2012′s Best of My Best Image | Maternity: “Thoughts Aloft…” The Redux | Buck Bald, Tennessee

Ever see a sky so absolutely beautiful it makes you cry? I have…
Ever had an idea that turned out better than you expected…and then later you re-do it, and it’s even more amazing than the first? I have…
Ever captured an image than you didn’t know how powerful it would be until you saw it, finished, on your screen? I have…

May 2010 I shot a maternity image for some dear clients and friends after a brainstorm idea I had after rediscovering some very ooolllld fabric…but for a little girl, and thus pink that was used in the original.

A few months ago I was introduced to Buck Bald, and I knew then I’d have to re-create my masterpiece up there. Little did I know what God had in store.

We journeyed the almost hour drive on a gloomy day, and along the way we were seeing the most insane, amazing, breathtaking clouds….waves, dips, peaks, valleys, all in seamless and endless ripples and rows. (If you know me AT ALL you know how much I LOOOVE Clouds, so this had me almost as giddy as Snow!)

It started to sprinkle when we were almost there, but I urged them on….knowing somehow deep within that it’d be even better “up top”.

It started to pour as we crested the hill, then quickly slacked off. I hopped out to grab some pictures in the then lighter rain, and left the momma to be and my mother in the vehicle to keep warm…and dry!

After the rain picked up again my awe turned into the realization that my camera isn’t waterproof! Thus I headed back to the van to dry off and warm my red, freezing hands, and check the radar…it was rain all around. :/ And I prayed…again…for just even 10 minutes to get this view AND these clouds WITH my brainchild.

He heard my prayers….the rain soon left, the wicked cool clouds were still throwing down some ridiculousness, and the wind was just about right.

We literally hopped out of the van, climbed the stairs, and positioned just right with the wind. I didn’t get many “keepers” as one tail would fly and the other wouldn’t, or they’d both immediately flop, but this one…well…it was more than I could’ve hoped for!

So, here’s to the brave Gerri Le who went along with me on a COLD, windy, rainy, dreary day to let me re-create my own brand of “magic”, my mother, of course, who I couldn’t have done this without her help, but mostly to God…for the beautiful miracle of life…and for the insane beauty He gave that day to make THIS image possible….

And YES…the sky really did look this AMAZING!

www.rocktheshotforum.com

My Favorite Place | A Snowy Smokies Fall Color Cruise | Gatlinburg, TN

I never knew when God told me on Jan. 4, 2010, while facing going back to the same job I’d almost had a nervous break down doing 3+ years earlier, that I’d be taking this God given gift of Photography to full time status, just what He had in store for me.

Back Story: No really! Literally I was in the bathroom floor shaking and crying because I just.couldn’t.do.it anymore!  My sup had sent another employee to check on me, and then he approved me to go home early and take the weekend to think about if I could do Customer Care anymore.  Well I’d made up my mind that I couldn’t. I knew I physically couldn’t. Mentally couldn’t. Emotionally COULDN’T. And I’m a STRONG person who doesn’t let anyone know when I’m struggling because failure is NOT an option, but customer service beat me DOWN, and that job I promise you was and is hell.on.earth! Anyway, I get to my car and just let loose crying. Sobs of desperation because I had no clue what I was going to do but I knew on Monday there was no way I could step back in that place and be on those phones! Well, HE delivered me! My phone rang and it was HR telling me I’d been “promoted” and I’d start training…on Monday! PRAISE THE LORD!

Now, back to Jan. 4th, 2010. I sat there pondering about what to do.  I knew I couldn’t go back to doing what almost gave me a nervous breakdown, but there I was no other plan besides this voice, peace, and CALM that kept saying “Photography.  I’ve got this. I know the plans I have for you, just JUMP and I’ve got you!”  A few called me crazy (some of them still do) as what sane person just throws caution to the wind, leaving behind a severely nice pay package complete with 401k and amazing health insurance?  A true follower of Jesus that’s who! Think of what He called the disciples to do…and what they did!

