a good ending. A family member told us he had prostate surgery after being diagnosed with cancer. His follow-up revealed no cancer. God is awesome!
  • dietary supplements. I began including digestive enzymes after meals for little more than week and so far I’ve had positive results.
  • a brand new month. It’s not spring yet, but I can see the light at the end of this cold, gray wintry tunnel.

What are you celebrating?

 

Join the party below!

Let’s begin celebrating with Friendship Friday and Friday Features linky parties where you’re sure to make new friends and get lots of inspiration!

That’s a wrap for now, but if you like music then I invite you to come back for Monday’s Music Moves Me. Until next time, have a fototastic weekend!

I highly recommend and use these photo-editing programs: Pixelmator, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Affinity, Brushstroke, and Waterlogue. You can learn more about these using the above affiliate search app widget.

24 Comments

  • Lori L MacLaughlin

    March 8, 2016 at 7:12 pm

    Lovely photos! It’s amazing how trees can grow out of the rock like that. Love the photo with the swinging children.
    That’s great news about your family member. Glad the supplements are working for you. I’m celebrating the end of the winter months, too. We had 50 degrees today. Yay! Happy Spring!

  • Rorybore

    March 5, 2016 at 2:52 pm

    I am stuck inside with a nasty cold today, just trying to take it easy so that I can be better fast, and all this nature: It Is well with My Soul!! 🙂
    Love the Dickens quote and the photo edit. It’s perfect for how our days are right now.

    • Cathy Kennedy

      March 5, 2016 at 4:20 pm

      Les, we’re under cloudy skies. The temps aren’t bad, but it’s windy and that always makes it cooler feeling. So, I”m trying to get some posts done in advance, like the 3 Day Quote Challenge you handed me. Look for the first installment on Tuesday! I’ll pop in to link up for chat session, so you won’t miss it. 😀

  • lexacain

    March 4, 2016 at 7:41 pm

    I think it’s super impressive that you had a sun flair, yet I can still see all the detail in the bottom of the picture. It isn’t grayed-out at all. You’re a photo-witch! LOL! That’s great news about your family member. May he continue to be healthy. And I hope the dietary supplements affect your health for the better too. Have a great weekend! 🙂

    • Cathy Kennedy

      March 5, 2016 at 4:59 pm

      Lexa, Thanks. It’s tricky to a shot the sun and sky aren’t too overexposed while bumping the shadows exposure enough to see what’s there. It’s a constant guessing game for me to get such pictures half-way right, but I patiently try my best.

    • Cathy Kennedy

      March 5, 2016 at 5:01 pm

      Merisi, It’s a pleasure to have you stop by and to leave kind words. I always have such fun capturing nature. It brings me joy to share these moments with others.

  • Barb

    March 4, 2016 at 3:54 pm

    A flowing stream, a sunny day, and time to enjoy Nature – perfect. Those tenacious trees are something, aren’t they?

    • Cathy Kennedy

      March 5, 2016 at 5:08 pm

      Barb, thanks for stopping in for a visit. You’re so right, trees are VERY tenacious! Humans worry about adapting to new surroundings and nature just does it. 😀

    • Cathy Kennedy

      March 5, 2016 at 5:16 pm

      The waterfalls did make a little quaint gurling sound, but the creek on the other side of the road was rather noisy. The water was running nicely due to recent rains. Actually, we had to elevate our voices just to hear one another while outside the car. Thanks for stopping in for a visit!

  • Janie Junebug

    March 4, 2016 at 1:42 am

    It’s been about 75 to 80 degrees everyday lately. Now it’s raining. We’ll see if it cools off or turns warm and humid. It hasn’t been at all humid lately, which I love. Trees almost defy credence in the places they grow.

    Love,
    Janie

    • Cathy Kennedy

      March 4, 2016 at 1:53 pm

      Janie, We’ve been keeping our eyes on the temps south of us this winter. I guess, if we HAD to live somewhere else due to employment, then Florida is definitely a state to consider. I think you’re right nature defies the logic in where a tree should and should not grow. lol

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