So it's been a minute.
Okay, a looooooooooong minute, since your faithful reporter has checked in with a blog, updating my recent photographic exploits.
There is a good reason for that though, as I've been working on finishing my upcoming book "Seasons," so most of my writing energies have gone towards that, though there's been a rather persistent sturm und drang to the project. My intention was to have it done by the end of April. But here we are, nearly to August; and it's still not to the level I'd like, though about 97% of the manuscript and layout is complete. I've been reworking and refining the text in the meantime, checking in with people to make sure their presence in the book was welcome (and I received an unexpectedly sweet message last week from an old friend whom I'd not spoken to in quite some time, enthusiastically cheering on the project and her presence in it).
It's going to be a 12" x 12" hardcover book, around 200 pages, with many of my best images and the stories behind them. I will be sashaying down to Atlanta sometime in August to pitch the book to the people who printed my first two books - and by that point we shall see if I go the self-publishing route once again, or if I get a deal with a real publisher. In any case, the book won't be cheap. I'm not cutting corners here.
So what exactly have I been up to since the beginning of spring? Well, if you follow me on social media, you've likely seen a few of the images I've taken since the first blooms began popping. If not, here's a selection of those images, with only a short caption describing location:
A peach farm in Landrum, SC.
Above two images shot at Carl Sandberg Home, Flat Rock NC
An apple orchard near Waynesville, NC
Sunset on Lake Junaluska, NC
Above two images shot at Pilot Mountain State Park, NC
Poor Farmer's Market, Meadows of Dan VA
A different take on Mabry Mill, near Meadows of Dan, VA
Puckett Cabin, Blue Ridge Parkway near Fancy Gap, VA
Jackson County Courthouse, Sylva NC
Bunches Bald Overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway near Cherokee, NC
Both of the above images shot on a rainy day near Morton's Overlook in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Gatlinburg, TN
Taken near Mount Mitchell during the rhododendron bloom
Sunset near milepost 362 on the Blue Ridge Parkway during the rhododendron bloom
Flame Azalea and Mountain Laurel in bloom on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Brevard, NC
Light show near milepost 432 on the Parkway near Waynesville NC
A dramatic sky, looking out towards Huckleberry Knob on the Cherohala Skyway near Robbinsville NC
Caesar's Head State Park in upstate South Carolina
Waterrock Knob entrance on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Jackson County NC
Craggy Pinnacle Trail, Blue Ridge Parkway north of Asheville NC
Roan Mountain sunset.
An old, but well preserved, Gulf service station just south of Cumberland Gap TN.
Hope you enjoy! I'll be sure to check back in once the book is done and I announce a pre-sale! Until then.......