I’m not saying I’m John, or Peter, or Paul, but you get my point. He says go and you have to go. And go I did. I lept head first into this passion, this drive, this art form of capturing LIFE, and left behind every thing secure and comfortable that I’d known.

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that heeding His calling to share His gift with the world would lead to so much angst, heartache, stress, sleeplessness, exhaustion, out right “I’m giving up” and “That’s it! I quit!” battles that owning my own business has led to.

Never in my wild imagination did I ever foresee just how much I’d have to work and how little I’d get paid! I mean I went from straight 8 hours 5 days a week for 40 hour work weeks (sometimes 50-60 depending on the OT, but that was rare for me!) to 16-18 sometimes 24 straight hour days. No OT, No double OT, but operating in the Red because that’s the “norm” for a new business in it’s first 3-5 years.

Never did I ever think that following God’s plan for my life would lead me to living my dream, and that dream at times sucking the LIFE right out of me! Those are things no one seems to tell you when you own your own business, or when you dive in head first to God’s plan.

The amazing part is though that even though it’s almost 3 years later, and if anything I’m MORE stressed out now given all I’ve learned and that’s led to what I still have to learn in order to get where I want to be, I KNOW without a shadow of doubt that this is right where He wants me to be. I’m moving along at the pace He wants me to be running, and in His perfect timing I’ll have all my dreams come true. In His perfect time all of the depravity, aching, suffering, tears, fits, stress, exhaustion, nerves, and down right HARD aspect of it all will be worth it. Worth every.single.bit.

This business has MY name on it. ME. I am BraskaJennea Photography. A name I am proud to carry, and, like my business, is unique and fits me.  I will not compare myself to other photographers, but only to the one I USED to be. I love that quote. I will not look back and long for what I know now as that will do me no good, but I will look back on those first images, and even ones from this year, and be ever so thankful that I’m not who I was when I first started. I will praise Him from whom ALL blessings flow…even if at times it seems like a curse or a burden I cannot bear.

So, I say that to say this. God knew way back then that there would come times when I would have to throw in the towel.  When I would just have too much on me, mostly because I am only OCD about producing the most perfect images I can, but also because I can’t afford to hire help so this really is a one woman show, and occasionally I would need to let go. To run away and hear Him speak. Let HIM calm my soul, quiet my weary spirit, and just SHOW me His wonderful works, and how HE makes all things new and beautiful in some of the most astounding, and simplest of ways.  He knew that my most favorite place is Gatlinburg, and THERE is where He would meet me, just where I was, and with just what I needed.

Gatlinburg. The second word that gets me all hyped up like a spider monkey on Mountain Dew. The first being “SNOW” of course. So, after 9 days on the road traveling literally all across Tennessee, and in to Little Rock, Arkansas for sessions, he woke me up bright and early on a Monday morning, completely spent and out right beaten…after only 4 hrs sleep no less, and off to Gatlinburg my mom and I went. I had no idea what lay before me…only this compulsion to go.

2 years ago I was blessed enough on a whim ride to the mountains by myself to see a rare site. Fall color with SNOW. I’ve wanted to see it again since then, and that day I’d hoped but wasn’t too optimistic. We drove up the scenic route bypassing Wears Valley and Pigeon Forge, but we missed getting to head up 441, a.k.a. Newfound Gap Road, by TEN minutes! TEN! To say I was upset was an understatement.  I KNEW what that meant….there was SNOW up there…snow I wasn’t getting to see

I conned mom in to staying the night, something she NEVER does…EVER, in hopes of getting to go up the next morning when they opened the road. Well, she gave in, but I never got to go up to my favorite spot in Gatlinburg…that trip And seeing some of the snow images from a few days after when the road did open up from where Hurricane Sandy had dumped almost 2 feet of snow up top on my favorite spot, and almost 3 feet on Mount Leconte, didn’t help.

