This week, I had over 100 photos to choose from to narrow down for Weekly Winners. Adhering to my self-imposed 9 photo limit… here ya go! The first 8 photos are actually from last Sunday when my husband and I went to poke around CMA Fest, and then just went for a drive by Percy Priest lake. More details on the photos in the captions!
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to all the Dad’s out there!
Now, when you are done here, go check out Lotus (she’s HAWT) for more Weekly Winner participants!
Downtown Nashville Cumberland River panoramic. If the left side wasn't so dark, you'd be able to see the hundreds of people sitting at the Riverfront Stages for CMA Fest. Also of note, I did not use my panoramic setting on my camera for this. I freehanded it, and then had a program sew the photos together for me.
I really love this shot. The batman building and the sign for The District and a Live Music Venue photo. If I could somehow have magically gotten the Ryman Auditorium in here, too, I'd have gotten the perfect downtown Nashville shot. But, alas, geography had that going against me. (Note: Straight out of camera image.)
In general, I don't like street performers in downtown. Most of the time they aren't that great, and they are horning in on tips the bands (read: my husband at times) in the bars are working their butts off to get. So there's a little dislike there for me. But these guys? These guys were REALLY good and had a GREAT gimmick. I could so appreciate them and what they were doing. If more street performers were like these two, I'd never grumble!! (SOOC)
This was one of those shots that I was in the right place at the right time to get. This shot was used on"Nashvillest" this past week. (SOOC)
So my husband and I are strolling around on the Shelby Street footbridge when he strikes up a conversation with a guy wearing his college's baseball cap. So I wandered off unattended. I heard a plane going over downtown, looked up, snapped the shot and moved on... it wasn't until I downloaded my images that I realized it actually ended up being a REALLY cool shot, in my opinion. A happy accident! (SOOC)
First off, I have this weird obsession with this building and its fire escape. It's like I feel like there are some really cool shots to be taken there. Second, if you have a Droid phone, download FxCamera. I seriously love this app, and that's how I got this shot. I feel like I finally got a glimpse at the possibilities in photographing this building. (HTC Droid Incredible using FxCamera setting Toy Camera)
Percy Priest lake as the sun began to set. I actually liked the exact same shot I got with my phone a LITTLE better. But I like the dimensions of the shot I got with my camera better. So I went with the camera shot. (SOOC)
Percy Priest Lake. Sunset. Ducks. This is my desktop wallpaper. LOVE. (SOOC)
You'll probably recognize this from my new blog header. Lots of color editing done here. But. I still love this shot. A lot.
CMA Fest wrapped up three four days ago, and I think everyone has recovered. Or at least close to recovered. Nashville got a much needed shot in the arm economically, and country music fans got a much needed chance to meet their favorite stars. It was a win/win week.
Well. Except for the heat. And the lack of parking. But otherwise, it was great!
Music fans enjoy free shows at the Riverfront Stages
For me, this was the first year since moving to Nashville that I didn’t have to be down at CMA Fest, either to work or to see my husband play. So, while every day I intended to go downtown, every day something more pressing came up close to home. However, Sunday, I made it a priority to go see what this year’s CMA Fest had to offer.
I had heard the nightmare stories about parking being non-existent from friends, but by Sunday things had died down some. Parking was no problem, much to my delight. However, the heat was just as bad as I had heard it was.
I was born and raised in Texas. I can “take” the heat. However, despite drinking plenty of water and wearing a loose sundress, the heat did start to get to me after awhile. It made me shorten my time at CMA Fest dramatically, in fact.
This guy wanted to save souls. All he did was get on nerves.
However, here’s the thing I love about CMA Fest: people watching. Mostly, its watching the families that are out doing this big event together. On one corner, a man had a microphone preaching about how everyone there was going to go to hell, and how everyone there is a sinner for even being there! I briefly wanted to ask the man what he thought was so bad about families going out to an event together and enjoying an afternoon together? I could see no harm in it whatsoever! It was amazing to me to see so many teens and kids NOT buried in a video game.
My husband and I both mused, though, at one point after he had walked along the Riverfront, down Broadway to Bridgestone Arena, and then over to Shelby Street Bridge: for once it was pure country coming out of all the bars on Broadway… and on the big stages was… well… “Rockin’ Country” I guess you’d call it. In other words, music that was only called country because they brought a fiddle or a steel player along. Not because it was actually what we would define as country. But, hey, I learned a long time ago… the music business is my life. It doesn’t mean I can always make sense of it!
That being said, there is one thing I do understand: music fans love their music. And that was what it was all about, no matter what. A love of music and a chance to experience a very cool festival that happens only once a year.
Me and George Strait! haha!!
My husband and I went to one of our favorite “watering holes” to cool down after walking around for awhile. We’ve become regulars there, so we stopped to visit with the bartender for awhile. I asked him how the week had been, and he said simply, “Amazing.” He couldn’t get over how incredibly nice everyone had been all week, and they had definitely had a good week sales-wise!
“You hear horror stories all year about CMA Fest,” he said. “But I don’t know what that was all about. Everyone who came in this place was great. They all have great stories, and they’re all just so happy to be here. I’ve loved it!”
I love it, too, and I’m sorry I didn’t make it down for more of the events this year. A friend is talking about coming to CMA Fest next year, and I hope she does! It’ll give me an excellent excuse to go, too.
Yes it was incredibly hot. Like I briefly said, I cut my time downtown short due to the heat getting to me. And parking downtown is a pain even on a quiet weekend. But at the end of it all… CMA Fest is just a cool thing country music and Nashville does for its fans. I love that fact. I love this city. So, you know, I’m already looking forward to next year!
