On Saturday, I decided to get outdoors and go on a couple of adventures. By mid-afternoon, I found myself at Okhissa Lake in Franklin County. It's a new 1,100 acre lake that rests in the Homochitto National Forest. The lake property is still being developed, but most of the access points are available. During its' planning stages, the lake was sanctioned by Bill Dance as a "Bill Dance Signature Lake". If you're not familiar with Bill Dance, he is a retired tournament angler bass fisherman and has hosted many shows. See http://www.billdanceoutdoors.com. Here is an Autumn shot at the lake, but I expect to go back for more soon. Check the gallery!

I was headed north towards Wesson, MS on US Highway 51 to watch junior high and high school basketball games. After concluding the day visiting Red Bluffs in southern Lawrence/Marion county, I thought for sure the day was over since I was already late for game one. Anyway, When I approached the lake between Brookhaven and Wesson, I looked to the left and WHOA! -- I said... a great photo opportunity. Although I just can't seem to recall the actual name of the lake, it is well known as "Smith Lake"; a private lake where my dad also has key access to it.... hmm... ideas rolling now.

It's near peak Autumn here in southwest Mississippi and I just happened to catch some fishermen in a boat on the still waters. While standing on the side of the road from the bridge and being careful of cars crossing by, I was able to capture the still photo of a seasonal change on the lake. Many cars passed and many horns blew, "Hey that's Patrick!...what his he doing?" --- Well, here is what I was doing!

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Brookhaven is a small town in Mississippi along the I-55 corridor. Often mistaken for Brookhaven, New York, it was said that the original name was taken after that of New York. Brookhaven has rich history, which includes one of the first women-only colleges in the United States that is now the state's arts school; Whitworth College -- Mississippi School of the Arts. Brookhaven is enriched by historic architecture which includes the area plantation and antebellum homes. With a new quest for photographic opportunities, I toured downtown a couple of nights ago at approximately 11:30pm to capture some neat lighting effects of the downtown area. After reviewing the photos of a law office and the old train depot, I then realized that maybe I should come out and shoot some more! So, expect the album to grow over time! See photos in full view.

When the decision was made to utilize two special photos in the new church directory, it was never dreamed that the directory would turn out to be such an awesome work of art. The Johnson Grove Church of Christ--Bogue Chitto, MS, the congregation that I attend, decided to use the photos as a seasonal change for the front and back cover of the new directory. The last pictoral directory was printed in 1996. On the front cover of the new directory, the sunset photo with rainbow was used. This provided a great display for the inside contents. The photo was taken while I was enroute to a girls softball game.

On the back cover of the new directory, an exclusive photo of the church during a Winter snow was used. The photo, taken in 2008, highlights the front of the building with the fallen snow untouched. I am very proud to have these two original and exclusive photos as part of the Church membership directory.

My Fall Break trip in Gatlinburg, Tennessee yielded some great Autumn sightings. Fall colors filled the mountainsides of the national park from every angle. Truly, I think it's amazing to see the colors change at such a dramatic level from the highest peak to the lowest valley. During my first visit to Cades Cove of the trip, I took Parson's Brach road which is an old one-way mountain road that trails 8 miles through thick forest. The '04 Mountaineer made its' trek through the mountain terrain in All-Wheel-Drive. A few shots were taken of the canopy forest colors. Clingman's Dome was also a spectacular sight. Every color of Autumn stretched across the national park. Bears weren't so plentiful this time as I only seen one cub in a tree that caused a 1.5 mile traffic jam on the parkway. Otherwise, over 50 deer were seen feeding in Cades Cove during the morning and evening hours.

The ride to Cherokee, North Carolina was enchanting. Almost imediately did the leaf colors change when passing Newfound Gap. I guess there aren't as many Spruce trees in that direction??.. I was able to capture several streams with water flowing and Autumn colors in the background. Check out the addional photos in the gallery http://glisteninglight.com/gallery

The 3-Tier Lilypad photo, taken in 2008, now rests quietly in the hallway of our residence. With a simple wooden frame with an 11x14 mat, the photo brings life to the newly painted home interior, under the artist spotlight.

Click here to see the original photo in our Glistening Light Gallery.  This photo will be available soon for prints from our gallery.

So, it's late now and I'm just getting back from helping to shoot this WiLd video with our church youth group. Labor Day is tomorrow, so everything's cool! Well, the plans have been activated and I'm officially reserved to be in Gatlinburg, Tennessee during our school district's fall break on October 7th through the 11th. I'm hoping to get some foliage shots in the upper elevations of the smoky mountains, but we'll see. Cades Cove will always be the hotspot, though. I'm ready to be there and in the cozy single hotel bedroom. Certainly I'll be wearing my Columbia jacket and possibly the ski jacket when I make the trip to Clingman's Dome ha..

I'll be trying out the new camera! It's a Canon Rebel T1i 15 megapixel with HD video. I've got a load of attachments and stuff, so it will be a great shooting experience. So, Fall Break + Smoky Mountains + 15 megapixel camera = GREAT ADVENTURE!!

So, as a freelance photographer, it's a great idea to have a web site showcasing your work. Of course you could hire some off-the-wall brand company to create a 2-page site with a bunch of photos, but since one of my primary jobs for the school district is designing and maintaining the web site, I thought it would be a great idea to build my own!

Consequence 1. - You'll stay up really late and get no sleep.

Consequence 2. - You'll make tons of changes, because you won't like it the first time and will contribute to no sleep.

Consequence 3. - You'll go along and something will break, all because you made tons of changes, which will continue to contribute to no sleep.

Wow, all of that? Quite frankly, yes. It's a lot of hard work; more than I realized it would be. It will pay off, though, because then I know I will have accomplished a great thing. So, as you continue to browse around the site, I'm sure you'll notice a few broken links or two, but it's all a work in progress.

This photo has become one of my most prized possessions. It happened one evening when I was on the way to a high school girl's softball game. As I crossed an intersection, this view caught my immediate attention. Before long, I was eagerly taking photos on the side of the road while many passing the same route were thinking I was crazy for roaming the roadside with a Canon Digital. It isn't every day that you catch such a magnificent shot like this. The evening sunlight was gleaming upon the doorsteps of the church while a powerful rainbow prevailed over the bluish-gray sky; all after a storm. At that very moment I thought, God will never break his promises. Unfortunately, photos will never provide justice.

My intentions for this photo are unknown at this time, although a few ideas are churning. The outcome, whatever the case may be, will be exceedingly great.

Photo taken with Canon EOS Rebel XSi, 18-55mm, in April, 2008