Distant Bugles

Posted by dkrashb on January 25, 2013

Flying in front of reflected trees

When we went to the Sandhill Crane Festival, we noticed some things about the cranes. First, they are noisy. They seem to spend a lot of time flying around, forming groups, calling to each other and circling.

It’s kind of like watching marching band practice when the band hasn’t been training together very long. They seem uncertain about how to line up, who’s in the lead, or where they’re going.

They bugle their unique call endlessly. It can be heard for miles.

Synchronized flapping

Their call is somewhat reminiscent of the sound my brother used to make when he’d sneaked up on me and was trying to terrify me. My husband thinks it sounds more like a loud turkey, but he never heard my brother.

A “heard” (yes, it’s a pun) of cranes grazed in the grasses across the refuge from us. The one bad thing about the Hiwassee Refuge and the Sandhill Crane Festival is that the birds are mostly very far away. I know this is best, especially when there’s a crowd. After all, the idea of a refuge is to give wildlife a place to be wildlife without being harassed or stressed by the presence of humans. But, it does make it difficult to get good photos. If it weren’t for the circling cranes who seemed to want to check us out, I wouldn’t have gotten much detail at all (see previous posts to see these photos).

You can probably tell we were far away from the group of cranes on the ground from this photo:

The “heard”

But it might not be obvious just how far away that really is–I shot it at 400mm. In fact, almost all of my shots (except those with a long line of cranes flying) posted over the last several days were shot at 400mm. Mind you, the Sandhill Crane is the largest bird found in Tennessee. They are up to 4’ tall and have a wingspan of up to 90” (that’s 7.5’). These are big birds. And I was shooting with as long a lens as I can afford. The only answer is to get closer.

Of course, not during the festival. There are two ways to get closer to the birds. They both involve getting on the water. One is to go kayaking–Outdoor Chattanooga offers an annual kayaking tour in the refuge in December. We did that last year. It was pretty tough to get good pictures from the kayak. Plus, we weren’t allowed in the area with the densest population of cranes. Thankfully for the birds (but not my photos), the wildlife folks take protecting these birds seriously.

The other way is to take a Blue Moon cruise through the refuge. This might be the best option for photographic opportunities. We’ll have to see if we can work that into our schedule. Worst case, there are soon going to be a couple of unreleasable cranes at the Chattanooga Nature Center. I ought to be able to get a close-up.

Tree tops reflected in water below group of cranes

Fondness

Posted by dkrashb on January 19, 2013

Ahh. Sunshine. I guess it’s true that absence makes the heart go fonder. After so many days of rain, the sudden appearance of the sun was almost shocking. It started Thursday evening around sunset. A break in the clouds allowed the sun to poke through. The bank of clouds on their way out of town traveled quickly across the sky as the sun sank toward the horizon.

I can’t remember the last time I was so glad to see the sun, even if it was calling it a night.

Black and White Version

This created something of a photographic challenge. The clouds were dark and moving fast. The great dilemma between getting enough depth of field to shoot the whole scene and needing a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the clouds. The only way to achieve this is with a very high ISO setting. That means some noise I’d rather not have.

Much like life, photography is an attempt to balance alternatives to get the best possible result since you can’t get exactly what you want.

But the glimpse of the sun made up for it. It reminded me 2 lines from a poem a friend recently shared on Facebook:

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.

I started appreciating the sun more about 4 days in–the next 10 days of rain were overkill. However, after a 2 week separation, I was about as grateful as it gets for sunshine.

Setting Sun in color

I wonder if Tisen feels this way when I’m gone? He seems just as excited when I return after taking 5 minutes to check the mail as when I’ve been gone for over an hour. But when I’m gone for days, he goes absolutely nuts. It’s like he’d given up hope and my sudden reappearance throws him into an uncontrolled frenzy.

I wonder how dogs keep track of time? Tisen seems to keep a regular schedule during office hours. He gets up once I’ve made my coffee. He’s like clockwork about noon when he decides it’s time for his mid-day walk. And he never fails to start pestering me to walk and feed him at the end of the day, although sometimes he gets started a little early.

