The Value of a Bottle of Ibuprofen

I arrived home from Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains on Saturday night after a wowzer of a week. Busy from before dawn in the morning, until after sunset each evening.  The instructor kept us on the go every minute of the day.  Did I mention that I was totally exhausted when I fell into bed Saturday night, or each night that I was there??  Did my body ache from climbing mountains, or were my fingers frozen from early morning shoots, did the bags under my eyes become more prominent from lack of sleep....yes, but it was soooo worth it.  I definitely learned the value of a good tripod, which btw I did not have and how you cannot without a doubt hand-hold your camera at an early morning sunrise when there are so many clouds that you can barely see any light creeping through. Thank goodness the instructor was generous with allowing us "virgins" to use some of his equipment.  I also learned the value of a bottle of Ibuprofen and a tube of Aspercreme (aka Ben Gay)

It was a small class of only 7 students which meant that our instructor was able to give ample time to each student as we were shooting in the field.  Many were much more experienced nature photographers than moi....which ofcourse meant that I did more whining, oh I mean needed more coaching than others. Early morning shoots, more shoots, lunch, back to our rooms to choose 4 photos to be critiqued, classroom time, then back out for an afternoon shoot, then dinner, then back on the road for sunset, topping the days off with a long hot shower and collapsing into bed to begin again the next morning.  A couple of mornings I had to set my alarm for 4:40 AM....yes, you saw that right.  I don't even know what the world looks like at 4:40 AM, except maybe a short trip to the bathroom and back let alone up and dressed.  He is having another workshop in the spring at this same location, and believe it or not, I am tempted to do it again.  It will be a totally contrasting experience with the landscape being so different in the springtime, instead of falling leaves there will be wildflowers.

Early morning sunrise...

A sunset that you could not even see the trees on the side of the hill...

The last morning we were there (yes, this was a 4:40 AM alarm) there was a little snow and frost on the mountain which gave the trees a coating of white.

And you cannot ignore the leaves and color....omg the color was phenomenal.

Fallen leaves....

Hanging leaves....

Waterfall leaves....

How the light hit the leaves....

Or seen thru a window....

There are so many more photos from this experience which will pop up here and there in the future...but I wanted to give you a taste of what the Smoky Mountains looks like in October....pretty awesome, huh??

On the way home we decided to stop around Lexington, KY to find some of those gorgeous black fences and a horse or two.  After all, Lexington is known for it's race horses.  We just happen to stop at a farm for retired thoroughbreds and took a few shots.

It was indeed good to be home, my kids (aka dogs) were sure glad to see me, I don't ever remember my children or my husband ever jumping up and down when I walked through the door after a trip, but my kids sure do, making me feel totally and unconditionally loved. That's what dogs do.

"Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts."  ~  Oliver Wendell Holmes

Until next time....