There's a lot of reason for celebration today as it marks the last day of Advent and the first day of Hanukkah. This photograph was taken in our dining room as we lit the first candle of Advent four weeks ago.
Merry Christmas (Eve) and Happy Hanukkah to you and your family!
This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.
Romare Beardon Park in Uptown Charlotte is a really nice green oasis in the middle of the city. It's currently hosting Charlotte's Christmas Village in the upper park. The lower park is a wide open field with some interesting interactive music and art installations. Here, the retaining wall lights are cycling red and green for Christmas.
This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.
If you remember my photo from two days ago, Christmas Bokeh, I promised that I would post the same photograph actually in focus. It's sort of hard to believe it's the same subject. The subject, by the way, is the stage for my son's first grade Christmas pageant. Just a little photo to keep everybody in the holiday spirit!
This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.
The Charlotte Christmas Market is open through Christmas Eve. Pick up a Black Blaze from Blue Blaze Brewing and stroll through the village.
This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.
I'm going to credit this abstract photograph to Bob Ross, who always said there are no mistakes, just happy little accidents. This is what happens when you take a photograph of a Christmas Pageant stage without first focusing.
Sony is quite proud of their rounded lens blade design that results in smooth, round bokeh — rather than the octagonal bokeh of most lenses — and this is a pretty good example of it. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, bokeh is simply the blur that you see in the background of photographs that are captured with a shallow depth of field. In general, the smoother the bokeh, the more visually appealing that extra level of depth seems. In this case, you can see that despite being completely out of focus, there's still a certain depth to it.
It's not going to win any "major awards" and finally put that leg lamp in our front window but it was a neat example of a happy little accident. I will post the in-focus photograph on Thursday so you can compare the difference.
This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300 and the Sony 18-105 "G" Series lens, which I wholeheartedly recommend.
This giant pile of rocks looms over a road in a half-completed neighborhood on Beech Mountain. I'd love to know the story behind them. They seem wholly-unnatural and quite precarious. I can't fathom this is an act of nature but it would have been a pretty risky proposition to stack these giant stones like this, too. And at the top of the neighborhood, they seem ready to break free and tumble down into the homes below at any time.
This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.
Based on the weather forecast in Charlotte, today is a perfect day for some Sunday Funday action at Blue Blaze Brewing! If you haven't visited Charlotte's only West-End brewery, do yourself a favor and stop by for a tasting today!
This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.
The cold always seems a little more bearable to me when I think that somewhere in the world, there's a beach like this where a couple of people are out enjoying the warm weather on a little Hobie Cat out in the great, big ocean.
This particular beach is Playa Mujeres, just outside of Cancún. If you look carefully on the horizon, you can make out Isla Mujeres as well. So, if you've got the winter blues already, just think about these guys on this tiny little boat and then book a winter getaway to the islands.
This photograph was captured with a DJI Phantom 3 Professional drone.
Biltmore Estate is the largest privately-owned home in the USA. It was the Southern retreat for George Vanderbilt and his friends. It's one of the most ostentatious displays of wealth you have ever seen but it sure is amazing. It has 250 rooms, with 34 bedrooms and 43 bathrooms. It took 1,000 workers to built and took six years, from 1889-1895. It has an indoor swimming pool, bowling alley and it's own electrical grid, hot water and central heat.
This place puts Jay Gatsby to shame. At some point, the cost of maintaining the home was greater than the inheritance of George Vanderbilt's heirs. To their credit, rather than letting it fall into disrepair like so many European castles, the Vanderbilts put together a plan to turn it into the most beautiful estate destination in America, with two hotels, a village and a winery that sells 2 million bottles of wine a year. If you are ever in the Asheville area, it is definitely worth a visit.
This photograph was captured with a DJI Phantom 3 Professional drone.
We camped next to the team behind Anything Scout at Overland Expo East. They're a great group of people making tremendous vehicles. This beast was proudly on display by one of their happy customers. This perfectly-restored scout body sits atop a highly-upgraded current-generation Jeep JK Unlimited frame. Under the hood is a fire-breathing 500+ horsepower, supercharged Cadillac CTS-V engine! Madness! And it's perfect!
If your Icon FJ is starting to feel a bit pedestrian, it's time to give the guys at Anything Scout a call!
This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.