Scott Fillmer » tree

Massive Fog Bank Settles over Our Auburn Trees

Scott Fillmer — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 02:12:00 +0000

Every year as the seasons change this tree puts on a different face. I’m guessing I have taken 100′s of photos of this one particular tree, and every shot looks different. Today we had a fog-bank cloud descend over the property making visibility a few hundred feet or so giving me this shot. The weather this year just seems freaky, like having 75*F and fog on December 6th, but in a few days it’s supposed to be below freezing. Oh well, that’s the weather in the south.

I know I post random photos on here from time to time but each individual photo I pull out of a shoot is part of a bigger set, and next year, I am actually going to do something I have wanted to do for the better part of 15+ years, and that’s Project 365 as it is so called now. Project 365 is something I will post about more later, but basically that is a project that refers to taking and posting one photo a day for 365 days. I know, sounds simple. Ever tried it? Maybe 2012 will be the year.

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Fall Storms Roll Through Auburn University Today :: Photos

Scott Fillmer — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 22:04:53 +0000

It was a dreary cloudy day in Auburn today, but almost 80*F in the middle of November, until this really fast moving storm system sort of caught everyone saying “what just happened?” These storms have now moved east doing about the same damage as they head towards the east coast. We didn’t have any damage at our place but there was pretty significant damage all around Auburn in the form of downed trees and power lines, some turned over cars, and apparently some damage to Auburn High School and Haley Center on campus. We are thrilled to hear that, so far, there haven’t been any injuries associated with the storm.

The only reason Deb and I happened to be on campus at lunch time today was to get her out of the house for a quick lunch in Foy Hall where they have one of her favorite places to eat. Once the sirens started going off on campus (see a really splotchy video here) everyone headed for the hallways and campus became like a ghost town. It’s just part of living down here in the south, glad no one was hurt. I did however get some photos while we were walking/driving around trying to get home (all taken with my cell phone here). Stormy weather always makes for such great lighting conditions, even if it is just on your cell phone.

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Alabama Devastated by Storms This Week :: Friday Feet

Scott Fillmer — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 03:13:59 +0000

This week was one that won’t be forgotten any time soon in the state of Alabama, especially not in Tuscaloosa, Birmingham or Dadeville, but I think in many ways the storms took so us by surprise. At the moment there are at least 320 people dead from all the related storms and tornadoes and the news just seems to just keep coming even days after the storms have passed. It took about 24-48 hours for people around here to even realize what had happened but the videos from Tuscaloosa and Birmingham are just incredible. The Big Picture has a few images from the storm at Tornadoes kill over 200, and they are bound to have more soon. Some of those photo really are worth at least a thousand words.

I am reminded that even among all the damage, the flowers still blooms, the plants still grown, and God is in charge, even if we like to think we really are. A man at a gas station tonight was showing me photos of his cousins mobile home that took a direct hit from a tornado in Dadeville and there was nothing but an empty spot on the ground with a mailbox. He made the remark to me that “what would have taken months to clear by bulldozer a storm did in 30 seconds”. Yes, the power of man is no match for the power of nature.

I took these shots today on my iPhone as I walked around our property. While we did have a tree or two go down we were basically untouched by any of the storm damage and wild flowers were blooming and corn was growing in the fields. Such an amazing contrast for just 30-40 miles away from here. Our church is taking a collection up on Sunday to deliver to Tuscaloosa, if you are in the Auburn area and would like more information please visit Tornado // Disaster // Relief. All of the photos above were taken with my iPhone today except for the one of the rain, which was taken the day all the storms hit as we were driving back from Columbus, GA. I almost didn’t make it this Friday but with 90 minutes left in the day, this is my Friday Feet post. Have a good weekend everyone.

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Dogwood Blooms Covering Spring in Auburn :: Photos

Scott Fillmer — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 15:18:39 +0000

Dogwoods are finally blooming over at our house, must mean we have about 2 days left of Spring before the brutal summer heat shows up. Either way the Dogwood blooms this year have been incredible all over Auburn and the surrounding area. I took these particular shots this morning while there was still a little fog hanging around, which made for some nice soft colors.

Hope everyone is enjoying the Spring colors (at least if you are down in the south where it’s been warm). Even though every single year our Dogwood blooms right around this time the beauty always amazes me, kind of like watching a sunrise that only comes up once a year, at the end of March.

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Dogwood Tree in Ice Storm

Tumble — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 01:42:21 +0000

Everything in Auburn is frozen and covered in ice but I think this was just so everyone could take the day off for the BCS game in Glendale. Only a few hours left before Auburn and Oregon go at it.

