Photos by Dick
Photographs and commentary by Dick Snoke
Early Novermber 2022
I thought I would miss the fall color in Georgia while on my trip to Capitol Reef National Park. But I was wrong! There was still plenty of color left after I returned. Some good light before and right after sunrise at West Bank Park, some at Chicopee Woods in Gainseville, Ga, and some along the Laurel Ridge Trail near Buford Dam.
October 2022
I have quite a collection for the month so far (the 20th). I was up for sunrise quite a few days, and several days had very pretty light before and after sunrise. I also hiked around the base of Stone Mountain. The light was not all that great that day, so limited good images were available. And I hike the Springer Mountain – Benton MacKaye loop trail as a scouting hike. That yielded some very nice fall color at higher altitudes than near home.
September sunrise over Lake Lanier
A late september morning, when the temperature is beginning to cool a bit and rain is coming in. I got up to walk, and, as always, took the camera bag. The early light was nothing much, but the clouds began to break a bit. As the sun rose through the cloud layers, rays not unlike spotlights showed through. It was fun to watch and photograph.
Sonny Day Hikers Fall Fling 2022
Seven of us traveled to F D Roosevelt State Park for two days of hiking, eating and games. It was a great time. Heavy rain as we arrived, but that cleared. <sarcasm? Some of us hiked a bit that afternoon, but the others just hung around not doing much. 🙂 </sarcasm> The next day was brutal. We chose to hike the 6.7 mile Wolfden Loop. We started early, thinking we’d avoid the worst of the heat, and we did do that. But it got hot quickly, and we suffered toward the end. All of us ran out of liquids and limped to the end. The meals and games were great fun, so the whole trip was an overwhelming success.
Gibbs Gardens, September 2022
A return trip, hoping to find more wildflower blooms, bees and butterflies. The blooms were no more plentiful this time than they were two weeks ago. But most of the blooms were above my head. The stalks were very tall. I arrived too early for the butterflies, but after the sun got up a bit, the flutterbys appeared. A very enjoyable morning.
Early September 2022
One excellent sunrise, some turtles and mushrooms on a hike at Jones Bridge, and butterflies in the neighbor’s yard. Good fun in all cases.
Gibbs Gardens, August 2022
Vistited Gibbs Gardens in Ball Ground, GA for the opening of their wildflower and butterfly garden. The blooms had begun but will be much, much better in a couple of weeks. And I could not leave without seeing the Japanese Garden and the waterlily ponds. It was a partly cloudy, breezy day, so conditions were rapidly changing. That did cause some of my shots to not turn out as I had hoped, but I like what I got.
Late August 2022
Not as much opportunity in the second half of the month, but I did get a few. Sunrise light was good a couple of days, and the NGPC went out one night to photography the Milky Way. I also walked the greenway a few times and found a couple interesting shots.
Middle of August 2022
Another collection of sunrises over Lake Lanier. I have been going there for sunrise and a hike with my full backpack as often as possible.
Early August 2022
I kept getting up of the sunrise because the sky cover kept creating good conditions for color, reflections and cool pictures. I go to West Bank Park on Lake Lanier to watch the sunrise and then walk the park looking for geese, ducks, herons, otters, woodpeckers, and whatever else I may find. Makes for a very pleasant couple hours in the morning. I also took time to shoot some double exposures in the yard to use in the photography club weekly challenge. I need to keep looking for opportunities to do more of those. I also hiked to Bearden Falls one Wednesday morning. That’s been on my list, and I finally got to do it, but the falls was disappointing. Much too much overgrown, and there was little room to work with. But now I’ve been there.