But when it comes to the last walk of the day, he doesn’t seem to notice at all. He’s content to lay on the sofa with us until well past his bedtime. Conversely, if I walk into the bedroom, he goes to bed. He does this with no regard to the time of day.

On weekends he doesn’t seem to have any sense of time at all. He will sleep in later than I can on some Saturdays. It’s almost as if he doesn’t believe I’m up and making coffee if he didn’t hear an alarm go off first.

Ah well, maybe that’s why a dog’s years are so much longer–they lose track of time.

Fading light

Finding a View

Posted by dkrashb on January 12, 2013

There is a beam of light above the aquarium that didn’t quite come out the way I wanted

Since moving, I have been longing for a view of the riverfront. Since this is achievable, I decided to take a few minutes away from Tisen (who has been a very clingy dog since Twiggy went home) to walk to the end of the hall where there is a common room with a balcony that overlooks the river and downtown.

The lighted tree reflects merrily on the water

I still missed sunset because I worked too late, but it’s possible the sun didn’t actually set today anyway–or, if it did, no one saw it. Our weather has been shockingly like Seattle of late. I fear my ties to Columbus, Ohio have somehow drug the weather down to Chattanooga. The sun rises, but no one can tell if it’s risen or not. The sun sets and no one notices much change in light. We are on about our 4th straight day of such weather. What is it about overcast skies and drizzling rain that becomes so depressing so quickly?

In spite of the dreary weather, the riverfront always looks cheerful

On the plus side, it’s warm. It feels like a late spring day when summer is just around the corner. The birds were singing so loudly this morning, they startled Tisen. They are not the only ones confused–the shrubs are showing signs of recent new growth as if they suddenly burst into a mid-January growth spurt.

But in spite of the cheerful birds and warm mist, I am still hoping for the sun. As a substitute, I did my best to shoot the mist. It turns out it’s harder to get mist to show up in night time photos than I expected.

The Bluecross building bounced light into the fog on top of the hill above 27

Long exposure times seem to make it disappear as it swirls in the wind, moving too much to leave an impression. Short exposures make it too dark, blending in with the river, a pool of blackness except where it reflects light. I finally went for high ISO settings to get more exposure out of shorter shutter speeds.

I like the fog at night. It captures the city lights and reflects them back down in night-time version of the sunset I missed. While the colors and contrast in the sky may not be quite so obvious, I still enjoyed the view.

Fog rose off the river and swirled around the Southern Belle. As I waited, the fog increased. I might have waited longer to see what happened, but a group of German men gathered to play cards and I felt like I might be intruding. That’s the problem with a common area.

At the start of my little shoot, there was a hint of fog around the Southern Belle

By the time I stopped shooting, the fog was getting thicker

Besides, I’d left Tisen at home alone and I knew he was waiting patiently by the door for my return. I’ve started putting a sleeping mat by the door when I leave. Otherwise, he lays on the floor and I’m sure it’s hard on his elbows. He seems to always pick the position he believes is the closest to wherever I am. I am alternately honored and worried–time to take him to doggy daycare.

The fog reflects light creating an interesting effect over route 27

Winter at Point Park

Posted by dkrashb on December 31, 2012

We had the wonderful experience of having dear friends come down for a post-Christmas visit (a little more post than planned due to a blizzard hitting the midwest the day they were planning to leave).

We picked a couple of highlights to share since they only had a day and a half after the storm cleared out enough for them to come on down. Of course, we took them to Point Park.

It’s one of those places that meets many criteria for many different people. For those who want an outdoor adventure, there are dozens of hiking trails through the woods to spectacular overlooks. For those who want a nice easy stroll, there’s a ¼ mile paved loop around the top of the point that doesn’t even require climbing a step. And it still offers spectacular views. The list of increasingly challenging things to see goes on–basically, any level of physical activity or lack there of can be achieved and all levels are rewarded with amazing views of Chattanooga, Moccasin Bend, and even down into Georgia.

Pat and George pose for me in front of the overlook above Moccasin Bend

For the history buff, there are lots of Civil War memorials and information about some of the events of the Civil War related to this location. I’ve come to have a new respect for the Civil War living down here–I find myself growing more and more interested in the battles in the area.

