Last Thing Standing

“What we really are matters more than what other people think of us.” – Jawaharlal Nehru

I always enjoy taking walks out in nature with my camera. Even before I bought my first DSLR, I used to take my kids out while they were younger, and take photos of everything we see. I think my obsession with taking pictures is because I want to remember the moment. I don’t just want to remember, but I want to remember it well. I want to do more than just take random photos; I want to do it well. In order to do it well, I have to practice. I have people tell me often that they like my photos, and they don’t know how I do it. For me, it’s always practice. The more I do it, the better I get at it. In order to practice, I have to know what to practice at. That’s why I follow various photographers on social media. Many of them share how they take their photos, where they take, and sometimes share tips on how they pull off these great images. You more you know, the more you practice, the better you get.

I took these photos when I went on a walk a few weeks ago, while I was staying in Gatlinburg, Tennessee for the holidays. I was following a stream that ran along a very rough road, set up to repair the utility lines. While I was walking down the hill, I stumbled upon this old chimney. It looks like it is the last thing standing from a house that was destroyed years ago. I wonder what happened to the house that once stood here. From the looks of things, it looked like it burned down, but why did it? What caused it? Why did no one decide to rebuild around this old chimney? By the looks of things, this old chimney is not going anywhere anytime soon. This was just another random find that I saw while I was out and about.

Here are some other random finds I’ve stumbled upon over the years.