BUT We did see one BREATHTAKING site…something I’ve only seen twice in my life, and something I hope I can see A LOT more of…. Fall Color coated in SNOW!  If you haven’t seen this site yourself, I suggest getting a 4WD vehicle and adding it to your bucket list.

I drove us up Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail where just a month before I’d shot some Senior pictures when it was all green and fresh. (You can see those Here.) Only my second time ever going up there…in alllll the trips I’ve made to my beloved GBurg and heard of this place I’d never been! I’m telling you I am so thankful my clients seem to hate studio photography as much as me so, they seek out wonderful and different places…places like Roaring Fork!

We got to to top of the trail right before you head back down and we slid a few times in the mud, slush mixture (hence why I said get a 4WD just in case!), and the bright hues popping under sheaths of white really struck me! No matter how bright or dirty we think our sins may be to the world Jesus’ blood comes through, when we ask Him to come sweep over our soul like the flakes on the leaves, and COVERS that bright spot in a fresh, new, PURE, and unstained coat. WOW!  What a parallel!  I didn’t personally need that reminder then, as I’ve always loved that aspect of the snow.  Truthfully that’s a large part of why I always pray for a LOT of it…so it’ll cover everything in pure, beauty, and hopefully remind someone of that old song “to thee whose blood can cleanse each spot, Oh Lamb of God I come…I come!”

So, I pray that whoever I was to capture those images for that you let Him cover those seemingly too bright stains/sins with His grace and mercy. Whoever sees these will know that He loves us all soooo much that He shed his pure blood to make our sinful stains as white as the fallen snow!

 

After that we headed to eat, and then back to our hotel where I stayed awake most of the night watching for the snow to start falling…but it never did! The weather prediction kept pushing it back, and back, until it said 4 am…and I wasn’t staying up til 4am on my mini-cation.

We rose early the next morning to NO snow and 441 was still closed. So, we had breakfast, and then headed to take the Sky Tram up to Ski Mountain. Also known as Ober! Mom had never been, and I’d never been in the fall. The site that was about to unfold before me…well…I just stood there in amazement! I’d never seen snow look more beautiful! I’d seen it down low, looking UP at the trees, but looking down and watching as BRIGHT, VIVID, Fall leaves changed over to “sugar” coated scenes straight out of a Kincaid painting just made me silent. I wished there weren’t windows in the way! You know I’d have been the one crazy person who leaned out just a little too far to grab a picture, and over I’d have went…but as long as someone saved the memory card I’d have considered it a WIN

We came back down and I immediately didn’t want to leave. That feeling of dread always comes over me when it’s time to depart my beloved GBurg. We had to though. I had to. I had (and still have) sessions to work on and Christmas props to work on!  We took the long, scenic way out again and decided a stop in Cades Cave was a necessity as well.  God wasn’t done granting me surprises either.

I’d NEVER seen, nor shot obviously, a bear!  Hundreds of trips to those Great Smoky Mountains, and never ONE bear shot! I had seen one a few weeks earlier on the Senior shoot, but I was driving and we were in a rush to not lose light so I didn’t get to shoot it. BUT this day I would.  I’d just uttered the words “I’m goin’ on a bear hunt…gonna shoot a bear” when up ahead near the beginning of the loop a bunch of people are stopped, out of their cars and looking in a row of trees. I ask the gentleman walking what it was and he pointed out a BEAR…IN a tree!  No big deal right? Bear in tree! BUT this little fellas WAAAAY up there, looking a bit frantic and “dancing” around on branches that I still don’t know how they held him!

So, I parked, hopped a fence, darted horse apples in a muddy field…in my furry boots no doubt, and joined the bear-pointer-out man just outside a double row of fences that separated us and the “high-wire” bear. We kept an eye on the trees for momma bear, but thankfully she never showed! I had my telephoto 70-200 lens but that wasn’t close enough to get this death defying black bear. SOOOO thanks to the zoom/crop feature in my editing software I got a closer glimpse of him. Annnd I LOVE it!  One day maybe I’ll get a close up, and live to show it, but for now I hope you all enjoy “high-wire” or “death defying” bear.

