Burnt Cove, Deer Isle, A Decade Ago

When is the last time you took a trip down memory lane? I have embarked on that trip again today. Taking a decade's old journey back in time, I find myself on a remote island off the coast of Down East Maine. On the western edge of Deer Isle I find Burnt Cove. Carved into the landscape surrounded by quaint, clapboard houses and large, granite boulders, this tiny cove is the consummate Maine setting. Heavy clouds hang low in the sky, on this warm Summer's day, giving every element a larger than life feel. I snap images moving my viewfinder a tad left, then a tad right.

After photographing Burnt Cove, I drive the narrow, winding back roads further south on Deer Isle. Using a map, I hug the coastline taking in the scenery. An hour passes and I make my way back to Burnt Cove with anticipation. Just as I had suspected, the low cloud base had lifted giving way to blue skies. Have you ever seen such a beautiful Maine setting as this. Needless to say, the red clapboard house is a priceless find.

The granite boulders that hug the coast, as they do in most Down East shorelines, coupled with the dense Fir trees that grow right up to the water's edge, sets the perfect scene. My love affair with coastal Maine, and an equally passionate love affair with sailboats, brought me to the farthest northeastern state of the U.S. I can only hope if I journeyed to this remote area today that I would find a similar landscape. However, I know there is nowhere, in this our United States, that is safe from urban sprawl. So lucky to have captured these images at a time when coastal Maine was still rugged and unspoiled. Time really can stand still. All you need do is press your shutter release button. Click, and the scene is yours forever.

I have a very lazy weekend ahead with only a few chores. Perhaps the out of doors, which constantly beckons to me, will take over and I'll find myself by the lake shore today. Who knows. ENJOY!

The Weight of Water & Photographing It

Getting up close and personal with fast moving water and getting the shot, well it's not that easy. Here's a few images I captured throughout the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. These images were taken over a span of about six or seven years.

It's not just about the water, it's really more about the perspective. You can have too much noise in your image. All that does is take away from the feeling a reader gets when they view the image. It's about the scene itself and the relationship it has with the water. The way the water falls over the rocks is a vital element.

This image is my favorite water shot of all. I captured this image no more than 100 steps in on the Porter's Creek Trail in Greenbrier. It may seem like there's too much noise in this shot, but the way the rocks and the foliage frame the image, and the drama of that water flowing so beautifully over the rocks, well, it's just perfect.

Sometimes the focal point screams at you as in this image. A perfect cascade with water spilling over the rocks and leaving a wake of wispy whiteness all around. It screams serenity to me.

And then you encounter the tallest waterfall in the Smokies. Mingo Falls, in Cherokee, North Carolina, along the eastern most point of the Smokies. It's not only the tallest, but it's also the most difficult waterfall to position oneself in order to get a decnt image. I chose to shoot the top half and then the bottom. The bottom was more interesting with the water falling over the large boulder and  the forest trees hanging over in the foreground.

I had never attempted this type of image before. However, the scenery left and right of the Oconaluftee River in this image was just right. So I shot the water from the back side of the flow. It feels a tad serene.

Couldn't believe my eyes when I happened upon this waterfall coming down off a steep mountainside next to the road leading back to Tremont several years back. It took some maneuvering of the tripod to get this perspective, so much so one of the legs was sitting in the stream below the shot. There's so much green in this image even in the moss on the boulders. So decreasing the density did no good. It's just all green foliage and the water.

Photographing moving water is difficult. I have archives of bad images to show for it. Shots with the water not falling off the rocks nicely, too much noise in the background or no real focal point to grab the attention of your reader. 

Here's a few tips I know helped me. First, perspective is the most important thing. Getting the right water falling off the right boulders with the best scenery around it is essential. Second the flow of the water over the rocks or boulders. If it's not falling beautifully, then there's little impact to your reader. Third is how the water lands as it falls. The best way I can describe what I mean by this is for you to go back to the fourth image. See the wispy water after it's fallen over the rocks. What a focal point. Sadly, you may have all of those things, but no place to position your tripod legs. It happens.

My best advice, just keep at it. I have wanted to share this collection for some time. I hope you enjoyed it. I'm not an expert at shooting water. I'm a novice.

Have a wonderful rest of the weekend all and a great week. ENJOY!

Slice of Heaven

Do you suppose when we die and go to heaven it might be anything like this? Oh, please God, make it so. ENJOY!

Photographer's Backstory: At the end of a two hour workshop with Judy in the Smokies in late October, we were getting ready to get back into the car and head over to the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. I turned and looked at this setting and quickly snapped this image.

Fall Leaves, Rushing Water on Oconaluftee River

Every now and then one finds a reward in his or her travels. On this Tuesday afternoon, as I had made my way across Newfound Gap and down the mountain to Cherokee, my quest was to find Elk. It wasn't in the cards that day which I fully was aware could happen. Before I made it to the visitor center on the East side of the park, I stopped when I saw a bridge that traversed the Oconaluftee River. My reward was in plain sight.

The perfect place right off the road ten steps from my car. The scene was a gorgeous mountain stream resplendent with rushing water and beautiful Fall leaves hanging over the river. Fall leaves were strewn across the boulders. The sound of the rushing water was like music to my ears. I gathered my tripod and set to work snapping images. Normally, finding a spot to photograph water requires scrapping through brush with your equipment catching on twigs and branches, only to discover you just don't have the best vantage point. Yet, you stay in spite of that and snap a few images in hopes of a few keepers. Today was easy, convenient and the perfect setting. Don't you just love when that happens. ENJOY!

Rushing Waters of Tremont

Few places compare to the beautiful Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The grandeur of the mountains, the beauty of the moss covered boulders, the wildlife feeding alongside the road as you drive by.

It is a sweltering 95 degrees here in middle Tennessee with a heat index even higher. Yet, I can hear the sound of the water pouring over the moss covered rocks rushing down the river along Tremont Road as I look at this image. Happy Birthday to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park which was officially established by Congress on this date in 1934. Back soon. ENJOY!

Waterfall, The Smokies

As I drove over to the far eastern side of the Smokies in the Spring, I stopped to capture a few images of the water coming down the side of the mountain next to the main road.

In previous posts you may remember my frustration photographing water. In this setting, there were at least a dozen cascades coming down in varying directions with tons of 'noise' all around. By noise I mean broken branches, twigs and well, in this case, one too many cascades that only lend to distract the viewer. Too many distractions can hender the overall composition of an image. Cropping is usually the order of the day to help fix some of these problems. It is so difficult getting the composition, the sharpness, the highlights, the low lights and the water flow itself all working together in unison. And I'll say it again, it is so difficult. I believe photographing water is what some photographers call the madness that is photography. I hope you enjoy this image. ENJOY!

Rushing Waters, Roaring Fork

Last year when I visited the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee, there had been a storm the morning I drove in leaving all of the rivers overflowing. The same thing occurred on this trip earlier this week as well. Both last year and this year there were opportunities in every bend of the road to photograph the beautiful cascading waters in the various rivers that grace the park.

As you drive the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, you will discover that the majority of the rocks are covered in moss. This particular river is also narrow, with foliage growing over the side of the river and hanging over it as well, providing low light for taking photos. This is one of the images I captured along the drive. I like the bright light in the foreground. As I spent some time photographing water in various areas of the park, I was reminded just how difficult each setting can be. Getting the right composition with just the right amount of sunlight while getting the feel of the water just right is difficult. I would have to say I enjoy photographing the Roaring Fork more than any of the other rivers in the park. I have found less light is easier to work with. I have more images to share from my trip so I will be back soon. ENJOY!