RAMSEY ROCKS

ISO 100, f/16, 1/3 second, -0.3EV, 85mm

  If anyone tells you that the 4 mile hike to Ramsey Cascades in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a "moderately" tough hike. They are a professional. And they are lying. At least as far as I'm concerned they are.
  My buddy Tim Owens and I made the 8 mile round trip hike to the notably the most beautiful waterfall in the Smokies this morning. All I can say is that it was worth the hike one time. I will never do it again. Whew! 95% of the hike was at a steep, uphill grade over rocks and roots. I have not been that winded and sore since 2-a-days in 8th grade football. I almost lost my breakfast 3 times.
  When we did arrive at Ramsey Cascades, it was everything it was cracked up to be. 100 feet tall breaking down over large rocks all the way. It was gorgeous!
  It was also very cold. There was still snow on the ground from 3 feet of it 2 weeks ago. It was probably 35-40 degrees at the falls and with me sweating through both my t-shirt and my hoody on the trek up, the cold turned that sweat to really cold. I had forgot to pack my gloves as well so my hands were extremely cold too.
  I guess the only true disappointing thing that happened to us today was that we spotted several nice spots to photograph on the way back but by the time we got to them, the sun was up and shining bright on the water so it would have washed out the highlights on the water.
  Today's image was a little bit different type of shot for me. After getting a few broad images of the falls with my wide angle lens, I decided to mount my 85mm Canon lens and get up close and personal with the waterfall. I very seldom step into this type of almost macro account of the waterfall but boy was I extremely happy with it. Shooting it as black and white really allowed for some detail of these 2 rocks that are actually 6-7 feet tall but look much small compressed in the 85mm frame.