I came home late that evening and went to bed. I had a wonderful, deep sleep like I hadn’t had in so long. God showed out during my little 36 hour adventure, and even though it seemed too short I felt more relaxed and refreshed than I have in too long. He knew EXACTLY what I needed and just when I needed it.

If you’re still hanging in here after this mini-novel I promise you there’s photos TONS! I sincerely hope you love them, and add Gatlinburg’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP for short) in the Fall WITH Snow to your bucket list. There’s really nothing quite like it!

P.S. Any of these images are available for purchase in print, gallery block, or canvas! Just sayin’

“High Wire” Bear

The sunset when we were almost home. The way the clouds just dip like looking under the water just mystifies me!

One Year Later | April 27, 2011 Tornado Outbreak | Cleveland, TN

One year ago today I awoke at a friend’s house off Dalton Pike in Cleveland, TN…. there’d already been one tornado warning that morning that I slept through so I hopped up and went downstairs to turn on the weather after Tiffany called…

To my shock the weather radar showed BLACK for the worst parts of the storms that were before us….BLACK! I’m a weather frrrrrrrreak but I’d never seen the radar go black, a little white here & there and of course red and bright fuchsia, but never black.  I had a feeling in my gut it’d be worse than anything we’d seen in a while around here…ever for most of us, and true to that gut I watched as not one but TWO twisters rode down the almost exact same path at 2 different times that day.  I was glued to the sky with my camera, Connie, shooting away, but yet I had a peace that this place, that we would be ok. At one point we went outside to the hill by their house and its was BEAUTIFUL over us, but right across the ridge the 2nd one came down from the Appison area…maybe 2-3 miles away!

The power went out later in the evening…in a neighborhood with buried power lines…so I knew something wasn’t right. My friend Jason grabbed my camera as the last one went through less than a mile away and made me join he and his wife Tiffany down in the basement. There we waited for what seemed like ever glued to the police scanner. I won’t lie, if I’d have had a driver I’d probably been out shooting.  Never had I been so close to a real live twister, and those of you who know me know I’m just crazy enough to want to chase and shoot a twister.

The all clear was given later that night, and somewhere around midnight we set out to the car to charge our dying phones.  Our lifelines to the world and what was going on in the midst of a blackout.  How do people with no cell phone or police scanner know what’s going on when a tornado comes through?  Living in Middle TN for a few years I grew accustomed to warning sirens, but suddenly it felt like we were in the movie Twister… “They had no warning!” rang through, and I was saddened at this thought. The thought of people just out enjoying the beautiful part of the day that I’d witnessed earlier and BAM…out of nowhere a tornado is upon them. No warning.

I was itching to drive around…in the pitch.black. and after a bit of Jason and I convincing Tiffany to come the three of us set out to see if we could offer any help of any kind and to see what all the big deal was…I mean everything was fine at their house afterall…so why was the power out??

About a mile down the road our answer became clear. We were driving OVER the power lines…some shredded and some whole.  They’d shut down the power grid was the only logical thought with so many down and crossing roadways. The windows were down and in a usually very traveled area it was eerily quiet.  We got closer to the Wal-Mart intersection but were stopped in our tracks as the gas station/market that I’d passed so many times was GONE!  Nothing left but ONE small part of the drink cooler wall. The police were already there and had it roped off, I think I remember Jason either getting out or just asking a fellow officer (I was too distracted taking in all the devastation to really pay full attention) and there was something said about a missing employee…

It wasn’t until the next day that I heard the employee was found just across the road where we had stopped…in a tree.  I don’t think I’ve ever been so thankful for darkness as I was right then because I was scowering those splintered trees in the dark with just a bit of the backlighting from the lights they’d setup at the former gas station.  I was ever so thankful I didn’t get to see what I imagine would’ve been a scene from Bones.

