Photos by Dick
Photographs and commentary by Dick Snoke
Early December 2022
Got up for a couple of good sunrises early in the month. In each case, I hung around to photograph birds in the early morning light. And then one morning we had heavy fog. I got a picture I like of the car under the light in the parking lot, and I got some other standard foggy pictures too.
Late November 2022
A mixed bag here. One from a hike at Settles Bridge, the others from some sunrises at West Bank Park.
November 2022 NGPC shootout
The North Georgia Photography Club (NGPC) held a “shootout” competition in Roswell, GA on a Saturday morning. I was a judge, so I could not submit any images, but that did not stop me from wandering around and taking pictures. The categories/themes were Old Timey, Natural Texture and Off the Beaten Path.
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.