GOLD RUSH

Canon EOS Rebel XS, Promaster 19-35 lens @ 19mm, ISO 200, f/13, 0.5 sec., 3 Image Panorama

  With winter coming on like gangbusters, last Sunday's jaunt into the Cherokee National Forest was a search for color.  I had originally started out with the attitude that I was going to shoot everything in black & white due to the lack of color, but after the sun started coming up, the same rules that apply with fall colors can apply when there are no leaves on the trees as well.  The only difference is using the leaf and pine needle covered mountainside as the reflector.
  When the sun was striking the opposite mountain side with sunlight, the water started reflecting the colors of the leaves and pine needles that covered it and was quite beautiful. I took 3 images in order to fit all of the background cascades in shot with the foreground rocks and stitched together in Photoshop Elements Photomerge Panorama.

INSPIRATIONAL COINCIDENCE

 

  I have claimed several times how professional photographer Ian Plant has been a huge inspiration and influence on how I see and do photography. Due to this I have a very amazing story to share.
  Back in April, Ian Plant posted "Vernal Impulse" on his blog. The image from this blog post really caught my attention. It was taken from angle behind a cascade and looking downstream. It was the first time that it occurred to me that I had never tried photographing waterfalls and cascades from this type of angle. All spring and summer I forced myself to turn and look the other way when approaching waterfalls and see what looking downstream gave me as far as composition.
  Even though I took this alternate approach, I had not had any image from this type of vantage point that suited my fancy.
  In September, Tim Owens and I were the Tremont area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and stumbled upon a wonderful location with numerous possibilities of compositions. We scoped out the area without cameras in hand and I found a scene that absolutely gave me the layout I wanted inspired by "Vernal Impulse". By the time I retrieved my gear and started to set up my shot, Tim was already further downstream and shooting and would have been in my shot. This was alright, I would go upstream and photograph until he was done and then return for my shot.
  When Tim joined me upstream I started back to set up my shot. When I got there, there were 2 fishermen right in the middle of the river interrupting my shot. Ugghh! I thought I would never get to take my shot.  Well, the ever patient photog that I am, I got in place, set up my shot, and waited for the fishermen to get done.
  About 10 minutes later, one of the fishermen slipped and fell on the rocks. Thank goodness he wasn't injured at all, but it was scary enough for him to want to pull up shop and move upstream. With the fishermen finally out of the way, I pulled the trigger several times and was extremely excited about finally getting my shot.
  After processing my image, I was even more excited. Even though I had 6 or 7 keepers from that location, that shot was my favorite. I finally captured an image that filled the inspiration of Ian Plant's Vernal Impulse. Awesome.
  The story does not end there. In October, I was looking through Ian Plant's archived Great Smoky Mountain blog posts and saw "Vernal Impulse". I clicked on it and opened it up and when the image came up, I was absolutely floored by what I saw. Ian's shot and my shot were from not only the same area in Tremont, but they were on the very same rock about 4-5 feet from each other. In his post he stated he would have set up exactly like I did except the water flow was too heavy to get that composition. Unbelievable! My shot, that was inspired by his, was taken in the exact same spot.
  My shot is posted above. Here is a link to "Vernal Impulse". What an amazing coincidence of inspiration.

BUSH WHACKED

Canon EOS Rebel XS, Promaster 19-35 lens @ 35mm, ISO 100, f/16, 0.4 sec.

  Getting off the beaten path is what this country was built on. The Pilgrims proved that by setting sail across the ocean without a clue as to what they were going to find. Lewis & Clark discovered the West Coast by blazing a new trail across the country. We have been to the moon and back because of our attitude towards going into places where no one else has.
  Sunday morning, Tim Owens and I stumbled upon a waterfall that if we weren't the first people to see it, there weren't many before us. This would not have happened had we stayed on the road.
  After photographing along the Tellico River all morning in the Cherokee National Forest, we were driving along River Rd back towards Tellico Plains, TN when we paused by a bridge that a small stream flowed under and into the main branch. We could barely see a couple of small cascades and decided to pull over and take a look.
  There were no paths created along the river so we had to "bush whack" our way along the river bank. There were some wonderful little rock formations and shelves along this small water way. Finding access to photograph them was difficult due to the downed trees that were laying everywhere along and across the creek.
  As we moved further up river, the cascades started getting larger and more picturesque. It was fantastic.
  As I was shooting a flat rock that made a beautiful shelf cascade, which I will post shots of in a later post, Tim had hiked up further and came back and got my attention. He said, "Jerry, you gotta see this". I climbed over a few fallen trees behind him and about 75-100 yards up the river, blocked by huge rocks on both sides of the river was a 20-25 foot waterfall that was just spectacular.  We tried every angle we could to move around the huge rocks that blocked access to this waterfall but just couldn't figure a way to get any closer.
  Had we been on the other side of the river, we would have had an easier time and possibly gotten better access to it, but neither of us had our waders and it was too cold to wade through without them and we would have had to walk all the way back to the road and cross to get to the other river bank. We were stuck to photograph our discovery right from where we were at.
  It was quite heartbreaking. We may have been the first people to witness this gorgeous cascade, but couldn't get any closer to get the kind of photographs that this wonderful waterfall deserved.
  So we took what shots we could get of the waterfall and hiked back to the car knowing that we would be back sometime to try and get closer. This morning, I checked out every web site I could find to see if this waterfall had been named and marked but could find anything on it. If we didn't discover it, there were probably less than a handful of people who have been there before us.
  We were very proud of our discovery and even more satisfied that we took the time to venture off the beaten path and were rewarded in doing so. Can't wait to go back and explore this great find some more.