Georgia, Paris, and Bonnie pause briefly in front of the memorial at Point Park

Our visiting friends included my bestie, Georgia, her equally wonderful husband George, (yes, George and Georgia) and two of their fur-kids, Paris and Bonnie. We were also sitting for Twiggy, and, we, of course, had Tisen. Having 4 dogs created a few logistical challenges, but it actually worked out quite well.

Twiggy and Tisen spent a day at doggy daycare together (which Tisen enjoys much more with his buddy Twiggy to play with) while Paris and Bonnie went exploring with us. Having 4 dogs and 4 humans in one mini-van just seemed like a bit much.

Remainders from the war, these canons still stand guard over Moccasin Bend

The last time we walked the loop at Point Park it was about 110 degrees. This time, it was in the 30’s, the sky was spitting at us, the wind was whipping us around, and the sun was no where to be seeing. I liked this weather better than the 110 degree day. But, with no umbrellas and the sky looking increasingly threatening, we walked quickly and skipped the jaunt out to the point. It was still beautiful–I never know if I like this park so much because of the views of because of the special people I’ve had the pleasure of taking there?

Returning to the car, we all had the same thought on our minds–we were uncomfortable in our high-tech winter coats with fleece and down and our warm, waterproof boots. We tried to imagine living through the war in wool coats and boots full of holes (if you had either).

I just like this image–the boys having fun together

We went home feeling more than a little spoiled.

OP Christmas

Posted by dkrashb on December 21, 2012

There are some things in life I really enjoy vicariously. As in, I don’t own them, I just appreciate someone else having made the investment I’m not willing to make. Two things that fall into this category for me are boats and Christmas decorations.

I really love Christmas decorations, but I hate getting them all out, putting them up, fixing what doesn’t work, and then taking them all down again and storing them–all when it’s really cold out. The amount of time you get to enjoy them seems disproportional to the amount of effort and space they require both during and after the holidays.

Hence, I decided to pursue OP Christmas lights this year. OP as in Other People’s. Fortunately for me, there were lots of opportunities to see Christmas lights. There was the Mainx24 event and parade. The Starlight parade. The Lighted Boat Parade. Rock City. And, now, the Chattanooga Zoo.

Rock City was a trip. We drove up to Lookout Mountain to see this popular Christmas destination. We got there before there was a line to drive into the parking lot, but there was already a 30 minute wait to buy tickets to get in the door.

When at long last we got through the gate, there was another 30 minute wait to get from the entrance gate to the main path. We found a way around to the upper trails, but Pat and Tisen hung out in the courtyard and waited for me so they didn’t have to fight the crowds. I took my camera and tripod and managed to politely force my way through the line to the alternate path.

After getting a few decent shots, but nothing really exciting, I was more than happy to call it quits and head back to Chattanooga. On the way back down, we passed bumper to bumper cars for at least 5 miles straight, all stopped as they waited to get into the parking lot for Rock City.

By comparison, I got a preview of the Chattanooga Zoo after hours. The reason why is too long a story to tell, but let’s just say it pays to know the right people. They stayed late after the zoo closed to let me in after dark so I could shoot their lights. It was the absolute opposite experience of shooting at Rock City.

Instead of long lines and jam-packed crowds, I got a personal guided tour, shuttled around on a maintenance truck, and was given plenty of space and time to shoot. I felt like a famous person or something.

While the Chattanooga Zoo would probably need to add at least 3 zeros to their bulb count to get to the number of lights at Rock City, I preferred the Chattanooga Zoo experience. I have a few more shots to share from the zoo tomorrow, but today’s shots were from the entry area. I had a particularly good time trying to capture the hippo’s head moving.

Bring on the Parade

Posted by dkrashb on December 17, 2012

Not sure if there’s still room to sleep in this camper, but the tree sure looks nice.

It’s hard for me to look at my parade pictures today. I remind myself that every child shouldn’t suffer because of the 20 lost on Friday. Perhaps the loss makes Christmas (or whichever holiday each family celebrates), hope, and cheer that much more important.

I realize the feeling I have is the same one I always get following a tragedy. It’s best described as “heightened visceralness” (even if it’s not a real word).

