Runnemede Row at Farm Chastain

This year my friend Peyton McWhirter and I have been working a garden at Farm Chastain, part of the Chastain Park Conservancy. Life has gotten in the way of me posting about it from the beginning, but you can catch up through pictures at http://www.carsonmatthewsphotography.com/ChastainParkConservancy/Runnemede-Row-Farm-Chastain/

Today we got back from a week at the beach and things are coming along nicely. We definitely have a squirrel problem, and as a result no tomatoes. We probably have 100 on the vine, but they are eaten well before becoming ripe.

The corn is pretty impressive to someone that hasn’t grown corn before. We have two rows of Silver Queen and the back row is Silver King. In the last week it has grown at least a foot and ears of corn have emerged everywhere.

Moving to the left and pretty much taking over all available space is the watermelon. At my last visit our first melon was the size of a fat cucumber, today it’s the size of a rugby ball.

To the left of the melons are cucumbers, squash, bush beans, pole beans and more beans. Only the first teepee of pole beans is producing, but I definitely got enough to feed the family.

Everything in the middle is getting rampaged by squirrels. I bet there were 50 cherry tomatoes half eaten on the ground, and a couple of peppers had been eaten through. It’s time to spend a day there weeding for sure. Here is a picture of what I walked away with.

All of these pictures of our plot at Farm Chastain and many more are on my website http://www.carsonmatthewsphotography.com/ChastainParkConservancy/Runnemede-Row-Farm-Chastain/

Carson Matthews
www.CarsonMatthews.com

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Pictures and Videos of April Storms Rolling Through Atlanta

Over the past several days Atlanta has seen damaging storms roll through town. On Monday alone there were 20 confirmed tornados in Georgia. On Wednesday that same front turned around and came back through as a warm front, countered by a bigger cold front from the west. When it wasn’t storming the skies were perfect for photography. On Tuesday it was beautiful; here is a picture of the moon late that afternoon.

On Wednesday we had early storms in the morning. I set up my GoPro in the front window on timelapse and caught this strike of lightning over the trees.

When the morning storms cleared the coloring was beautiful outside with the sun trying to break through the clouds. Here is a picture of the calm between the storms.

Wednesday night we got the 3rd round of storms which went late into the night. Again I set up the GoPro, this time doing timelapse video, capturing the storm from the time the sun went down until it came back up Thursday morning. Here is a condensed version of that video, showing the stormy phase of Wednesday evening and the beautiful sunrise Thursday morning.

And finally here is a picture of the sunrise Thursday morning.

Enjoy!

Carson Matthews

All images are available on my website. Please visit the link below for options to download. 
www.CarsonMatthewsPhotography.com

Tomatoes and Green Beans

Over the past couple of days I have noticed some of the green beans getting pretty big in the garden. This morning I picked a couple of handfuls of beans and two pretty red tomatoes. Tomorrow night I believe we will be having green beans, tomatoes with basil and a cucumber for dinner!

Stay tuned for more harvesting.

Carson Matthews

Pictures of the Chastain Park Playground

Yesterday we took the kids to check out the newly renovated Chastain Park Playground. You can read all about it at ChastainParkBlog.com. Here are a few of the pictures I got of the new playground, it’s truly one of a kind. More pictures are on my website www.CarsonMatthewsPhotography.com/ChastainPark

 

Thanks,
Carson Matthews

 

Shoutout to Peachtree Bikes

I wanted to give a quick shoutout to Peachtree Bikes. Yesterday Ben and I took his Diamondback BMX bike up there to get a new tire put on.  Of course that was a quick and easy fix done on the spot.  An hour later we were back after some user errors putting it back together.  The chain was slipping and the brakes were rubbing, so they went back to work on the bike. Apparantly Santa Claus didn’t do too good of a job last year putting it together as they almost completely rebuilt the bike.  Fixing the brakes wasn’t too much of a deal, but during the process they realized the front fork was installed backwards which took some hammering, but they got it all fixed up.  I’m feeling much better about Ben cruising around on his bike now thanks to Peachtree Bikes.

Many thanks to the guys over there for their extra time and effort on Ben’s bike.

They have 3 locations in Atlanta, online at www.PeachtreeBikes.com

Buckhead · 2905 Peachtree Road NE · Atlanta, GA 30305 · 404.262.9853
Sandy Springs · 225 Hilderbrand Drive · Sandy Springs, GA 30328 · 404.254.4116
Serenbe · 9119 Selborne Lane · Palmetto, GA 30268 · 404.262.9854

Rear Brake

Diamondback Viper BMX Bike

July Update on Raised Summer Garden

Here are some pictures to give you an update on how the summer raised garden is coming along.  We have 30-40 tomatoes growing, one bell pepper which appears to be turning red, and some baby squash (I picked the first one too early and it was not ready).  We had lots of blueberries but those were eaten soon after harvest.  We can’t wait for those to mature so we can have gallons of blueberries in the summer!  Until then we have veggies…

Bell Pepper

Tomatoes

Yellow Squash

Top of the Tomato Cage

More Tomatoes Coming

1st Annual Georgia Craft Beer Fest

On Saturday March 22, 2014 Red Brick Brewing Company will host the 1st Annual Georgia Craft Beer Fest benefiting the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild.  Over 25 Georgia breweries have been confirmed for the event including many of my favorites like Monday Night Brewing, Sweetwater Brewing Company, Jailhouse Brewing Company, Jekyll Brewing, & Terrapin Beer Company.