CONOSAUGA JOCY

Canon EOS Rebel XS, Tamron 28-80 lens @ 49mm, ISO 100, f/8, 0.8 sec.

  While going back through my archives, I ran across this shot from a family hike to Conosauga Falls in the Cherokee National Forest near Tellico Plains, TN.  I had taken several shots of everyone in and around the falls but my daughter, Jocy, stood still for this shot and it turned out perfect for a sepia treated portrait.

VETERANS

  I missed posting something on Veteran's Day and while at a friend's house for a birthday party today I reminded myself of the opportunity I had back in September to photograph a reunion dinner of the Lima 3/9 Marine Corp Platoon that served in Vietnam. I really appreciate Ronnie & Brenda Shaffer for inviting me to attend and photograph this event. Even though this was a festive occasion, the MIA display set to one side of the room and the history behind what created this reunion definitely carried part of the mood throughout the evening.
  I don't really know much about this group of guys and didn't ask anyone about their time served. Just from hearing general conversations between them and from talking to Ronnie I found out that several of their platoon was killed in action, several injured in action (including several who were at the dinner), and still 1 man unaccounted for and missing in action.
  It was very rewarding to witness this reunion of brave men. It was even more touching knowing that my son, Shea, is now a Marine and carries on the honor and bravery these men displayed in serving their country. I am so very proud of him and for making the choice to serve his country. Since the reunion, one of Shea's good friends and fellow Marine, Frankie Watson, was killed in action in Afghanistan driving home the sacrifice that every man and woman make that sign up and become part of our Armed Forces. May God bless them all!
  I want to say happy Veteran's Day to my wife's brother Don who served in the Army in Vietnam and is a great man and his family is very proud of. I also would like to say happy Veteran's Day to my brother Brad. He retired from the Navy after 20 years served and we are extremely proud of him and love him very much as well.
  Happy Veteran's Day to all who have and are serving right now. We would not be the country we are without the contribution and sacrifices made by all who have served. Thank you.

Lima 3/9 Platoon

ROARING FORK

Canon EOS Rebel XS, Promaster 19-35 lens @ 19mm, ISO 200, f/11, 0.5 sec.

  One of our stops along the Roaring Fork Motor Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains was by a small bridge where there were several homesteads along the creek. This little grouping of rocks along the river was right next to the homesteads and was right on the opposite side of the large rocks on the right from the scene in my previous post, SEEING RED.
  Really loved the "violent" way the water crashed through this cascade. Even though the Roaring Fork is a creek, the name is quite accurate and scenes like this are littered through it.  Wish we could have been in this area before mid-day. The sun was shining bright and created a harsh contrast on the water. I did however have my 4-stop ND filter and it allowed me to have some appropriate shutter speeds. I adjusted some balancing light in Photoshop Elements to help even out the scene.
 

END OF FALL

Canon EOS Rebel XS, Canon 85mm 1.8 USM lens, ISO 400, f/2.8, 1/160 sec.

  One thing was apparently obvious on our hike up to Grotto Falls last weekend. Fall is gone and winter is taking over.  If we had made this hike two weeks earlier, we would have seen the height of fall color in the Smokies. The color, however, had all but gone from the mountains.
  On the way back down from the falls, I pulled out the 85mm 1.8 and decided to capture what little colors there were. I was pulled initially to the ferns and the small yellow maple leaves that seemed to hover around them. The pair in today's post were displayed how close winter is. Even though they were hanging on and still attached, they were burnt red in color and showed signs of decay already.
  The 85mm lens was great for these intimate shots by being crystal clear at f/2.8 and blurring the background.