Most of the time, I go through life thinking about what I need to do in the next hour, the next day, the next week. I push aside any bubbling sensations in my stomach, throat, or guts and stay focused on what I need to get done.

In the process of disconnecting from my visceral reactions, I also seem to disconnect from my own life. I often walk into rooms and wonder why I’m there, fail to realize my husband has come home or left, or drive somewhere without being able to recall any part of the drive.

When I am reminded how tentative life can be, first I choke. My throat closes, I have trouble breathing. Then I cry. Then I am left with rumblings in the pit of my stomach that I suspect are the disquiet of knowing I am doing nothing to change anything.

I have a sneaking suspicion that these visceral reactions happen every day, but until I am literally choked with tears (which doesn’t happen often), I refuse to pay attention to them.

Now that I am paying attention, I am reminded once again that I must pay attention to now. To the moments I have. Like the moment I am in right now sitting on the sofa, typing, dog curled next to me with a warm foot pressed against my leg.

To fail to notice each moment because I’m so distracted by the news is to give a piece of my life to a dead gunman in Connecticut when it’s far too late to make a difference.

And so, I close my browser full of news feeds and videos about Sandy Hook elementary. I pull up the photos I’d prepared for yesterday’s post. I think of all the smiling children at the Chattanooga Starlight Parade with a warm feeling akin to a mental hug. I say to myself, “Bring on the parade.”

“And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.”

~Gilbert K. Chesterton

That said, here are the next set of photos from the Starlight Parade in downtown Chattanooga. I’m normally not that excited by cars in a parade. But, I did enjoy the creative decorations folks came up with. I especially enjoyed the children around me calling out the names of familiar characters they saw go by.

This VW bus makes for a more creative way to enter a float.

The lawn mower racing team made a striking night time appearance.

Smiles adorned this float.

This ancient fire truck hitched a ride so it too could make an appearance in the parade.

The Chattanooga Zoo opted for simulated animals instead of live ones.

Not a great shot, but I love thinking about how much more fun the Grinch would have had taking this down the mountain!

A brightly lit Rudolf adorns this collectible car.

Lighted Boat Parade

Posted by dkrashb on December 12, 2012

A long exposure of the lighted boats circling in front of Ross’s Landing

The Lighted Boat Parade is a Chattanooga tradition, if a relatively new one. Boaters decorate their boats with thousands of Christmas lights and then parade down the Tennessee River to Ross’s Landing where thousands of spectators watch. Here, they are joined by the Southern Bell–a longer-lived Chattanooga tradition that offers boat cruises to tourists. Then, they form a giant circle.

The Southern Belle provides the center of the boat parade circle.

Since the boat parade immediately follows the Starlight Christmas Parade, we had to high-tail it back across the bridge to find a spot I could shoot from in Renaissance Park. Having walked Renaissance Park 3x a day for nearly a year now, I feel like it’s really my yard. And what a lovely yard it is. While I’m not into yard work (making a park the perfect yard), I do pick up litter. Part of me thinks this small contribution to keeping the park clean should entitle me to first choice of places to shoot from.

I love this look–who can resist Santa on a Harley?

Plus, I really thought I had the insider’s track on a good spot to shoot from–the launch ramp under the Market St bridge. After all, how many people even know the launch ramp is there? The kayakers, a few fishermen, maybe a stray cat or two.

This boat was tough to keep up with while panning with a telephoto lens

No. As it turns out, about 5000 people know about the launch ramp and they all showed up there to watch the Lighted Boat Parade.

There probably would have been fewer people on the boat ramp if the park itself hadn’t been closed off along the riverfront. The fireworks were fired from there, so this forced the crowd off to the edges of the park.

I set up my tripod somewhat precariously on a rock retaining wall held together by chicken wire. This allowed me to get the long exposure shots I so love.

The lead boat caught me off guard, but I got this light trail from my camera on the tripod

I also borrowed my husband’s new Rebel, unashamedly put my 70-200mm lens on it (I really should post a picture of what that looks like–it’s pretty humorous to see this big, heavy, amazing lens stuck on the tiny body of the Rebel). I used that for panning with the boats.

