I live in the Tennessee Valley which means I reside between the Appalachian Mountains (including the Smoky Mountains) about 40 miles to the east and the Cumberland Mountains about 40 miles to the west. So I consider myself fortunate to be within a couple hours from so many beautiful photo opportunities. I began to develop an interest in photography in the late 70's so that I could take better photos at airshows. I also love airplanes. I used to fly single engine Cessnas. I soon found landscapes to have a strong appeal. I only bought a DSLR a couple years ago and am enjoying the benefits of immediate results and not having to pay for film developing as well as higher resolution images. Although I have worked in hotels for the last 15 years, I don't do any real traveling myself (yet). I have spent numerous hours looking at other's images from around the world and so have traveled vicariously in a sense. One of my favorite places I have photographed is Cades Cove in the Smokey Mountains. I read a quote by someone who said a photographer could make a career by shooting there. Not much of an exaggeration, because about any direction you look, an interesting image can be found. This is the second flickr account I have begun. I got locked out of my original about 3 years ago when I moved and forgot my password. I got frustrated with numerous attempts to get back into it.