Supermoon in Asheville

The moon is usually way more impressive in person than in photographs (especially iPhone ones). But tonight was the supermoon so I went out with my wife to find it. You can’t really tell that this photo is of the actual supermoon, but it is I tell ya.

supermoon-asheville

And here is a bunny that was kind enough to stay still for me using 3200 ISO, 1/20 sec. shutter at 200mm. Because this was the same night as the supermoon, this is automatically a superbunny. “Goodnight Moon…”

superbunny

Waterrock Knob

View from Waterrock Knob off the Blue Ridge Parkway.

View from Waterrock Knob

Mount Mitchell State Park in Western North Carolina

Mt. Mitchell State Park in North Carolina lies in the Pisgah National Forest and boasts the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. It’s elevation reaches to the sky at 6684 feet (give or take an inch, I’d imagine).

The first photo is a view from the observation deck at the summit. The road in the photo is 128, which is just off the Blue Ridge Parkway.

View from the observation deck on Mt. Mitchell

Beautiful view from Mt. Mitchell

This is the observation deck atop the summit of Mt. Mitchell:

Observation Deck on Mt. Mitchell

Signs don't lie. That's over a mile high!

And here is a photo I took just off the Blue Ridge Parkway on the way down from Mt. Mitchell.

View of western North Carolina's mountains

Lovely view of the mountains

Photo Taken with Droid X

No more dropped calls! I have reason to celebrate because of today I am no longer with AT&T. Now I’ll actually get all my calls and texts and have service in more places. I could write a novel on how bad AT&T’s cell coverage is in Asheville (and beyond) but I’ll sum it up in one word: terrible.

Here is a photo I took with my new Droid X. The image quality is great for a smartphone and, of course, is much better than my iPhone 3G was. I processed this using Lightroom 3 and did a few adjustments to get it looking sharper and more contrasty.

Droid X Photography of plant

Photo of plant taken with the new Droid X

Also see it on flickr

Wild Pony at Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia

A few months ago I visited Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia, a park known for having wild ponies. They aren’t completely wild, per se, as they graze and roam in the boundaries of the park. The ponies were very tame, so much so you could walk right up to them. Unfortunately a lot of visitors feed the ponies carrots and other pony grub. It’s obviously not a good idea to feed brown bears in the Appalachian Mountains, so just because a wild pony can’t bite into your flesh, does that mean you should feed it? No?

Here is one of the photos I captured of a pony in the park. The weather was chilly and a surreal frost covered the ground and trees, but the greenery and colors still came through.

Wild pony, Grayon Highlands, Virginia

Beautiful wild pony in Grayson Highlands State Park