This clean-lined boat slightly resembled a shoe

I am getting better at panning. Considering how dark it was and how slow a shutter speed I was shooting at, I was pretty proud that I got any closeups of the boats at all. You can tell which ones were shot while panning because the background lights have a bit of a trail. I especially like this effect on the candy-cane lighting the Tennessee Aquarium opted for in honor of the celebration.

Panning with the boat caused the candy cane lights on the aquarium to gain a trail

The best boat in terms of entertainment value was one that had spot lights that would turn on, revealing a group of women in santa’s helpers costumes doing a dance to very loud music. It was great. I think they may have set a new bar for the other boats for next year’s parade.

This boat really went all out on entertainment value

It’s not entirely clear what the dancers are doing, but it’s funny

As for great decorations, I think this boat takes the prize:

I think this boat’s decor was a really crowd pleaser for anyone looking for tradition

VWs and Bicycle Art

Posted by dkrashb on December 8, 2012

One of the fun things about Chattanooga is that it happens to be home to the only US-based Volkswagen manufacturing facility. This is a pretty big coup for Chattanooga. It’s interesting how much a single event like attracting a company to open a new manufacturing plant in a town impacts that town.

While there were probably other things that contributed, there was quite a growth spurt in housing development concurrent with the kickoff of building the plant. That peak in activity precedes when I arrived in Chattanooga, and the housing market crash. Development kind of stopped for a while of the various condominiums and housing developments around town, but things seem to be starting to pick up again. Although, I think more multi-tenant rental units are being built than condos or single-family homes. But, I’m just guessing.

In any case, the presence of Volkswagen doesn’t just provide several hundred jobs at their facility and construction jobs for people in housing and infrastructure, it also brings funding into the area for community projects and education. VW happens to be pretty environmentally conscious as well, preserving a wetland on their property and occasionally allowing the Chattanooga Audubon Society to host bird walks there.

Most importantly, the presence of VW has created huge demand for the local VW club (unrelated to the company) for events around town. And, of course, the Mainx24 parade included a long line of vintage VWs. The VW bus with the pop-up top is my favorite, but the “Thing” is a close second. For many years of my childhood, I had it confused with a comic book superhero–they look pretty similar.

The Mainx24 parade once again demonstrated the breadth of character of Chattanooga when the VWs were followed by bicycle art.

I am a cyclist. Maybe not a Lance Armstrong kind of cyclist, but I like to ride and I do it as often as possible. I have seen downhill mountain bikes that look like off-road motorcycles without the motor, tandems, unicycles, electric bikes, bikes pulling dogs in carriers, you name it. I really thought I had seen every possible type of bike there was to see.

But, the clever artists of Chattanooga managed to surprise me (and the rest of the crowd) with amazing sculptures on wheels they rode in the parade. I particularly like the swing on the bike. I imagine it had to be pretty terrifying the swing above the pavement on a bike as it moved forward.

I can’t say I saw a model I wanted to trade my bike in for, but if I did, there would certainly be plenty of places to hang shopping bags when I ride to the market. I’m thinking maybe I should see if I can commission them to come up with a photographer’s bike, incorporating portable lighting solutions, lens storage, and a tripod holder into the design. Then form and function would really come together.

Getting the Goat

Posted by dkrashb on December 5, 2012

The Grand Marshall Goat

The Grand Marshall Float

There was a very special grand marshall at the Mainx24 Parade: Oreo, the goat. Oreo, a pygmy goat, is a pet. He belongs to a family who lives in a suburb on the boundary of Chattanooga called East Ridge.

As the story goes, Oreo is more like a dog than a goat. Unfortunately for Oreo and his family, East Ridge doesn’t allow goats. The East Ridge City Council took issue with Oreo and, after months of hearings, ruled that Oreo is not an exception.

The struggle for the family to stay together made the local news and really got the goat of many, creating a bit of a local media stir. The organizers of the Mainx24 event on the South Side invited Oreo to be the grand marshall for the parade.

Ironically, when I googled “chattanooga south side goat,” about half way down the results, Niko’s South Side Grill came up as having goat on the menu. Fortunately for Oreo, it turned out to be goat cheese. 🙂

By the way, Oreo’s family has said that they will move before they give up the goat.

