Tag Archives: photography

Photo Friday: Family History

For this week’s Photo Friday, I offer a different sort of photo, one that comes with a bit of a story. My Uncle Bill (left) fought and died in World War II. He was eventually stationed somewhere in France, but early on he must have trained somewhere in the UK. The point is, he wasn’t allowed to reveal his precise location in his letters home. But as my grandmother used to tell the tale, pride coloring her voice, my uncle knew how clever my father – his older brother – was in all things mechanical. (My dad was very sick as a young man – spinal meningitis, which almost killed him – and so was designated 4F for the draft.) Bill sent this picture home, knowing my father would pull out a map and geometric compass and pinpoint Bill’s location. It boggles my mind that the War Department didn’t realize this as well, but apparently it didn’t occur to the mail inspectors, who let the photo go through. And my father figured out where he was. (As best I can tell, this photo was taken somewhere in northern England or, more likely, Scotland.)

Have a good weekend all. Be good to one another.

Photo Friday: From the Archives

So this is bound to happen a few times over the course of the year. I was traveling and attending a con the latter half of last week and the first half of this week. I returned home to lousy weather. So no new photo this week. Sorry.

Instead, I have for you one of my favorites from last year: This was a photo I took in Ireland in a formal garden at Duckett’s Grove. We visited the ruined Great House on our way to Glendalough, and had the place to ourselves for a couple of ours. In the midst of another cold snap here in Tennessee, the photo reminds me of warmer days and gentle rains. Enjoy.

And have a great weekend.

Duckett's Grove Blooms, by David B. Coe

Photo Friday: Snow Pics!

Last weekend, we had a rare double dose of snow here in southern middle Tennessee. The first snow was a dusting, but the second was one of those magical snowfalls, heavy and sticky, that coats everything it touches. As soon as I woke up, I grabbed my camera and hurried outside to the pond near our home.

Here are a few of the photos I took that morning. I had a window of perhaps an hour. Before long, temperatures rose, the wind picked up, and the branches shed their snow. But for a short while our brush with real winter was truly glorious.

Enjoy your Valentine’s Day, and have a lovely weekend!

Pond in Snow I, by David B. Coe Pond in Snow II, by David B. Coe Grass and Snow, by David B. Coe

Photo Friday: Rain-fed Streams

Sometimes we take photos for the sake of art, other times to commemorate events – times with loved ones, special occasions, etc.

And on occasion we snap pictures simply to document something unusual. This week’s Friday Photos are of this last sort.

My brother and sister-in-law came to stay with us for a few days this week, and their visit coincided with soaking rains, thunderstorms, and flash flooding. These two streams, in the woods just below the top of the Cumberland Plateau, usually flow as trickles. By midsummer, they sometimes dry up entirely. Yesterday, they were torrents, their waters frothing, their roars filling the forest. The photos don’t do them justice. But I promised to get out with my camera every week. This week, this was the best I could do.

Enjoy! And have a great weekend!

Stream 2, by David B. Coe Stream 1, by David B. Coe

Photo Friday: Reflections (Also Not the Last of the Year…)

Anyone who is familiar with my photography knows that I love to play with reflections: the imperfect rendering of a sky or mountain or forest on the surface of a lake, the echo of coastal cloud formations in wet sand.

This week a friend and I went birdwatching on some farmland not far from our little town. The distant fields were filled with Sandhill Cranes and Canada Geese, their calls echoing, flocks coming and going in loose formations. It was great seeing the birds, but I was taken with the reflections of the sky and trees in the farm ponds on either side of the road. I snapped a bunch of photos. These were among my favorites.

I hope you enjoy them, and I wish you a wonderful weekend.

Farm Pond Reflection, by David B. Coe Twilight Pond Reflection, by David B. Coe

 

Photo Friday: Not My Last Sunset Photo of the Year…

Another Friday, another photo. I’ll admit that I took this one about a week ago. This week’s weather has not cooperated at all. And this image was not all I hoped it would be. I don’t like having airplane contrails in my skies, but it couldn’t be helped. When taking photos we are limited by what light and form offer. In any case, the colors are lovely, and I hope you enjoy it.

Wishing you all a great weekend.

January Twilight, by David B. Coe

Friday Photo: Twilight on the Plateau

The other day I went to one of the viewpoints in our small college town (we live atop the Cumberland Plateau) to catch the sunset. I’d brought my camera, of course, and as I waited for the sun and clouds to do their thing, I noticed a cluster of weeds and grasses nearby catching the late afternoon light.

