Lowell Freedom Festival 2012

The Car Show was one of the main attractions in the festival, children and adults checked out every car in detail.

Saturday was a good opportunity for the Vendors of Lowell to show their product to the public.

One of the Vendors showing off his product with good spirit.

Lots of rides for the children.

The Lowell Merchants Association was present and gave away 2 flat screen TV's in a raffle.

The Merchant Association Representative, Deanna Izurieta presenting the prizes to the winners.

Lot's of fun around the park.

Singer Jimi Ray played great songs for everyone.

The band Matter of Fact played for the crowd.

Young and old love Face painting.

An artist just finished a drawing for a customer.

No sugar added Ice cream was also great, they have several flavors and my favorite was Mango, uhmmm.

Also sno-cone or ice shape was very good, add any flavor on top of the ice and if you could add condensed  milk like I used to do when I was a child you will love it. The vendor was very happy to pose for the camera.

The Beauty of the Insects

I took these pictures a few weeks ago while I was sitting by the lake with my wife Deanna, I always have my camera just in case a good opportunity shows up for shooting.

While I was relaxing in the shelter at the George Poston Park I found this caterpillar on the ground and caught my attention. It has beautiful colors and so many legs. Difficult to describe but impossible not to admire. 

So I looked for my camera and took different shots. First I had to place the caterpillar on a small branch so he could pose for the camera.  Then I moved around it to find different background colors, then I decided to experiment with different lense filters. Using a speed light I was able to create beautiful photographs. I was also using 50 mm lenses, I wish I had smaller than that to be able to get closer to it. 

I took the spider's photographs at the McDowell  Park in Charlotte, by Lake Wylie.

Ford's Seed and Plants

The owner, Ruby Ford has been working in this store for over 50 years, everybody knows her.  She is also very nice to talk with. You can also get lots of help from the Manager Peggy and her husband David. They all are very nice people.

Ford's Seed and Plants is getting busier every day since the weather has been great this week. More people are shopping for their garden and Mother's day.

When you visit the store it is like finding yourself at home, you will be welcomed by the employees right away and when your are done with your shopping they will ask you to come back again soon.

These are some plants and flowers you can find in the store and you will be amazed at how beautiful they are, there is so much variety that you will find what your looking for. 

Great place to relax and reconnect with nature, smell the flowers and touch them. The store also offers beautiful pots and decorative items for your garden. The next time I will have some photos ready so you can get some ideas how to change the look of your garden with new plants or ornaments.


I will post more information in my next visit to the store, see you later.


PS: The store is located at 231 E. Main Street, Gastonia, NC.

McDowell Nature Preserve Park

This park offers great opportunities for everyone who loves to enjoy fishing, hiking, walking, etc and the best of all for me is lots of opportunities to take photographs of people, flora and fauna. Let me show you some of the photographs I took last weekend.

As you can see it was a beautiful day, lots of sun and nice weather to do several activities like fishing, kayaking and boating. The trails are very nice, full of life, you can here and watch different kinds of birds, so get ready to explore and get your camera and friends and have good time.