Date: Saturday March 22
Time: 1-6pm
Location: 2323 Defoor Hills Road, Atlanta, GA 30318
Ticket Price: $40 or $75 for VIP
Buy Tickets: https://www.xorbia.com/e/redbrick/georgia-craft-beer-fest

 

Additional details are available at GaCraftBeerFest.com

Thanks,

Carson Matthews

 

Twisted Tree – Chattahoochee Nature Trail

I love this tree along the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area trail.  I’m usually running when back there so never have my camera and certainly not my tripod.  I took both out for a hike on Friday afternoon and got a picture of this twisted tree.

How I did it:

ISO 100
17mm
f/9.0
5 exposures 1/30 sec – 1/500 sec
Shot on Tripod
Processed in Photomatix Pro 5 & Lightroom

View or purchase a high resolution image at http://www.carsonmatthewsphotography.com/Photography/OntheStreets/i-LzQ3Ncz/A

Thanks,

Carson Matthews
www.CarsonMatthewsPhotography.com

New Big Green Egg Table

Several years ago Martha gave me a Big Green Egg for Fathers Day.  I felt unworthy then and still do now, but it’s a really amazing tool, and until this point has lived in a “nest” with fold down arms.  For my 40th birthday Martha sort of gave me a new Big Green Egg table for it to live in.  The reason I said sort of was because I had to call the guy and order it, go pick it up, and stain/seal it before I could use it.

A buddy of hers gave her a link on craigslist of a company in Auburn Ga that makes these unfinished cypress tables for the Big Green Egg.  I pulled it up, found the one I liked on their website www.CypressGrillTables.com, and placed my order around 8:30 on a Thursday morning.  It took me about 45 minutes from Buckhead to drive to their shop which is located off of Highway 316 on the way to Athens.  I got there at 10:30, loaded up the table, in and out in five minutes or less.

Here is a picture of the unfinished table in my man room ready to get stained:

To get it finished I went to Ace Hardware on Roswell Road as they are all knowledgeable in the Big Green Egg arena.  They pointed out everything I would need to go from what I had, to the finished product.  I decided that I wanted it to be a darker color to offset the beating it will take over it’s lifetime, burn marks, dents, scratches etc.  I used MINWAX Wood Finish (Special Walnut 224) which gave it a nice rich brown color.  I applied one coat of that and let it dry overnight.

After the stain dried I put on the first coat of the sealer which is MINWAX Helmsman Spar Urethane.  It is a clear semi-gloss water based sealant.  Now this had to be applied 3 times all over the table which took a few days to get through.  The can actually says 4 coats are needed for exterior use but I went with the guys recommendation at Ace and did three.

The final touch was to go to Lowes and buy some robe hooks that might go on your bathroom door.  They are an oil rubbed bronze and look great with the table.

    

Here are a few pictures of how it turned out.  I could not be any happier with the results.

Thanks for reading.

Carson Matthews

Buckhead Lenox Road Skyline

We were leaving Phipps Plaza on Friday night after stocking up on winter clothes at Belk and I got a couple of pictures of the skyline looking west over Lenox Road.  There are a lot of great perspectives from Phipps Plaza of nearby Buckhead high rise buildings.  Here is how they were shot:

Nikon D800, Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
ISO 500, 14mm, f/5.6
5 frames 1/10-1/160 sec
Processed in Photomatix Pro and Lightroom

Prints of these images and many more available for purchase at www.CarsonMatthewsPhotography.com

Swimming at Chastain Pool

Last weekend we took our new GoPro out for a spin at Chastain Pool. We had a lot of fun trying it out and getting some underwater footage.

 

Carson Matthews

Thanksgiving Turkey Preparation Timelapse Video

Here is a iPhone 6 timelapse video of our Thanksgiving turkey preparation on Thanksgiving morning. After this it went into the Big Green Egg for several hours and came out perfect!

Timelapse Compilation of Sunrise and Weather

Here is a video compilation of time-lapse videos out of our front window. Our house faces East so we get great sunrises and a consistent look at clouds and storms moving through.

Sunset over the Chattahoochee River

Here is a picture of the sun tonight as it began setting over the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta. This shot was taken from the East Palisades Trail of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area looking west to Cobb Parkway as it crossed the Hooch.

Nikon D800, Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8

70mm f/8.0 5 frames processed in Photomatix and Lightroom

Saturday Down South

Saturday Down South