Cars

I think taking pictures of cars can be really interesting. For, like people, they have their own personalities to bring out with the right locations and lighting. And I like that.

Colors

You know, some pictures just wouldn't be the same without their color.

Mountains

In the fall of last year, I took a trip with my mom's side of the family to North Carolina. We stayed at this little place in the mountains called the Hemlock Inn, and though the living quarters were, shall we say, 'rustic,' we still had a great time. And the location was perfect for hiking, being outdoors, and just enjoying the scenery.

The most storied part of the weekend was actually getting to the Hemlock Inn, though. Going there, me and my girlfriend ended up on Highway 129 aka the Tail of the Dragon, a notably curvy road treasured by bikers everywhere, driving an old truck on a very dark night in heavy fog and rain. It was kind of crazy. We had to go the same way back, but at least it was sunny.

One of the days I was there, we hiked Clingman's Dome, which offers a great view of the Smokies:

Design

Today marks the debut of my blog's new design. I think everyone should just take a moment here and appreciate how cool it looks. Or if you don't think it looks cool, tell me why. But I think it's cool.

Unrelated, here is the view from the condo when I was on vacation:

Blessing of the Fleet

So, there's this really cool event that happens every New Year's Day down in the Florida Keys, and it's called the Blessing of the Fleet. For this, all the ships that want to participate line up and parade by a bridge, as a priest or pastor prays over them, for safety and well-being for the new year. This tradition had actually died out until it was revived a few years ago, and the strong showing this year makes me think it will be around for years to come.

And here's a cool picture of the sky melting into the water, taken for an airplane. Just for fun.

Snow

So, it's another freezing cold day here in Nashville. So, instead of dwelling on this, here are a few pictures from when I went to the great Florida Keys about a week ago:

This one was taken at a really cool Dolphin Research Institute. It's part amusement park, and part educational, and it really seems like they care for the animals there. It's different than a zoo, and I definitely recommend it.

These last two photos were taken in the Everglades National Park. Also a very cool place, and definitely somewhere I'd want to go back and explore.

And most importantly, the weather every day was sunny and in the 70s and 80s. That's my kinda vacation.

Photo Editing

Typically, though I stylize and tweak my photos in post processing, I do not fundamentally change them. I normally mess with the colors, and fix blemishes, but not really add obvious pieces to the image. However, the other night, I created an exception to this rule:

This image of Chancellor Warhol was filtered, and then I added a very obvious glow around him. Why, you ask? Because I think it looks really cool. The colors and feel of the image, to me, seems very sci-fi. I think it looks like a Star Wars book cover. And I'm very okay with that. Now, I wouldn't do this to every image, but I like me some variety every once in a while. And I hope you do too.

Today, I returned to my small, "quaint" place in Nashville. It was sad to leave family behind after spending Christmas break with everyone, but I am glad I still get to be with my wonderful girlfriend Hannah Lee. A photo of her to make everyone jealous:

Yep. That's right.

But it was a long drive up here, and it is quite freezing outside now. A big change from where I was less than a week ago, the Florida Keys.

Lake

So... I was lacking in internet access for a while. I've been meaning to update this MUCH more often, and I probably will be updating almost every day. So many pictures to share! A few more from my lake trip, shots from the Florida Keys to come soon!