Arizona
The State of Arizona ( /ærɪˈzoʊnə/ (help·info)) is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix. The second largest city is Tucson, followed by the four Phoenix metropolitan area cities of Mesa, Glendale, Chandler, and Scottsdale.[4]
Arizona was the 48th and last of the contiguous states admitted to the Union on February 14, 1912.[5] Arizona is noted for its desert climate, exceptionally hot summers, and mild winters, but the high country in the north features pine forests and mountain ranges with cooler weather than the lower deserts. New population figures for the year ending July 1, 2006 indicate that Arizona was at that time the fastest growing state in the United States, exceeding the growth of the previous leader, Nevada, and is currently the second.
Arizona is one of the Four Corners states. It borders New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California, touches Colorado, and has a 389-mile (626 km) international border with the states of Sonora and Baja California in Mexico. In addition to the Grand Canyon, many other national forests, parks, monuments, and Indian reservations are located in the state.
Pandas and other zoo shots
Pandas at the Memphis Zoo. It is rare to have the pandas together because they tend to fight. These two seem to be having a good time.
Nose Art
A tribute to military aircraft. The images in this gallery include nose art from past and present aircraft as well as shots of aircraft in flight.
Tennessee Renaissance Festival
These shots are from the last 2 years of the Renaissance Festival in Murfreesboro Tennessee. This is a great event for photographers to take images that they will not ordinarily get be that action shots of jousting and sword fights or candid shots of folks, shall we say, uniquely dressed. It is a lot of fun with good food and drink and shows and arts and crafts.
Cats
I usually hate cats. However this one is a little different. I've never seen a cat with so many expressions.
Birds
I have always been interested in birds of prey. I have just started to try to capture them in their natural habitat. I've learned to have considerably more respect for people that can really photograph these majestic birds particularly in flight. I have decided to expand this gallery to include all birds.
Action and Sports
This gallery is for sports and action shots. Most have been taken with the Oly 70-300 or with the Oly 50-200 lens on the Olympus E510 camera. However all the US Open shots are taken using the Oly Kit 40-150 lens under the light at Auther Ashe Stadium. Hopefully they will dispell the myth that the Oly can't do high ISO.
Gone With the Wind
During the Civil War, Natchez remained largely undisturbed, but not entirely. Natchez surrendered to Flag-Officer David G. Farragut after the fall of New Orleans in May 1862.[3] In September, 1863, the Union ironclad USS Essex,[4] under Capt. William D. Porter shelled the town but caused only minor damage, although a seven year-old Jewish girl named Rosalie Beekman was tragically killed.[5][6] Union troops under Ulysses S. Grant occupied Natchez in 1863; Grant set up his temporary headquarters in the Natchez mansion Rosalie.[7] Confederate army forces attempted to recapture Natchez in December 1863 but did not attack the town itself because the C.S.A. forces were outnumbered.[8]
Like almost everywhere else in the United States, numerous Natchez residents did in fact fight or otherwise participate in the war and many families lost their antebellum fortunes. The fact that the town was largely spared the horrors of the war is illustrated by the legend of the Battle of Natchez. According to this story, while Union troops were being housed in Natchez, civilians and regular bar owners gathered at the river landing to watch Union gunboats travel the Mississippi River from Vicksburg down to New Orleans. In one passing, a Union gunboat fired a blank from a canon to rile up the Union troops at Fort Rosalie. This caused an elderly man to have a heart attack at Under the Hill–the one casualty in the Battle of Natchez.[9]
Despite the city's relatively peaceful atmosphere under Union occupation, Natchez residents remained somewhat defiant of the Federal authorities. In 1864, the Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Natchez, William Henry Elder, refused to obey a Federal order to compel his parishioners to pray for the President of the United States. In response, the Federals arrested Elder, jailed him briefly and then banished him across the river to Confederate held Vidalia, Louisiana. Eventually Elder was allowed to come back to Natchez and resumed his clerical duties there until 1880, when he was elevated to archbishop of Cincinnati.
Battle of Shiloh
As a result of the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson, Confederate Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, the commander in the area, was forced to fall back, giving up Kentucky and much of West and Middle Tennessee. He chose Corinth, Mississippi, a major transportation center, as the staging area for an offensive against Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee before the Army of the Ohio, under Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell, could join it. The Confederate retrenchment was a surprise, although a pleasant one, to the Union forces, and it took Grant, with about 40,000 men, some time to mount a southern offensive, along the Tennessee River, toward Pittsburg Landing. Grant received orders to await Buell’s Army of the Ohio at Pittsburg Landing. Grant did not choose to fortify his position; rather, he set about drilling his men many of which were raw recruits. Johnston originally planned to attack Grant on April 4, but delays postponed it until the 6th. Attacking the Union troops on the morning of the 6th, the Confederates surprised them, routing many. Some Federals made determined stands and by afternoon, they had established a battle line at the sunken road, known as the “Hornets Nest.” Repeated Rebel attacks failed to carry the Hornets Nest, but massed artillery helped to turn the tide as Confederates surrounded the Union troops and captured, killed, or wounded most. Johnston had been mortally wounded earlier and his second in command, Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, took over. The Union troops established another line covering Pittsburg Landing, anchored with artillery and augmented by Buell’s men who began to arrive and take up positions. Fighting continued until after dark, but the Federals held. By the next morning, the combined Federal forces numbered about 40,000, outnumbering Beauregard’s army of less than 30,000. Beauregard was unaware of the arrival of Buell’s army and launched a counterattack in response to a two-mile advance by William Nelson’s division of Buell’s army at 6:00 am, which was, at first, successful. Union troops stiffened and began forcing the Confederates back. Beauregard ordered a counterattack, which stopped the Union advance but did not break its battle line. At this point, Beauregard realized that he could not win and, having suffered too many casualties, he retired from the field and headed back to Corinth. On the 8th, Grant sent Brig. Gen. William T. Sherman, with two brigades, and Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Wood, with his division, in pursuit of Beauregard. They ran into the Rebel rearguard, commanded by Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest, at Fallen Timbers. Forrest’s aggressive tactics, although eventually contained, influenced the Union troops to return to Pittsburg Landing. Grant’s mastery of the Confederate forces continued; he had beaten them once again. The Confederates continued to fall back until launching their mid-August offensive.
