Justin Acuff’s Blog

While I could probably start this and most future posts with “I know its been a while since I last posted”, I’ll try to refrain or find some other creative way to say that. I suppose I could write about the Nature and Travel Field trip to the Knoxville Zoo or the Smokemont Loop/Bradley Fork trail hike I did this weekend. For the final class of Fundamentals of Digital Photography, we have to select four of our best images shot between the start and end of the class. It wasn’t too hard to pick the four. I had a lot to choose from, but I tried to choose photos that others probably don’t have

This first image is of the Middle Prong of the Little River. To get there, you take the road to Tremont and continue past Tremont. This is shot near the end. I took this shot on the first Nature and Travel field trip.

This shot was part of our second shooting assignment for the class. Since the assignments aren’t mandatory and I already knew the techniques he wanted us to learn in the assignments, I only selected the assignments that might be fun to do. I didn’t turn this one in, so it should be new to him and the class. For this shot, I was able to get access to the roof of where I work and take several pictures of downtown Knoxville at night.

I took this shot during the second Nature and Travel field trip to the Knoxville Zoo. I selected it because its falls into the category of actually being able to remove the fence from the picture. Most of the animals were close to the fence, so it was impossible to eliminate the fence. The snow leopard was perched up on her platform which was just far enough so that the fence could be eliminated.

The forth picture was the most difficult to select. I had lots to choose from by they were either too similar to the first picture or also shot at the Knoxville Zoo. I wanted something different for my fourth shot. Since I was going to be in the park on Saturday, I took my camera and was determined to get something. Since we finished the hike pretty quickly, we had all sorts of time. I knew Mingus Mill was nearby, so I said lets go check it out. It was neat, but not the best time of day to photograph it, plus there were just too many people that would walk into the shot. The park employee that was there started talking to us. Since we were in the area, he told us we might want to check out Mingo Falls. I had heard of it, but didn’t where it was. Luckily he gave us directions. To get to it, take Newfound Gap Road toward Cherokee, NC. You’ll pass the Blue Ridge Parkway. Turn left on the next road past the Blue Ridge Parkway. You’ll come to a T intersection. Turn left and follow the road for about 4.5 miles. Look for a small sign that says Mingo Falls Next Right. Park there and climb about 150 stairs and hike a little less than half a mile and you’re there.

Technorati Tags: Knoxville, Knoxville Zoo, Snow Leopard, Middle Prong of the Little River, Tremont, Great Smoky Mountains, Mingo Falls, Cityscape, Nightscape