We drove back to their house, raised the windows as it was rather warm for April, and tried to doze off.  The thought of the pleas from the weather and news feeds on my phone asking for help and lights to go free people trapped in their homes haunted me!  WHY hadn’t I brought real shoes? Why didn’t I have my trusty Maglite, Maggie, and gloves? There was nothing I could do as I was completely not equipped….needles to say I didn’t sleep well at all.

We woke up early at about 6am to take Tiffany to work, I of course wanted to go out and see more and see if there was ANYTHING I could do to help…flip flops and all. The sunrise was BEAUTIFUL and as I stood there taking shots of it on their back deck looking towards Big Frog Mountain I cried. It was simply breathtaking!  A bright ray of sunshine broke through the clouds and I knew that it was a message from God that even after the worst storms, whether in life or actual storms, there’s always unimaginable beauty if you’ll just hold on. That message was cemented in my mind later that afternoon as well.  Thank the Lord I had my camera!  I didn’t have any real tools to help, but I had my camera.

We took her to work, and then the rescue ranger that I think is in every man, and me LOL, took over in him so we started to drive around to check on people from their Church, etc… that he knew lived in the path.  Downed trees made passing some roads impossible, but Jason thankfully knows back roads.  We received a call on the way to his pastor’s house that one of our mutual friend’s mom’s house had been hit.  We made our way slowly to her house and what lay before me was nothing short of mind-blowing. We couldn’t even pass on the road so we parked on the side and walked in. Randolph Samples road was a disaster zone.

He charged on ahead but I had to take every careful step as the Old Navy flip-flops I was sporting were not conducive to the splinters, debris, and nails that were scattered about. I was so focused on not stepping on debris that it took me a minute to register what I was standing beside…. a flower bed that had a power pole broken down towards the base and splintered… and then a rose-bush…with it’s petals still intact.  I knelt in front of the rose-bush to get the perspective I wanted of the total destruction of homes, shattered trees, and debris everywhere…while these FRAIL rose petals remained perfectly intact!  “How does this happen?” was all I remember thinking as I shot. And the answer came…”Because I wanted you to see this!  I want you to know that no matter how rough you think it is or how much you think you just can’t bear… I say you can.  If this rose-bush can survive close to 200+ mph winds, there’s nothing you can’t do with me by your side.”

I journeyed on to our friend’s house and when I arrived there were a few of her family there already helping sort through her salvageable items.  Her house was pushed back 15-20 feet off its foundation, spun around, and the wall where she would’ve been sleeping if not for the persistence of her daughter was collapsed, leaning in.  Never have I been so close to such devastation and heartbreak, but I just kept thinking…it could’ve been so much worse!

We headed back to Jason and Tiffany’s to get water, gloves, etc… and I made sandwiches for the crew. Nevermind eating…I’d forgotten all about it. We headed back to the house and I was amazed at the number of people who were now out wielding chainsaws and cutting down trees to clear roads or pitching in to help total strangers sort their stuff or board up holes, clean up, etc… Truly a volunteer spirit! It was that morning that I got Tennessee Twister, my kitten, now cat who recently had my four grand-kittens. She served to be a fun distraction for some who seemed a bit overwhelmed.

That afternoon I looked up and the most AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL sky was appearing before us!  The remaining dark clouds were clearing and what was left was the brightest blue with the largest, puffiest perfect white clouds I think I’ve ever seen!  It was perfect.  As I spoke of earlier it was another testament to how even after the most horrible storm there’s unparalleled beauty on the other side!

We worked well in to the afternoon, and finally exhausted and done gathering what could be salvaged we headed home. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I know I was forever changed.  I experienced a peace that I’ve never known before the day before when the storms came through. I experienced the amazing resolve of those who survived that life will go on, and I experienced a volunteer spirit that makes me proud to this day to be a Tennessean…though I’m still not a Vols football fan

So, on this the one year anniversary I urge you all to look for the beauty that is promised to come and not at the immediate problem and hardship before you. “Hold on…it gets better” isn’t just a bullying saying…it goes for everything in this life.  There are reminders everywhere…if we just take the time to see them.