I don’t know what kind of plant this is. I should, but I don’t. Chances are it’s some terrible, invasive species, like Kudzu, but carnivorous and with mad computer skills…. But sometimes the image is all, and this was one of those times. I love the glow on those tiny fibers on what I think must be seed pods. I love the background – the shapes, the play of glare and hue.

I hope you like it, too.

Happy Friday, everyone. Have a wonderful weekend.

Golden Light and Grasses, by David B. Coe

Photo Friday: A Walk Around Town

Today’s photos come via my phone rather than my big SLR. I took a walk around town the other day, enjoying the late afternoon light. I wound up at Lake Cheston, a local spot I go to often this time of year for birdwatching and for the reflections, which, on a calm day, can be magical.

Not much more to say other than that. Except that I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, filled with unexpected pleasures and moments of reflection.

"Winter Reflections I, Lake Cheston, Sewanee," by David B. Coe "Winter Reflections II, Lake Cheston, Sewanee," by David B. Coe

The South Australia Coast — Photo Friday

Good morning and welcome to the first installment of Photography Fridays, my new 2020 blogging feature. The point of this is to share with you my passion for photography, which is nearly as strong as my passion for writing. I also hope the feature will encourage me to get out and use my camera even more than I already do.

Today, though, I begin with a few photos I took during my family’s recent trip to Australia. We lived Down Under for a full year back in 2005-06, and returned there late this fall to see our younger daughter, who was completing a semester abroad in the Brisbane area. After joining up with her, we traveled to Adelaide in the state of South Australia, and drove out to Innes National Park, at the very end of the Yorke Peninsula (our route altered by fire-related road closures).

Innes is an amazing place. It includes some of the most dramatic coastal terrain I’ve ever seen. It’s a haven for kangaroos as well as emus and scores of other bird species. It has also been, over the past century and a half, the scene of dozens of shipwrecks, the remains of which still lie on beaches and reefs around the park. The surf was stunning while we were there – huge waves crashing down on rocky shores and sending plumes of foam and spray thirty-plus feet into the air. The water was deep blue and amazingly clear, the cliffs a palette of warm earth tones. And yet, I found that my favorite images worked best in black in white – stunning contrasts of light and dark, of patterns and textures and shapes. Here are three. I hope you enjoy them.

"View From Cape Spencer" by David B. Coe "Water and Sky -- Innes Coast" by David B. Coe "Innes Coast Breaker" by David B. Coe

Happy New Year and Welcome to 2020

Happy New Year!

I wish all of you a 2020 filled with joy and laughter, good health and good fun, lots of love and friendship. I also want to thank you for your continued support of my work. It means more to me than I can say.

I wanted to let you know about something new that I’ll be starting this year. Or, in a way, something old that I’ll be restarting. I have neglected my blog for the past several years, as blogging has gone from “THE THING that writers do” to “a thing that many writers used to do.” To be honest, I miss blogging, and with the projects I have on tap for this year, many of which may wind up with smaller presses or even — gasp — self-published, I want to re-establish my online connection to readers.

So, I will be posting regularly (or as regularly as proves possible and feasible) throughout the year, aiming for three posts per week. Mondays will feature general posts — musings on work, or life, or music, or sports, or (if I dare) politics, or whatever else happens to catch my interest. Monday Musings, if you will. We’ll see if the name sticks…

Each Wednesday, I will post a writing tip — craft, business, whinging, whatever. Writerly Wednesdays. Or not. We’ll see about that name, too. But I promise that the content will be geared toward writers of different levels. I will be open to suggestions as to subject — more on that as the year progresses. I can tell you, though, that some of the Wednesday posts will be basic, others more advanced. All, I hope, will be informative and helpful.

And finally, Fridays… As many of you know, I am a dedicated amateur photographer. I love capturing images almost as much as I love writing. And for a while now, I have been looking for some way to motivate myself to be more intentional about taking photos. I tend to use my camera extensively when I travel, but when I’m home, I allow work and other day-to-day stuff to get in the way. So, as a way of forcing myself to use my camera more, I will be posting a new image every week (after this coming Friday, which will likely include an image from my recent trip to Australia). Photography Fridays. Maybe. I suck at naming stuff…

Anyway, that’s the plan. Musings on Mondays, Writing Tips on Wednesdays, Photos on Fridays. I hope that you’ll keep up with my posts and enjoy my renewed dedication to blogging.

Again, Happy 2020. May it be your best year yet.

— David