11.30.6 Sanford
Have arrived in Sanford, NC. The drive through the mountains was pleasant and I departed early in the day so that I could stop and look at some properties in the mountains along the Appalachian Trial.
Nice to be back in my own bed where I have high speed WiFi and other computers to use. I keep one laptop busy playing a wonderful classical music station that’s broadcasting over the internet. That laptop also answers my phone.
Highs are in the 70s here right now. Not to last, this weekend the highs are forecast to be in the 50s for a few days.
Jumping over the broom
11.4.6
Shooting a Wedding
Shot my second wedding.
Lindsey & Brents’ Knoxville wedding was held at the Bleak House (Confederate Memorial Hall) under a beautiful blue sky. The weather was perfect and every aspect of the event seems to have come off as planned. Near to where we were, the U of T Vols played LSU. Just as they were making their vows, TN must have scored and there were booms and fireworks in the background. Unfortunately, TN lost the game in the last 9 seconds. Hopefully, the marriage will fair much better!
Wedding Party
I was one of the photographers. I set up some remote strobes near the center of the ceremony and the shot from farther back out of the way with telephoto. I metered for existing light. Having a pair of flashes up close helped get good detail.
Another photographer was responsible for all the formal shots, so I concentrated on informal moments— even those when people were assembling for the formal shots. My cousin Tom acted as my assistant and helped me move my remote lights around for different situations.
Kim & Lowden
Later, when everyone gathered for the meal, I switched to flashless infrared photography that I would later convert to B&W. This worked very well and I was able to get some good pics.
11.3.6
Got underway at 0400 Monday morning. Left Ypsi in the dark and saw sunrise about Dayton, Ohio. Got caught in the Cincinnati, Ohio morning rush hour, stopped a couple times and still managed to make Knoxville by 1330. The day was sunny and bright and delightful for driving— 480 miles in 9.5 hours. Something I especially like is that it is warmer here.
It is still autumn in the south, my third Autumn of this year; it’s not like the firebrand colors of northern MI, here in the Smokies it is a mature season: trees of auburn, burnt orange, and deep amber set against the emerald undergrowth of the Tennessee River.
The timing of my visit is for my cousin’ daughter’s wedding. Lindsay has a fun wedding planned. The wedding site is an historic civil war homestead, the Bleak House with sculpted antebellum terraces giving way down to the Tennessee River. The mansion, also known as the Confederate Memorial Hall, once headquartered General Longstreet. It seems convenient now to forget that this part of eastern Tennessee sided with the Union and Longstreet’s sojourn here was an unsuccessful incursion against the north.
My cousin’s daughter is getting married on the 4th. Sort of a big reunion, perhaps the last one for some of the older folks. Things are hectic with so many family members converging all at once! Great to see folks and get reacquainted.
