Today's Photo - Toothbrush Macro

One of the things I really enjoy about the Macro Lens is the ability to take common household items and make an interesting photo out of them.

Today I had my semi-annual dentist appointment and as usual came home with a brand new toothbrush.

Warning:  Do not try this with a used toothbrush!  It will gross you out!

For this photo I propped up the toothbrush and used my mini tripod.  I set the ISO at 100 to eliminate any noise (graininess) and minimized the Aperture to ensure the entire depth of field would be in focus.  This combination of settings requires a very slow shutter speed, which is not a problem indoors as there is no wind to worry about.  

In addition to the normal room lighting which was pretty dim, for this photo I used a small LED flashlight, which I swept back and forth across the scene at various angles during the entire 13-second exposure in hopes of minimizing the shadowing.

Toothbrush Macro

ISO 100   F/45   13-second exposure

Toothbrushes sure have evolved over the years into some strange looking devices!

Today's Photo - Violet Macro

The nice thing about violets, besides their beauty, is their long blooming season.

These are one of the first flowers to start blooming in the spring,

and they continue blooming well into the summer.

Today I wanted to see how close I could get with the Macro Lens!

Virginia Hawkis Falls

Saturday, May 15th, 2010
Pickens County, SC


The original plan for the day was a Kayak Trip / Bushwhacking Adventure to seek out some very hard to get to waterfalls. With the weather forecast calling for an almost certainty of afternoon thunder showers, we elected to scrap those plans for another day and go with Plan B.

Plan B was basically no plan at all. We would just play it by ear and do a series of short hikes so we would never be too far from the vehicle when the showers decided to arrive.

I met Johnny at his house and we drove up together to the Foothills Trailhead parking area off of Horsepasture Road in Rocky Bottom, SC where we met Paul. We piled into Paul's truck and continued up Horsepasture Road with plans of going all the way to Jumping Off Rock for some awesome views of Lake Jocassee.

Unfortunately, Johnny got his dates messed up and the road to Jumping Off Rock is now closed for the season. For some reason, they only unlock the gates during certain times of the year.

Here are the official dates that the road is open:

September 15th - January 1st
and
March 20th - May 10th

As it turns out, we were actually very fortunate to have to go with Plan C and D.  However I can't include any details or photos from our fortune!

Since we could only take Horsepasture Road as far as Laurel Fork Gap, we decided to hike from there to Virginia Hawkins Falls.

Virginia Hakins Falls

As I was about to put on my hiking boots, I realized that I had made a critical mistake when packing my hiking gear! I had two different hiking boots? Fortunately, at least I had a left and a right and once I got them on, I didn't really notice they were different. As long as I didn't look down!

The hike to Virginia Hawkins Falls is about a mile (one way) downhill on a wide track forest service road. We didn't see much in the way of wildflowers, but the Mountain Laurel was sure putting on a show!

Mountain Laurel Blooms

We got to Virginia Hawkins Falls at the perfect time as the sun had not yet made its way above the ridge. Photo conditions of this small but very scenic waterfall were just about perfect!

Virginia Hawkins Falls

After about 30 minutes photographing the falls, the sun decided to rise above the ridgeline which was our signal that it was time to move on.

Our next plan was to try and access Sky Falls! I had visited this spectacular waterfall last summer for the first time. On that trip we took Johnny's sailboat and camped out along the shores of lake Jocassee. The next morning, we bushwhacked upstream to Sky Falls.

Today we would try a different way to get to Sky Falls.

We drove up to Rosman, NC to see if we could enter the Round Mountain Community to gain access. This is definitely the easiest way to get to Sky Falls, but unfortunately Round Mountain is a gated community and we were unable to gain entry.

We were all feeling a bit dejected as our various plans for the day were falling apart.

I can't go into any detail about what happened later or post any photos.  All I can say is we got permission to see some spactacular waterfalls on Private Property.  However, I was asked to not post any details or photos.

It was a great day!

Today's Photos - A Great Day of Waterfall Wandering

Wow!  What an awesome day!

Today's plan was to do some hiking and Waterfall Wandering with my longtime hiking buddy Johnny and first time hiking buddy Paul.  We didn't really have a specific plan.  We started out with Virginia Hakins Falls:

Virginia Hawkins Falls

After that we lucked into getting an oppurtunity to see some spectacular waterfalls located on private property.  I've known these were here, but I wasn't sure if I would ever get the oppurtunity to see them since public access is usually strictly forbiddin.

Unfortunately, I was asked not to post any details or photos!

Today's Photo - Dragonfly

Today's photo plan was to roam around our yard in hopes of finding something interesting to photograph.  It didn't take long before I saw this guy fluttering around.  I followed it around for a while hoping it would stay still long enough for me to get a close-up photo since I was using the Macro Lens.

I wasn't having much luck, but finally it landed on the side of our house.  I started snapping away, gradually getting closer and closer.

Most of the shots turned out blurry because this side of our house was in the shade and I was shooting hand held, but I think this one turned out pretty good :

Dragonfly (I think)

Today's Photo - Celosia

My wife Amy planted some of these in one of our flower gardens a few weeks ago.  It's called Celosia!  I think it is an interesting looking flower:

Celosia

I was also playing around with the Macro Lens on some of our rose bushes which are now in full bloom:

Rose Macro

Today's Photo - Yesterday's Mystery Flower Identified

No one was able to identify the flower photo I posted yesterday.

This it what the little flower turns into:

If all goes well, these will turn into nice plump and juicy red tomatoes soon!  Then once my peppers start producing, its homemade Salsa time!