It was rather clear right over over us....

That's part of one of the earlier tornadoes that went through back there... so crazy!

More lightning!

 

One of the 1st tornadoes that came thru was just on the otherside of those trees!

I love this photo! I love lightning!

Now that's a HOT streak of Lightning! Just beautiful, raw, power!

The morning after the worst storms most of us have ever seen....came a beautiful sun rise with glorious rays shooting through the crack in the clouds! That'll preach!

See...I told you...what a sunrise!

Old Glory weathered the storm! The house behind her was leveled, but the old girl looked good as new...just displaced!

How this frail Rose Bush remained after the tornadoes that ripped through the Samples/Bates Pike area of Cleveland, TN is beyond my comprehension! Debris and shredded trees and a broken splintered power pole just feet from it on any side...and yet...it remained! I took it as a sign from Jesus in Heaven above that life will continue, we will grow stronger, and there's always beauty after the storm...because if a rose bush can make it...so can we!!!

I don't know what it is about this particular image but it captivates me still!

Just darkly beautiful isn't it!?

I loved the way the sign seemed to be a message from God...you just had to stop and wonder at the things that were left and the things that were destroyed....His power and might know no bounds...nor does the beauty He gives us even in the most heartbreaking and tear jerking situations! I just stood here and cried looking at the sky and the devastation around!

 

For them I have no idea what it may conjure up, or what they were thinking about as mother and daughter sat down to rest on the large downed tree that now resides almost where the front of the house used to sit before a tornado shoved it back 15-20 feet, spun it around and then smashed it, but for me it makes me very thankful for a daughter's persistence on getting her mother to come stay with them, thankful for the clearing weather the day we went to help her, and thankful that life will go on! I believe it's one of the most powerful images I've EVER been able to capture, and I could talk about the clouds, the positioning, the angles, etc... but I will just let it be...a testament to God's protection in a devastating natural disaster....that could have been worse!

A new spin on an old classic | BraskaJennea Artwork

It’s no surprise to most of you who know me that I get bored….EASILY!  My mind bounces around from all of the things I have to do, and usually don’t get done, while I’m working and I get distracted…”SQUIRREL!” Where was I?  Oh yeah… distractions.  Today I’m editing like crazy when it hits me…boredom!  Now every photographer’s creative process is extremely different, but this photographer cannot produce my best work when I hit an episode of “boredom”.  I’ve tried to just “plow through” it before, but I’m never happy with the results I produce and wind up going back through later and redoing them.  Just.can’t.do it!

Today I needed some “photo-spiration” and my mind went back to a series of images I captured last March in Memphis while I was shooting a friend’s wedding there. We’d headed back to the hotel we were all staying at the night before the big day to ready for the rehearsal dinner when my favorite vine caught my eye… Wisteria!!!!  It.was.EV.RY.WHERE!  I was in Heaven! My dream home will one day include an arbor heavily adorned with nothing but Wisteria vines!

I grabbed my camera, darted some traffic, and stood in the middle of the road to grab this, my favorite, image.  I pulled up the image a few hours ago in my boredom funk and decided to FINALLY after almost a year…EDIT it!  Just.what.I.needed.  I don’t believe in coincidences, as you may also know, so I know undoubtedly God had me pull this image up so the next phrase that entered my mind to describe it could hit me….with an OOMPH of an illustration to back it!

We’ve all heard that old saying “Bloom where you’re planted”.  Well… in the midst of downtown Memphis is an old brick silo or cistern with a concrete one beside it that are COVERED with beautiful, bright purple, wisteria blossoms!  They are what looks to be some part of an old farm type setup that’s long been abandoned, but yet wisteria vines abound!  Thus I came to the idea of “Don’t just bloom where you’re planted…FLOURISH!”  I want to FLOURISH…just like those gorgeous blooms… in the midst of an area where it seems I’m forgotten and get extremely run down and just ignored, I want to make people look up and go “WOW!  Now that’s amazing!  Has she been there the whole time?  How did I miss her?”

