Is this another case of alien abduction, or is there a hiker somewhere in the NC mountains missing a boot? 😉
Missing Something?
Tag Archives: North Carolina
Going Nowhere
Kathy & I paid a visit today to the so-called “Road to Nowhere” in Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Bryson City, NC. I wrote about this place in a previous post from last October (just a year ago? Wow!). We caught just a little bit of the end of fall color, before the bottom falls out of the thermometer in a few days. We’ll be back home to our toasty house and our gas fireplace by then! 😉
Raw Materials
Raw coffee beans awaiting a turn in the roaster. Panacea Coffee House, Waynesville NC
Twist and Shout
When I made these photos I wasn’t thinking about hurricanes, but they do have a bit of a cyclonic look to them. I have all of my friends along the coast on my mind as I post this, and hope they all remain out of harm’s way.
These are a little cliche-y but I think serve the purpose quite well.
Marina Reflections
I posted this photo on Instagram a few days ago but forgot to post it here.
A Second Set of Eyes
Sometimes I rely on my sidekick to find photographs and I just shoot them. This was a scene in a restaurant we visited in Carolina Beach. It was behind me so I probably would not have seen it, but Kathy has a good eye!
Waxing Crescent Moon
Waxing crescent moon over Charlotte, NC tonight!
Postcard from Carolina Beach
Kathy & I are finishing up our time in Carolina Beach, North Carolina before heading up the coast with visits to VA, MD, DE and NJ. This is just a sample of the photos I have found from our visit. More to come!
A Weekend With a Fuji X-T3
For our recent visit to Waynesville I rented another camera – the Fuji X-T3. It’s the latest version of my existing camera, the X-T1, and I wanted to see how it compares. It was an interesting experiment, with mixed feelings. The Folkmoot photos from my previous post were taken with that camera, and here are a few more.
All in all, the camera would be a worthy upgrade from the X-T1 if I happened to be in the market. But I’m not. The obvious reason would be cost, because in addition to the camera itself I would need to upgrade my memory cards, buy new batteries (my current batteries fit but have a lower power output so will supposedly not last as long), buy a new L-bracket and eventually – because of the 26MP files vs. my current 16MP – I would need to buy larger hard drives. Sorry, that would cover the cost of a nice vacation!
Another, albeit minor, negative would be the slightly larger size of the X-T3 body. In my opinion the X-T1 borders between just right and a little large (weird to say since my initial impression 4 years ago was that it was tiny compared to the Canon 5D!).
On the positive side, the files were quite nice, although I wasn’t blown away by a huge difference between the newer camera and mine. There is definitely a slight improvement in detail, and I found that with files almost twice as large, zooming in to 50% instead of 100% is far enough. Any closer than 100% just accentuates the flaws, and I don’t need to accentuate them any more, thank you!
The menus are a bit more complex, necessary due to the customization the camera allows. But it wasn’t impossible to figure out, probably because I’m already used to the setup. I liked being able to see blinking highlights in the viewfinder, which I can’t do with my current camera. That’s not a big deal but it is helpful in certain situations. The EVF is nice and bright, and contains all of the information found on the main screen.
One of the things I should have paid more attention to is the ability to set different autofocus parameters based on specific shooting situations. I tried tracking subjects in the parade but found a lot of missed shots because I didn’t have it set up correctly. That’s not something I usually do, so I didn’t think about it until after the fact.
So, no new cameras for me – yet! Although those new Canon point & shoots are due out any time…hmmmm! 😉
What’s A Folkmoot?
Tell just about anyone around here that you’re headed to Asheville, Boone, Blowing Rock or Cherokee, and they know where you’re going and likely have been there themselves. Tell someone you are going to Waynesville, and just about everyone says “where’s Waynesville?” Tell someone you are going to Waynesville for Folkmoot and they just get confused. “Where for what?”
When I was photographing for Our State and WNC magazines I took photographs to accompany articles about small towns in the western part of NC. Waynesville has become our favorite mountain town for a number of years and we keep returning. We’ve become friends with the couple who owns a small motel there, interestingly the same motel where my family used to stay when we visited from Pennsylvania. Waynesville has several restaurants we really like, a coffee roaster that makes my favorite coffee, and is ideally located for access to the Blue Ridge Parkway and Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Every year in July, Waynesville hosts Folkmoot. Webster defines a ‘folkmoot’ as a general assembly of the people (as of a shire) in early England” Folkmoot in Waynesville has traditionally been a two week festival of international friendship and fellowship, highlighted by dance and musical performances. The Folkmoot organization has recently begun to evolve into a year-round cultural center, with programs and events that celebrate diversity, encourage cultural conversation, and preserve and honor worldwide cultural heritages.
We have been to Waynesville during Folkmoot several times in the past but have limited our participation to the Parade of Nations that is held one Saturday. This year we also purchased tickets and attended the opening ceremony, where all of the performers are featured in an indoor (and air-conditioned!) setting. I didn’t photograph there, but we did attend the parade the following day. I think I would like to eventually participate more, but for now we can be glad that we did something we hadn’t done previously.
Here is a small selection of photos from the parade. It is a lot of fun to attend, and I think I captured some photos that represent what it is all about!