I think it made the media because writers secretly love opportunities for bad puns.

A Woody

Lookouts

Following Oreo, a series of vintage cars went by, including one advertising the local minor league baseball team, the Lookouts. While there didn’t appear to actually be any Lookout team members in the car (it’s off season), it still reminded me to add getting to one of their games to my list of things to do.

Santa 2x

Santa came along several times during the parade. I’m beginning to develop a theory about how he manages to get to all the houses in a single night. In this series of photos, he was riding a Harley. I don’t actually see the Harley as contributing to his success at criss-crossing the planet so quickly.

Little Sisters Stalking Santa

Santa was wisely followed by a float full of young girls from the Big Sisters program–they were smart to stay close to Santa.

The Duck

Next, two of my favorite Chattanoogan vehicles came by. The first, a genuine WWII Duck. I’ve had the great pleasure of riding in one of these when the Chattanooga Audubon Society made arrangements with them to transport a group to McClellan Island for a bird walk. We got the full tour in the process and it was quite fun.

Big City Tour Bus

The second is the double-decker bus that frequently goes by our place with a tour guide chattering away with the loud speaker echoing in our building. I like the double-decker bus, none-the-less. It’s become symbolic of Chattanooga’s character: big city in a small package with a lot more smiling.

Stroller Brigade

Immediately behind the double-decker bus, there was a brigade of women and the occasional man pushing baby strollers, mostly with babies in them. I wasn’t sure if they were representing something, but it sure was cute.

It also makes my point: big city followed by small town, smiles all around.

Dog Craze

Posted by dkrashb on December 4, 2012

: This guy really wants to play.

: Dog wrap.

: As my friend says–a Reindog

: Great Danes meet Chihuahua

: Candy giver x2 (or maybe x1.01?).

: Staying true to the dog theme.

I learned an important lesson about life at the Mainx24 parade this weekend: people love diversity. I’ve often thought the opposite–that people tend to be most attracted to those that are most like themselves. But the most exciting part of the parade and the greatest crowd pleaser was the mass of dogs ranging from the tiniest tea cup to miniature horse.

Diversity is especially crowd pleasing when the extremes are side-by-side. Witness the image of the Great Danes walking by a Chihuahua riding in a baby stroller. Who couldn’t love that?

Dogs are fascinating in part because of the wide variety of shapes and sizes they come in. Of course, having been domesticated and bred by humans for thousands of years, I guess we’ve sort of forced the process. But compare this to cats, who have also been domesticated for thousands of years. The range of healthy cats’ weights seems to be about 4-28 pounds (Note: this is information from the internet, which only allows people to publish accurate information ;-)).

Compare that to dogs who supposedly range from 1.5 pounds to well over 200 pounds. The 2007 Guinness Book of World Records holder came close to 300 pounds, but that dog was so overweight, it was criminal. We owned a 225 pound Mastiff, although we trimmed him down to just over 200 pounds to protect his joints as he got older. He looked slightly on the too slim side at 205. However, he lived to be 11 (that’s pretty old for a Mastiff) and was still happy to go for walks up until a week before he died.

But, back to my point. According to Nova, even scientists do not understand exactly why the dog is so variable. When you think about the differences in size, ears, muzzles, tails, fur, color, feet, athleticism, and personality, there really isn’t any other species that comes in so many varieties.

All I know is that even non-dog people are fascinated by the variability of dogs. And there’s no better way to tap into that fascination than to get about 100 dogs to walk down the street together wearing silly costumes in a parade.

Photographically speaking, it was sheer chaos. There were so many people and dogs moving around, it was hard to see a shot, let alone get one.

About 5 dog rescues were there walking adoptable dogs side-by-side with the pampered pets of owners recruited by the Dogood organization of Chattanooga. It wasn’t clear if any of the dogs actually knew how to walk on a leash–they were all so busy checking out each other, the crowd, the remnants of tossed candy (which was an improvement over the occasional “treat” left behind by the horses) that they seemed to forget they were on a leash.

I was impressed that even with the chaos of tangled leashes, the walkers all managed to stay on their feet and keep the dogs moving down the street.

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