# Spring ...



## SCraig (Mar 17, 2012)

Tennessee didn't have much of a winter this year as far as cold weather goes, but the cold bothers me less than the lack of color.  By January I'm always very tired of looking at brown trees and gray skies and start to look forward to the trees beginning to bud out and color returning.












Feel free to add your own.  What does it look like in other parts of the country?


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## jriepe (Mar 17, 2012)

Nice colorful shots.  I'll be in Tennessee the week of March 25th and I know things have to be more colorful there than here but we have been having some super nice days and the lawns are greening up nicely.  Our winter was very mild also.  I am so looking forward to moving down there in a couple years after my daughter graduates from high school.  

Jerry


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## jaicatalano (Mar 17, 2012)

NYC didn't see one either. Global warming is scary.


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## SCraig (Mar 17, 2012)

It has been an odd winter all over the country.  I have friends in Phoenix and they usually give me a hard time about how much nicer the winters are there.  I usually fly out and visit them in February but didn't see any reason this year since it was as warm here as there 

JRiepe, what part of Tennessee are you headed for?


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## 2WheelPhoto (Mar 17, 2012)

jaicatalano said:


> NYC didn't see one either. Global warming is scary.



About as scary as the extreme global freezing over the past few winters


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## jriepe (Mar 17, 2012)

SCraig said:


> It has been an odd winter all over the country.  I have friends in Phoenix and they usually give me a hard time about how much nicer the winters are there.  I usually fly out and visit them in February but didn't see any reason this year since it was as warm here as there
> 
> JRiepe, what part of Tennessee are you headed for?



I'm going to check out what is called the overhill country.  Some towns I'll be checking out is Chattanooga, Cleveland, Sweetwater, Maryville, etc.  The area between Chattanooga and Knoxville and south of I75.  A friend of mine is planning to move to the Nashville area this year.  Gotta get a house with a basement because the danger of tornadoes is more likely there than where I'm presently at.

Jerry


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## SCraig (Mar 18, 2012)

That's beautiful contry over there.  Right at the foot of the Smoky Mountains it is really pretty.  The only problem is that in the summer much of it is literally beseiged with tourists.   Can't get a seat in a restaurant, traffic is terrible, and so forth.   I've ridden my motorcycles all over that part of the state though, and I really love it over there.

Finding a basement house won't be a problem.  Most of them in this area have full basements, and to the east it's even more prominent, since that's the only way to build them.  The lots slope so steeply that it takes a lot of foundation wall just to make the living floor level so the builder might as well include a basement.  Cutting grass on them can be a real chore though.


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## PixelRabbit (Mar 18, 2012)

I'm so with you Scott! I'm so over drab colours and bits of snow.  
But.....
Today.... ONE flower bloomed in the garden! YAY PURPLE!
My first flower shot .... of the first flower to bloom in our garden... the first spring in our new home 




Very first flower in the garden. by Judi Smelko, on Flickr


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## Joel_W (Mar 18, 2012)

It's so comforting to see colorful spring flower once again. Going to get out myself on Tuesday to see what's out there.


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## SCraig (Mar 18, 2012)

It is nice to see ... but it's just plain wrong to.  I've seen snow here in March in years past and Wednesday it is forecast to be 90 degrees here.  Our so-called "Average" is 62 for today.  As I mentioned above I've got friends in Phoenix and the temperature there this week is forecast to be about 30 degrees LOWER than here in Tennessee.  The bugs are already bad to since it wasn't cold enough over the winter to kill them off.  It's gonna be a long summer ;(

Judi, I guess you and I are the only ones taking shots of this fantastic weather since we're the only ones posting anything.  Here's another one showing one of the harbingers of spring around here: Sir Robin of Redbreast


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## Joel_W (Mar 18, 2012)

Scott, that's one nice Robin picture.  I too have been taking pictures weekly, mostly Pigeons, Ducks, Geese, and Seagulls outside, and macro florals inside of Green houses, but this week I'm going to start walking around one of my favorite Arboretums looking for spring bulbs that have started to bloom. While it's been more like mid spring, mother nature really hasn't pushed the envelope yet here on the Island. Winter Greys and Browns are still dominant.


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## SCraig (Mar 18, 2012)

Thanks, Joel.  That was shot at a park here in Nashville.  The birds get fed a lot so he wasn't real afraid of me so I shot that from 15 feet away 

I wondered what it was like up north right now.  I know that on one of the motorcycle forums I frequent the northern guys have been getting their bikes out of hibernation for the past several weeks.  I didn't know whether things were starting to "Green Up" there or not.  This is unseasonably early for us, we are probably 3 weeks ahead of normal.  I'm not complaining yet, I'll save that for late summer.

Looking forward to some shots from up that way.


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## Joel_W (Mar 18, 2012)

Scott, same up here. It's warm, and the bike guys are riding like it's mid spring. but like I said, outside of the Dafodills and some Crocuses, it still looks like winter.


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## jriepe (Mar 19, 2012)

Scott,

I have twice tried to send you a PM thanking you for the link to your Tennessee images but each time I get a message an error has occurred.  THANK YOU and hopefully you will see this.  Don't know if there is something wrong with the site or if my head is not screwed on straight this morning.

