Shooting Companions

Project 15 - Day 62

No visit to the Music City is complete without a photo excursion with my good friend -k-. Originally we had visions of getting together on multiple days, exploring the city, cameras and tripods in hand, and coming away with a plethora of masterpieces.  Then the rains came down, the flood came up and our vision was scaled back to one day. To add insult to injury there was not a plethora of masterpieces pouring forth from my camera on this day. Not even one. This day was about catching up with my favorite shooting companion. After all a trip to Nashville without a photo shoot with -k- is like a day without sunshine.

We crammed as much into that one morning as we could starting at 7:15 a.m. with a jaunt around Radner Lake. (You can read all about Radner's history here in -k's- always well written blog. She also has many more photos of this beautiful sanctuary.) We were joined on our walk by -k's- friend and the morning was filled with ohhs and ahhs as the two got their first look at their beloved Radner following Mother Nature's fury.

I tagged along often lagging behind as I tried to envision this tranquil spot sans muddy water, deep gullies, mud slides and more downed trees than I could count. Radner is now on my list of places to revisit. I want to experience it once Mother Nature mends the tears in her landscape and fashions a ball gown from the tattered house dress she is now wearing.

Wildlife abounds at Radner. Below is one of the several deer we encountered on our walk. My lens was not long enough to produce anything of quality but I couldn't resist an attempt.

From Radner we stepped back in time with a visit to Fort Negley, a sad tribute to the Union Army's occupation of Nashville. I'm having a difficult time recalling the history I read on the signage placed strategically around the fort but that's why God created Google.

"The Union Army captured Nashville in 1862. The river, turnpikes, and railroads had spurred the growth of the city from its beginnings. The Union Army occupied the city to control these transportation routes. Almost overnight, Nashville was transformed into the Union Army’s major supply depot for the Western Theater of the war.

2,768 people built Negley. It was the largest of a group of forts built by the Union, and the largest inland masonry fort built during the Civil War. It was 600 feet long, 300 feet wide, and covered four acres of land. The workers lived in a contraband camp on the northeast side of the worksite, and were both free blacks and slaves who had been conscripted by the Union to serve as laborers. Between 600 and 800 died during the construction, and only 310 ever received pay."

Today the old fort lies in ruins on it's perch high above the city. I'm not certain many Nashvilians even know of it's existence.

We finished our shooting spree at Nashville's City Cemetery. I have a thing for old cemeteries. Seriously, I do. I love them. I love to wander through the grounds reading old grave stones. I love imagining the lives lived by the inhabitants. However, by the time we arrived at the graveyard the sun was high in the sky, my stomach was growling and my creativity was shot. I have little in the way of photos to share...but you guessed it, the City Cemetery is now on my list of places to revisit...in better light and hopefully in the same good company.

-k- and I ended our day with a meal at the lunch counter at Whole Foods in Green Hills. What a tasty treat that was. We rehashed the day's activity and made plans for our next outing...a week long workshop in Knoxville in October with two of our other BetterPhoto buddies. I have visions of multiple days of shooting and a plethora of masterpieces pouring forth from our cameras.