More Main St.

As I stood talking to Roy Gullick in front of his building yesterday, I noticed two blue pipes sticking out of the sidewalk.  They looked so cute and totally out of place.  I have NO idea what they are for, but I think the buildings have basements along the river, so perhaps it was for ventilation????  Again, one of those things I've passed for years and not noticed.   I'm working with the best presentation for them, so here are two views....many others in the works.  

First is just a simple black and white conversion of the background to pop the blue.

Second has had quite a bit of processing including solarizing the background.

Feedback very welcome.

Another story

While enjoying the Artisphere art fair last weekend I noticed this sign on a building on Main St. that I have passed many, many times over the years.  Maybe the light was just right, but I saw something that made me want to go back and take some photos.  Today was the first clear morning we've had, so I slipped down there on my way to work.   As I set up my tripod, the business/building owner came out and we chatted about photography - he is another semi-professional - and the evolution of downtown Greenville.  This little building sits on one of the most prime pieces of real estate downtown, and he's proud to own it and not going anywhere in a hurry.
He had the sign painted 40 years ago, and it's the age and patina that make it so unique.  The sign painter did a wonderful job and time and the elements have done the rest.
This view has been played with...but that's why we have photoshop, right?

I'll be sharing a few more I took within 6' of this spot soon.

Long time gone

It's not that I'm not out taking pictures, just that I don't get around to posting them here or talking about them.  
We are having a spell of January warmth, and I felt inspired to drive into the mountains (well, maybe really big hills) to check out some waterfalls I'd read about.  One of them is on private land, and though the word was that the owners are fine with people coming to look, it was very, very difficult to find anyone who gave directions for finding it.   I thought I had some general directions, only to find more specific (and different) ones last night.

Scraps of directions in hand, the dog in the backseat and my camera ready we set out on our quest.

Some very luck family owns this waterfall in North Carolina. 

 My directions were good enough to get me there, and it was worth all the time and trouble.  Though the temperature in Greenville got close to 70 today, up at this waterfall there is still a lot of snow and ice.   I didn't explore as much as I would have if there had been less chance of slipping on icy rock.  I managed to break my tripod on a rock, and that was enough damage for one trip.

I will not publish this location, but if you want it, write to me and I'll pass it on.  

Wayne's Butterfly Garden

At last......a visit to my Garden from a Monarch butterfly!

Wayne's Butterfly Garden

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is a large butterfly appropriately named for the vertical black stripes on yellow wings.  It is a frequent visitor to butterfly gardens and feeds on the nectar of various flowers including butterfly bush, lilac, milkweed and cone flowers.  The caterpillars feed on the leaves of tulip poplar, wild cherry, and sweetbay.

Wayne's Butterfly Garden

The butterfly for today is the "Pearl Crescent", a small butterfly that is common throughout most of the U.S. and southern Canada.   Plant some asters if you want regular visits from Pearl Crescents as the leaves of asters are what the caterpillars feed upon.

The photographs appearing on Ali's blog are usually available for purchase at www.backroadsandaliways.com/.

Wayne's Butterfly Garden

This is Wayne's 2nd year with a butterfly garden, and it is amazing the number of interesting and beautiful butterflies that come to visit. He keeps adding new attractor plants and feeder plants for the caterpillars, and every day seems to see a different butterfly. Many are very colorful, some are not....and, not all are attracted to flowers. Some like to feed on organic decay and visit the compost pile...trying to get decent shots of those with a more pleasing background is not always easy.

He will be posting new butterflies and a description of each in the upcoming days.
You can see more of our work at  http://www.backroadsandaliways.com/

This is the "Question Mark" butterfly.

The Question Mark butterfly gets its name from the white (silver) question mark in the center of the hind wing underside. Question Marks feed on animal droppings, rotting fruit and at sap flows, and are apt to visit your garden if you place some fruit in a strategic location.

September 10 at 4:40pm · ·

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This is my 2nd year with a butterfly garden and it is amazing the number of interesting and beautiful butterflies that come to visit. I will post photos of my visitors over the next several days.