Jerry


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## PixelRabbit (Mar 19, 2012)

Nice capture on the Robin Scott 
We would definitely be out on the bikes already if our road wasn't a mudpit, the land is really saturated right now.
There are small pops of colour here but not much yet. We are waiting (im)patiently for the front gardens to bloom, lots of flowers still wrapped in green waiting for the right moment to emerge.




Front garden before bloom by Judi Smelko, on Flickr




Fountain Garden before bloom by Judi Smelko, on Flickr

This is our first year growing here.  This is the garden weeded and burned (sorry about the blah colours lol), ready to be turned hopefully today! Still have to prep the greenhouse, busy busy busy!




Garden weeded and burned ready to be turned. by Judi Smelko, on Flickr


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## jriepe (Mar 19, 2012)

I volunteer to maintain an elderly ladies yard in our small town and I went over there today to rake and prepare it for mowing.  She had these flowers.  The petals are not detailed because I used flash.  I don't like to use flash on flowers but a perfectly calm day here is rare.  I had my choice of using a wide aperture with no flash having one flower in focus or using flash with a smaller aperture and keeping them all acceptably in focus.  There are trees here also in full bloom but I don't feel comfortable taking pictures of flowers and trees on private property.

Jerry


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## SCraig (Mar 19, 2012)

jriepe said:


> Scott,
> 
> I have twice tried to send you a PM thanking you for the link to your Tennessee images but each time I get a message an error has occurred.  THANK YOU and hopefully you will see this.  Don't know if there is something wrong with the site or if my head is not screwed on straight this morning.
> 
> Jerry


I did get it and just answered it.


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## SCraig (Mar 19, 2012)

I shot this yesterday but just got around to cleaning it up a bit.  It's  another of my favorite walk-around-with-a-camera places in this area.   It's a state natural area so the rules are absolutely ridiculous.  It's  safe to say that the list of things one can't do there is longer than  the list of things one can do there.  They even have s sign up that  reads "No musical instruments".  Despite the rules I spend a lot of time  walking around the place.  It's between my house and my office so I  frequently stop on the way home for a walk to clear my head.

There are a number of trails in the area, one that goes all the way around the lake and is about 3 miles long.  Lots of birds, lots of deer, lots of wildflowers.  It's gorgeous right now but as it warms up the water will get a layer of green algae scum on the surface that absolutely ruins it.


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## Joel_W (Mar 19, 2012)

Judy, you're living the life I always dreamed of.


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## PixelRabbit (Mar 19, 2012)

Scott, what a beautiful place, too bad about the algae, with all this sunshine this early in the year it may be a bumper crop  I bet it is magnificent in the autumn there regardless 

Joel... Me too, it was a long road to get here but sooooo worth it 

And to continue the Spring theme... Meet Charlie the Chipmunk! 
We met Charlie when we first moved in but he soon bedded down for the winter.  He is not bothered by us in the least and is very curious about the camera


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## SCraig (Mar 20, 2012)

Aw, damn.  I am so jealous.  I love chipmunks but all of them around here are so skittish I can barely get within a hundred feet without them flying.

As to Radnor Lake being gorgeous in the fall .....







Don't you just LOVE the dead-center horizon in the next one   I didn't leave enough room to crop it properly.  Oh well ...


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## slackercruster (Mar 21, 2012)

The member from WV posted a pix of some tree blooms. Reminded me to look out my window and enjoy spring some before it is over. Sometimes I get too busy to enjoy much. I got a baby peach tree right out front. Took some pix in different light and trying different lenses. I'm not much of a flower photog. Used to specialize in people / documentary. But the flowers are sure purdy this time of year. 

Glad we got these forums to reminded us to look for photo ops. They are all over the place if we open our eyes. 






Pentax K2000 / 'Cheezy' Sigma 100mm diffusion lens.


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## PixelRabbit (Mar 21, 2012)

Chipmunks are awesome  I'm so glad Charlie is "social"  
LOVE that first shot Scott! The mist on the water is wonderful  
As for the second, I have an almost identical shot of our pond lol oopsie!
More flowers have bloomed in the garden so hopefully I'll have more colour to post tonight!


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## PixelRabbit (Mar 21, 2012)

Slacker.... Very nice!! How delicate 
Yes we all could benefit from taking a moment to stop and look around us, it is good for the soul


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## SCraig (Mar 21, 2012)

PixelRabbit said:


> ... LOVE that first shot Scott! The mist on the water is wonderful


Me to.  It's the background for my non-business business cards


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## PixelRabbit (Mar 21, 2012)

Ok so flowers evidently aren't my strong point lol but woot for colours!


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## pgriz (Mar 21, 2012)

So...  today we got temperature at 27C (official) 30C unofficial.  Normal for today is 2C.   Seven years ago I was walking on the lake near my house, 200 ft. from shore.  Temp was -5C, and the ice didn't break for another three weeks.  Today, if I tried that stunt, I'd be probably 8-9 feet under water.  No flowers yet, but the maples started blooming - just to make the allergy sufferers feel good.  Weird, weird weather.


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