With the gas prices up I can’t go to the Smokies like I used to. I love nature photography and all the good stuff is at least 50 miles away. That is too far to drive on a regular basis with the gas prices as high as they are. I did not want to give up my photography or reduce it to a few times a year.
There is a hidden treasure only 3 miles from my place called Ijams Nature Center www.ijams.org. Ijams is a wildlife sanctuary just a few miles from downtown Knoxville. It has thick forest similar to the Smokies, ponds and streams and some wildlife. I was quite surprised to see a wide variety of wild flowers including columbine a featured photo below. I have hiked a few miles in the Smokies just to photograph this flower.
I will be spending a lot of weekend mornings here. I will have to adjust my photography and think different and more creatively. There are no mountains, waterfalls or grand scenics I am used to photographing. Instead I will be photographing the small world like bugs, frogs and flowers. I will have to dig deep and look hard for something interesting. In time it will help me develop into a better photographer.
