Photography – Page 26 – Wandering Dawgs

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #308 – Perfect Pairs

July 24, 2024Posted in Lighthouse, PhotographyTagged Cockspur Island Lighthouse, diptych, Lens-Artists, perfect pairs, Photo Challenge, Tybee Island Lighthouse31 Comments

The challenge from Elizabeth of Albatz Travel Adventures is to use diptychs to create perfect pairs. I wasn’t familiar with this term so I was glad she defined it like this: “A diptych is two images placed in proximity to one another, forming a pair. To make a successful pairing there should be several things in common, and something very different, contrasting.“

I love lighthouses and I am fortunate to live close to two different lighthouses. The first one I will feature is the Tybee Island Light Station, Georgia’s oldest and tallest lighthouse with 178 steps to the top. The original lighthouse was constructed in 1736. The lighthouse has been rebuilt several times and the daymark has also changed several times. Today the lighthouse is painted with the 1916 daymark of three stripes – black at the top, white in the middle, black at the bottom.

The lighthouse has just completed it’s latest restoration. The first two images below show the lighthouse during the restoration project and the lighthouse as it looks today with it’s new coat of paint.

Tybee Island Lighthouse during restoration, June, 2024

The Lighthouse flies an American Flag on patriotic holidays such as Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Veteran’s Day. The following two images show the lighthouse as it was on Memorial Day, 2021 and this year’s Memorial Day, 2024 after the old layers of paint had been scraped off.

Tybee Island Light Station on Memorial Day 2021, before the 2024 restoration

The Cockspur Island Lighthouse is shown in the next pair. On the left is a closeup of the lighthouse at high tide as seen from a boat. On the right is the lighthouse as seen from the Lighthouse trail at Ft. Pulaski National Monument near Tybee Island. If you look closely at the image from the trail you can see the top of the Tybee Island Lighthouse to the right of the water tower on the other side of the water behind the lighthouse.

Many thanks to our host Elizabeth of Albatz Travel Adventures for this challenge Lens-Artists #308 – Perfect Pairs

Sunday Stills – On the Wing

July 22, 2024Posted in Birds, Photography, WildlifeTagged Photo Challenge, Sunday Stills, Wings25 Comments

Terri’s Sunday Stills challenge is On the Wing. I enjoy bird photography and have thousands of bird photos in my archives. I browsed through some of them and included a few favorites for this challenge.

I am the daughter of a United States Air Force pilot and I can’t do a post about wings without including wings of the USAF Thunderbirds.

Thanks to Terri for her Sunday Stills monthly challenge – On the Wing

Sunday Stills – State and Local Parks

July 18, 2024Posted in Photography, WildlifeTagged Custer State Park, Silver Springs State Park, State and Local Parks, Stephen C. Foster State Park, Sunday Stills13 Comments

Terri’s Sunday Stills challenge of State and Local Parks reminded me of some of the wonderful state parks where we have camped on our many RV travels over the years. I had a hard time choosing which parks to feature for this post but I narrowed it down to three of my favorites. These parks are great for a day trip as well as for tent or RV camping.

Stephen C. Foster State Park in Fargo, Georgia

We love this park so much we camped here many times through the years. We enjoyed stopping here on our trips to and from Florida. The park is located in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge 17 miles from the nearest highway. There is a small marina with a boat launch as well as canoe and kayak rentals and ranger guided boat trips into the swamp. It’s quiet and off the beaten track.

Silver Springs State Park, Florida

Silver Springs is another state park we visited many times on our RV trips to Florida. Tourists began visiting Silver Springs in late 1800s. The first glass bottom boat tours started taking visitors for rides over the crystal clear springs in the 1870’s. Today Silver Springs is a state park which still operates the famous glass bottom boats. The park also has several hiking and biking nature trails, a museum, a replica of a 19th century settlement called the Cracker Village, and a very nice campground.

Custer State Park, South Dakota

Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Monument attract many visitors to the Black Hills of South Dakota each year. Another great place to explore is nearby Custer State Park. Visitors can spend a day taking scenic drives on the Wildlife Loop Drive, Iron Mountain Road, and the Needles Highway. The park is also a popular place to camp with several campgrounds to choose from.

Thanks to Terri for her Sunday Stills monthly challenge – State and Local Parks

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #307 – Tourist Attractions Near and Far

July 14, 2024Posted in Photography, Tourist AttractionsTagged Lens-Artists, Photo Challenge, Tourist Attractions25 Comments

Our guest host Leanne of Leanne Cole asks us to feature tourist attractions. She says”What the normal tourist wants to see is not always what we want.” For this challenge I chose some often overlooked quirky and fun tourist attractions from around the United States and Canada. To see a larger image just click on the image.

These days, Florida’s beaches and Orlando area theme parks are the main tourist attractions that bring people to the Sunshine State. Long before Walt Disney began planning Walt Disney World there were other attractions for tourists. The header image is from the St. Augustine Alligator farm which was founded in 1893. The following gallery features the glass bottom boats in Silver Springs which have been operating since the 1870s, mermaids at Weeki Wachee Springs which have been entertaining visitors since 1947, and Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park which has been around since the early 1900’s.

There are museums, factories and distilleries to explore all around the United States. The following gallery features, in clockwise order starting with the upper left image: The Brer Rabbit Museum in Eatonton, Georgia; the Laurel and Hardy Museum in Harlem, Georgia; The Hammer Museum in Haines, Alaska; the Spam Museum in Austin, Minnesota; the UFO museum in Roswell, New Mexico; the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Savannah, Georgia; the Tabasco Factory in Avery Island, Louisiana; the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee.

You can find unusual attractions if you take the time to look around. Shown below are the tree that owns itself in Athens, Georgia; a double-barreled cannon in Athens, Georgia; the eiffel tower with a red cowboy hat in Paris, Texas; the giant duck boot at the L. L. Bean store in Maine; and the southern most point in the continental United States in Key West, Florida.

The following statues are: Andy and Opie in Mt. Airy, North Carolina; John Henry in Talcott, West Virginia; Buddy Holly in Lubbock, Texas; Fisherman’s Memorial in Glouchester, Massachusetts; Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn in Hannibal, Missouri.

There are many fun things to see on the way to somewhere else. Here are: Cadillac Ranch near Amarillo, Texas; Wall Drug Store in Wall, South Dakota; the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota; the start of the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek, British Columbia.

If you enjoy road trips in the United States and are interested in finding other fun roadside attractions, take a look at Roadside America for some ideas.

Many thanks to our guest host for this challenge Lens-Artists #307 – Tourist Attractions