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Memorial Day Flag Flying from Auburn Alabama

Scott Fillmer — Mon, 31 May 2010 13:30:58 +0000

I am glad we still celebrate Memorial Day in this country. Somehow it seems that as the political correctness of our culture takes over everything we end up loosing an understanding of what made this country great in the first place. It sickens me to see stories like the one of the Iraq veteran who displayed the American flag in his apartment window and was told to take it down or face eviction due to the fact that the flag is offensive to some of their residents.

Charlie Price of Wisconsin served 8 years for his country in Iraq and Kosovo to find that he isn’t even allowed to fly the flag he fought for in his own window. The couple is now fighting to amend the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 to include renters, and I hope they are successful. Sometimes it seems that you are no longer aloud to hold an opinion in this country because it might offend someone. Who are these idiots who have now decided that we need to be a country of brown plain-jane, average, robots, who all believe in the same thing and can never disagree with anyone else?

There is no greatness in average, no conviction of ideals or principles in living a life of medium gray, and these types always seem to get the headlines. It gets tiring to hear the moaners, whiners, and complainers beat the drums of complacency and strive towards moving the country to be average, but sometimes they seems to be yelling the loudest. Now, instead of being the innovators and inventors, we are having to rely on Russia and Russian built rockets to take us into space, who would have thought that 20 years ago.

It is still the greatest country in the world, I just wish some of it’s residents would take a history lesson and see that America was not built on being average. The History Channel just finished an interesting series called America The Story of Us. Though some of it was a little subjective, it showed the overwhelming story of how much innovation, determination, and sacrifice people made because they believed in themselves and what this country stood for.

My family has had people who fought in the Civil War, WWI, both of my grandfathers served in WWI (see Son of a Son of a Photographer), one flew a B-24 Bomber in WWII in Europe, my dad served in the Air Force, and my cousin decided to go into the Navy after 9-11 and is currently serving in the Navy on a nuclear submarine. I am thankful for their service to this country. Because they served, my wife and I are able to enjoy living in this great country.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day. It has been quite a stormy weekend with some crazy weather but I managed to get outside and take a few photos (and some of the dog of course). The heat is definitely on its way, the pasture, trees, and everything around has taken on the brilliant green of summer.

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Fog on a Never End Cycle of Rain in the Southern Winter

Tumble — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:56:00 +0000

Fog on a never end cycle of rain in the south in the winter

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Pictorial History of a Tree in Year Long Time Lapse

Scott Fillmer — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:23:54 +0000

This is not a true time lapse as we might think about today, but, a sequence of shots, taken over time, of the same subject. We have this great tree back behind our house and I usually take photos of it as the seasons change and I have been wanting to write one single post with all of the photos together to see how one single spot can change over time. Below is where I sit in the summer and read, contemplate life, and view from the house in the winter and rain. I love the warm open feeling it gives in Spring or Summer and the uninviting look of winter. As the days count down for our departure to Virginia, this is one spot I am going to miss while we are gone.

The original posts that came from this photos can be found here:

Below is are some of the photos from the posts above.

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On Our Way to the Outer Banks :: Friday Feet

Scott Fillmer — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:15:18 +0000

I haven’t posted a Friday Feet shot in a while so I thought I would get a few shots of Ebby before we left tomorrow. After a long semester we are finally leaving tomorrow for Anderson SC (to worship at NewSpring on Sunday), then to Virginia to visit LU, and then over to the Outer Banks. One of our favorite spots on the east coast, the Outer Banks, is also one of those gems we have in the U.S. that is very empty once school starts and has some of the greatest locals around.

I am looking forward to spending at least one full day on the quiet beach reading a book. Till then, meet Ebby. I did just cut the grass but she is still a little shorter than the grass is tall.

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Good Friday Tornadoes with Minor Tree Damage :: Friday Feet

Scott Fillmer — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 01:01:35 +0000

This Friday for Friday Feet the plan was to focus on the day at hand, Good Friday. We had a nice relaxing day at home on Friday in preparation for the Good Friday service and it ended up being one of the more memorable services that either Deborah or I have been to in years. Just about half way into the service the tornado sirens started sounded. The service was interrupted for about 30 minutes while we all hunkered down to one side of the worship area.

What made the service so memorable was how unscripted the whole evening was. As we came back together and stared to focus on what makes this day special, the hail, thunder, and lightning started to come down in full force. This was not a “traditional” service but the way it came together was so special. I am thrilled to be a part of a church that is willing to interpret worship in many different ways.

On the way home it became apparent that the storm system that went through the area had made its way out to our property. Tree after tree had been uprooted, snapped in half, and literally thrown all over the place. The photo below at night was what we found as we drove in from the service. A cedar tree topped and covering the road. Once morning arrived we found about a 75 foot pine tree that was just blown over, making my Friday Feet image.

After surveying the damage out this way we found out that there were one and possibly two tornadoes that came through the property. They were small, but had two visual sightings and see to skip around the houses for the most part.

Happy Easter to everyone.