Last leg of Road Trip 2011

A week after Charleston, ride sharing buddy and I packed up for 4 days in the Smokies with Donna Eaton and Adam Jones, both well-known photographers who have published lots of Smokies images.  As always, I forgot to take the right clothes and spent some periods of time uncomfortably cold.  We spent the first morning in Cades Cove and were lucky enough to be greeted by both fog and great light.  It looked just like this when I pressed the shutter:

My favorite subject in the Smokies is the water cascades and creeks.  I managed to capture a couple that I really liked to add to my collection:

On the way home from Charleston, we spent a couple of hours at the Beidler Forest Audubon Center.  The park is owned by the South Carolina Audubon Society and is a treat, especially in the Spring when the Prothonatory Warblers gather in numbers to nest and raise their next generation.  I knew from a friend that there was a nest near the boardwalk near the lake but could not find it.  Then suddenly we saw this fellow pretending to have a broken wing and leading us away from the spot where we were standing;

Of course, he accomplished just the opposite of what he intended because he only confirmed to us that we were in the right place.  So we settled down to wait and soon he came back, this time with food for the mom.  He stage himself on a Cyprus knee for a few minutes and then, seeing that we weren't going anywhere he flew to the Cyprus Knee that was the home of his wife and kids.

A great way to end a road trip!!This year promises to be wonderful for me!  Full of great new images!  You are welcome to come along with me and I promise I will post more regularly from now on!