Situated on the Tennessee River and beside the Volunteer Landing is a restaurant called Calhoun’s on the River. I planned on stopping there for dinner several times, but I am one of those to get too side tracked. Some friends did make it there one evening while I was out exploring the town. They said it was very good.
Sorry I have missed the last couple days. I have spent the last 10 weeks in east Tennessee and have finally made it back home. It was a fun time and fortunately, I was able to get out with the camera and get some shots in Knoxville and the surrounding areas.
In 1982, Knoxville was the host to the World’s Fair. I was fortunate enough to make it there and my only memory was standing at the bottom of a ramp or something similar. After walking around the World’s Fair park, I believe my memory was of somewhere near where the Sunsphere is located. This is one of the fountains near the base of the Sunsphere.
It is exciting when a plan goes perfectly the way it was envisioned. That was how this shot worked out. I was walking in Knoxville and ran across this area where there was a lot of construction on the facade of one building. To protect the pedestrians and continue to allow traffic on the sidewalk, there was a plywood tunnel erected. As I was walking through the tunnel, I thought it would make for a good shot with the light fading into the tunnel.
The other night, I was catching up with several other people that I was out taking photos with. They were all stopped right about where this photo is shot from. I was so impressed with the shot that I had to get one also. It was the middle of the week and the lights were on at Neyland Stadium. We never found out why they were on, there was no one there. However, we did happen upon a fireworks show that took place on the other side of the stadium.
Not much is more romantic than a stop at a bench in a small park on a warm night. Many years ago, my wife and I would stop and sit for what seemed like hours in the evening. Unfortunately, we seem to have so much going on now that we don’t get to do that as much. Maybe I will have to bring her to this little spot in Knoxville.
Several days ago, I had the pleasure of making a trip to Neyland Stadium at the University of Tennessee. Afterward, of course, I had to go exploring. I had the idea of taking some photos from the observation deck of the Sunsphere. Good idea until I made it to the observation deck. It was night and the inside glass is tinted gold and very reflective. However, on the walk, I went by Ayers Hall that sits atop “The Hill” at the University of Tennessee.
Most of the time I go exploring on my own or with my family. When I am by myself, I tend to get lost in my own world. When with my family, I am worried about having fun with everyone and don’t pay as much attention to photography. Going out with other photographers is something that I rarely get to do, but have so much fun. I stopped to get a shot looking the other way down these tracks, but changed my focus when the person I was shooting with started taking photos this direction. It turned out to be a great composition.
I was out late several weeks ago and fortunately had a clear sky for some shooting of the stars. I was near the Clinch River, just west of Knoxville and found a small park right on the shore. I had been out earlier taking photos and ran my battery nearly out. This was one of the last shots I got before it went dead. This was a 60 second exposure using an intervalometer.
After getting to downtown Knoxville early and then waiting around for the sunset, no trip would be complete without some after sunset adventuring. Just a few minutes after sunset, I was still sitting on the Gay Street Bridge. I noticed the lights along the bridge coming on. I made it back to Volunteer Landing and the sun had gone down quite a bit. I set up for this shot of Gay Street Bridge with all the lights.
After hanging around for several hours to catch the sunset at the M.B. Miller County Pier in Panama City Beach Florida, I wanted to get some more shots at night. I waited just long enough to get some light from the nearby parking to light the bottom of the pier, but still get the stars in the sky. I love the way the slow shutter speed blurs the wave
