BALD RIVER FALLS PANORAMA

Canon EOS REBEL XS, Promaster 19-35 lens @ 19mm, ISO 100, f/20, 0.8 sec., 4 image Panorama

  What a fantastic morning I had this today. My good friend and photog buddy, Tim Owens, my daughter Jocy, and I did some water exploration along N River on N River Road in the Cherokee National Forest.  Earlier in the week I read an old Outdoor Photographer blog from Ian Plant titled Be A Photography Rebel and in it, he explains to break rules and don't settle for the shot from the road like everyone else. I normally try to do this when I shoot but reading the article really enforced it when we set out this morning.
  So instead of my normal cargo shorts I donned my swim trunks and was determined to get wet to get my shots today.
  The last place we stopped was at Bald River Falls. Now I have taken several shots of this incredible waterfall but wanted to do something completely different. Unfortunately, beings that it was the last stop I had already changed into some clean clothes and dry shoes as they were starting to hurt my feet so I was not as tempted to get wet as I did at previous locations we visited this morning.
  Thank goodness Tim came along and reinforced the "rebel" attitude. He waded out into to river and was telling me how wonderful the spot was.  I couldn't help but drench another set of clothes and join him in the river. I am so glad I did. I ended up shooting this 4-shot panorama from an angle I had not shot from before and the moss on the rocks was an incredible shade of green.
  Getting wet also allowed me to get very close and photograph a tall, thin branch of the falls that I will post later.
  Thank goodness it was cloudy as well or the sun would have already drenched the falls and ruined the light here.  As it was, there was a neat little spot of sunlight striking the falls at it's base that I thought added a neat little touch.
  So being a bit of a photography rebel like Ian Plant suggests got me what I though is the best shot of Bald River Falls that I have taken. Also let me have a great time getting soaked with my daughter in the river and that is worth way more than any photograph to me.

Here is a shot of Tim at our first stop this morning setting up a shot in the river.