Just thought you might like to know........

Flickr has rapidly become one of the largest online photo sharing applications allowing photographers to display their work and enjoy a community atmosphere of sharing comments, critiques and just plain fun at no cost. At least not a monetary fee, but they have written into their terms of service a section, buried in a lot of legalese that they have unrestricted rights to use anything you post on the Flickr site.

Here it is:

"With respect to Content you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of Yahoo! Groups, the license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publicly perform and publicly display such Content on the Yahoo! Services solely for the purposes of providing and promoting the specific Yahoo! Group to which such Content was submitted or made available. This license exists only for as long as you elect to continue to include such Content on the Yahoo! Services and will terminate at the time you remove or Yahoo! removes such Content from the Yahoo! Services. With respect to photos, graphics, audio or video you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of the Yahoo! Services other than Yahoo! Groups, the license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publicly perform and publicly display such Content on the Yahoo! Services solely for the purpose for which such Content was submitted or made available. This license exists only for as long as you elect to continue to include such Content on the Yahoo! Services and will terminate at the time you remove or Yahoo! removes such Content from the Yahoo! Services."


I understand that is says for the purpose of promoting Yahoo Services, but how would you feel seeing your work as an advertisement and you didn't even get a Thank you, much less a check. Respectable marketing firms pay a lot of money for art and photos and so should Yahoo.


I have several photo's that are very popular and that I do in fact sell. I have removed these from Flickr and from now on will only be posting fun shots on Flickr. I will continue to share my better shots, but on facebook and on my own web site and blog.


Flickr is a fun community and I have made many friends and learned a lot from the people on flickr. I will continue to interact with them and share my work, I will just limit it to low quality, low resolution shots so that the Flickr employees will be forced to search elsewhere.


I am not condemning Flickr, they are not doing anything illegal and many may not mind. I'm simply posting this to let others know where some of my pictures have gone.....I took them off Flickr. I also think that there may be many users that didn't get down to the part about their right to use our work, alter it and not even be required to give credit, and they need to know. I know I didn't know until a friend told me and told me where to find it and I've been using Flickr for a year now.


I hope this helps someone, and I will continue to post on Flickr, just with a little more discretion. Hope to see you all there.


Now go have fun with photography,
Laura

Tribute to Cades Cove

You may or may not be aware that Cades Cove in the Smoky Mountain National Park will be closing March 1, 2010 for two months to repave roads and perform other necessary repairs. For many of us it will be a loss to not make our yearly sojourn to this wonderful and beautiful place as spring unfolds it's display of new life, color and God's gift to us. In this light I offer this photographic tribute and a brief history of why this is such a special place.

Surrounded by mountains on all sides, a collection of pastures, fields, mills, barns and an assortment of other old buildings and cabins, Cades Cove is representative of what life in America used to be. The pioneer way of life.

The national park system has undertaken the task of preserving this pioneer way of life in Cades Cove by transforming it into a historic exhibit through the rehabilitation and preservation of log cabins, barns, mills, churches and other structures. Cattle, hay and grain continue to be raised today by farmers and the park service. 

Cohabitating in the Cove is a plethora of wildlife that include deer, bear, wild boar, turkey and coytoe. I would say that the wildlife for many of the Cove's visitors is the main attraction. Without fail a drive around the Loop Road will offer numerous opportunities to view deer grazing, young bucks testing their skill and strength on each other, turkey scratching the ground looking for a tasty morsel.  In the spring and fall, it is not at all uncommon to come up on a bear or as in my case have the bear come up on me while I was photographing one of the cabins. (The below bear photo is the result of that delightful surprise) Early mornings in the Cove often offer a glimpse of a coyote hunting in the open fields.

Wild Turkey scratching for food

 An Alert Doe

                            

A Typical View in the Cove

A adolescent bear out looking for a meal

Earlier I briefly alluded to the pioneer way of life. Any discussion of the Cove would be remiss if it didn't include the settler's of the area. The first white man to permanently settle in the Cove was John Oliver who established residence in 1818.

 

The John Oliver Place

was occupied by the family until the establishment of the park in 1934. I have seen a photograph of this cabin with an old model A  or T Ford (I'm not sure which it was an old Ford of some sort) and laundry hanging out on a clothes line to dry.

However, the first Cades Cove related land grant was given to Hugh Dunlap in 1794 for 5,000 acres. Another grant given in 1796 was to William Crowson. These grants were actually given illegally; for at that time the land belonged to the Cherokee Indians and was not open to white settlement until the treaty of 1819. Settlement began in earnest and in 1821 William Tipton purchased 640 acres from William Crowson. 

One of the out buildings of the Tipton Place

William Tipton eventually ended up owning over 3,000 acres both in the Cove and on the surrounding mountain sides.

 

Dan Lawson Place

As the settlers began pouring into the region, the land was deforested for pastures, orchards and crops were planted. The settlers were surrounded by mountains and Hyatt Lane was the only road out. Hyatt Lane went across the cove to then Cades Cove Rd., now Rich Mountain Rd. To travel to Maryville from Cades Cove was a three day trip on horseback.

Hyatt Lane

Another Road that cuts across the cove is Sparks Lane.

Sparks Lane

The soil in the cove was fertile and farming was prosperous; corn being the main crop. However, it was not practical for the farmers to try to carry the corn over the poor mountain road into Maryville to market. Corn was selling for 6.25 cents a bushel. The farmers instead fed a majority of the corn to livestock which could be driven to the markets.

Corn was also a family staple, often ground in tub mills by individual families until such time when a community became large enough to support a water wheel powered mill. The Cades Cove community was one such community that in fact by 1870 was large enough to support more than one mill. John P. Cable's mill was a dual mill both wood and corn. John P. Cable was also a farmer and it is told that he had a large bell mounted on a pole in front of the mill for customers to ring to bring him in from the fields. The Cable mill is one of the buildings the park service has restored but much of the mill is still original.

Waterwheel of Cable's Mill

There is one other aspect of the cove to cover. Prior to the settlement of the white man the Cherokee Indians lived here. Cades Cove, Abrams Creek and Abrams falls all obtained their name from a well known Cherokee Chief, "Old Abram" who live in the nearby village at Chilhowee. According to local lore Old Abram's wife was named Kate which became Cades or Kate's Cove, in her honor. 

Abrams Falls

That my friends is a brief (too brief to be of any real informational value) history of the cove and my humble attempt to capture and share some of it's beauty. In two short weeks the cove will be closing so that the park service may attend to the maintenance of some of the buildings and rebuild the well travelled Loop Road. Good Bye old friend, until your reawakening in summer. I'm sure I speak for many when I say we will miss you.

Until next time; Have fun with your photography,

Laura