I encourage you all to the same!  Don’t just bloom where God plants you…FLOURISH!!!! With God ALL THINGS are possible!

Yes...You can purcahse it for your home, office, Church, friends, family, etc... contact me from my website... Please don't steal! XOXO-"B"

Help a lady out? | Gatlinburg, TN Sunset

Hey Hey to all of my faithful blog readers!  Today I’m asking for a teeeeeeenie weenie, itsy bitsy, favor! :0)

I am in a Photo contest!  Normally I don’t enter contests that require “likes” as I don’t want to bother folks, it’s not really about the skill or artistic-ness of the image just more of a popularity contest, BUT I REAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLY want to win this one!  It is, afterall, for one of my favorite places in the whole wide world….GATLINBURG!!!!  I have numerous images of that gorgeous place, and the mountains that have stolen my heart (See some of them HERE and HERE), but for this contest I could only choose ONE!  Such a hard decision but I opted for the most recent sunset that took my breath away and literally brought tears to my eyes as it was just.that.magical!!! You can click the image below this or CLICK HERE to be taken to the Cabins for You 2012 Facebook Photo Contest Album where my image is housed.  I need at least 500 “likes” by Feb. 20th…this is my goal and the # to beat right now!

IT’S SO EASY!  Just click the “LIKE” option under the photo!  I cannot thank you enough for your support in helping hopefully win this contest!!!  It’d be the BEST birthday present EVER!!!  So….without further adieu I give you ” Glorious Gatlinburg Snowy Sunset”

Click the image to go "LIKE"/vote for my image And PLEASE share with your friends to ask them to "vote" for it too!

NOW!  That you’ve “liked” the contest image above here are some more images I captured that day, and the story behind these astounding images!!!

It was a rather depressing feeling that lead me to my favorite spot in all of Tennessee. A solo drive, just me and my camera “Connie” ridin’ shotgun. I pulled in to the park up route 441 to New Found Gap overlook at the TN/NC State line. It’s cool to me because for a few moments I am in two places at once! Ha!

I got up to the line, parked, and because there’s signal there checked my Twitter feed to find that apparently they’d just closed the park a few minutes after I entered it! LUCKY! There were clouds looming that were dropping snow on us who were still there, many of which were having snowball fights or making snow angels in the few inches that hadn’t melted yet.

I stood there, freezing, as I was vastly unprepared for the temp drop on this last minute venture, and snapped a few images in the freshly falling snow. Nothing too remarkable. The ranger came through and was urging everyone down, from what I gathered as he never spoke to me, but the families quit playing and loaded up.

I started to head down the mountain, very refreshed and prayed up, which is usually what I go up there to do, and noticed to my left at one of the first overlooks after heading back down to Gatlinburg that the clouds were starting part…I saw PINK and BLUE! I pulled over and what unfolded before me was one of the, actually I’ll go so far as to say THE most, GLORIOUSLY beautiful sunsets I’ve EVER witnessed.

I grabbed my trusty partner in crime and started shooting. The changing sky seemed like the sun was melting away the clouds and replaced the gloomy cold with a bright warm “cotton candy” sunset! A message just for me as I was the only one around…a message I desperately needed reminding! I won’t disclose how many images I took over the brief moments I was stopped but needless to say I don’t have time to edit them ALL!

The few that I’ve gotten sorted to so far however take me back! And after these past few days of satan just attacking me I needed reminding again…reminding that through the bitter cold, the dreary, gloomy, ugly darkness….there is ALWAYS a beautiful, bright, warm sunset coming if we can just wait it out! So, here I am…waiting it out…because with a sunset like this that took my breath away and brought tears to my eyes I know AMAZING things are on the horizon!

Fire on the Mountain!

I love this tiny little town carved out in the middle of the mountains!! Gatlinburg!

I love the sky and the tree to the right. Perfect ending to a beautiful day!