Rhododendron season in the Highlands is near!

Wow, it’s really hard to believe that in two weeks the highcountry will be adorned with the beautiful Catawba rhododendron bloom. It feels like it was just last week that the forest was just starting to come alive from the long winter season. This is a great time to be in the mountains, especially the Roan Highlands, along the border of Tennessee and North Carolina. I have my Roan Highlands Experience workshop the 13th through 15th of June and we have spots open! If you’ve never been to the Roan during the bloom, it’s incredible! This place is in my backyard and I’d love to show all how wonderful this place is. It’s hard to believe that not too many years ago the plans were to develop the bald. Just think, condos, ski slopes, million dollar home sites and paved roads running over this beautiful landscape. Thanks to the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy for protecting this wonder for generations to come! By the way, they are the group that has brokered the deal between the Conservation Fund and the owners of Rocky Fork. I’ll be indebted to them forever! Stop by and tell them thanks at www.appalachian.org.  

 

Please visit www.mtphotoworkshops.com for more info on our upcoming workshop schedule.

 

Catawba Rhododendron and breaking storm along Jane Bald, Roan Highlands, Tennessee and North Carolina

 

Canon EOS 5D,  TS-E 24mm, no filters

RAW file processed with CaptureOne Pro and Photoshop CS3 Extended

The Rhododendrons will blossom soon!

While searching for images to be printed in the June issue of WNC Magazine I came across a photograph that I had taken in 2005. I had all but forgotten about this image! Not sure why, for I really love this one. After getting the images together for two, two-page full-bleed Vista images and two more photos for a special feature about the North Carolina Mountains, I decided that I had better get my images caught up in my cataloging software. Man, I’m so far behind! Anyway, I thought that I’d post this image, being that it’s so perfect for the upcoming season in the highcountry. 

 

Spring in the highcountry, Craggy Gardens, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina

 

Canon EOS 5D, TS-E 45mm (rise and very slight off-axis tilt), Polarizer, f/16 @ .6 sec, ISO 200

Solitude, Beauty Spot Gap, Unaka Mountains, TN & NC

As the title implies, “Solitude” is the first thing that comes to my mind with this tree, which I know very well. It stands alone in an open meadow along the Appalachian Trail. I’ve been shooting in this area for over 10-years and I just keep coming back. It’s like an old friend that keeps revealing a new side every season.

Canon EOS 5D, TS-E 24mm (rise only), no filters, f/14 @ 1/125sec, ISO 250

Processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CS3 extended

 

Spring forest #2, Unaka Mountain Wilderness, Tennessee

This is another photograph that I took in the Unaka Mountain Wilderness Area. I am so drawn to the forest floor in the spring. The may-apple and trillium leaves are just beautiful. The fog created the mysterious feeling I wanted to convey. The combination of the large tree and smaller, younger, trees topped off the scene for me.

Canon EOS 5D, TS-E 24mm (fall with tilt), no filters, f/14 @ 1/100 sec, ISO 250

Processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CS3 Extended

Feel free to comment on any of my posts, I encourage it! Thank you for visiting!

 

Spring forest, Unaka Mountain Wilderness Area, Tennessee

What a great morning! I really love to spend my days shooting in the mountains when it is fogged in. I love how the forest changes its demeanor when shrouded in fog.

EOS 5D, TS-E 24mm (fall w/ tilt), f/11, 1/30sec

Photo processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CS3 Extended

Buffalo Mountain Fire plus ATV trail on Buffalo!

Buffalo Mountain fire! It does look as though the fire was started along the trail. They are saying that it was set by a human, no word whether intentional or accident. The main trail is an ATV trail and I have my suspicions on how this was started if it did, indeed, start on or near the ATV trail. More than likely, a cigarette or exhaust from an ATV or motorcycle. I’ve always been torn between my feelings for ATV areas in our mountains. I grew up riding and racing motorcycles, on and off-road. But, I HAVE NEVER SEEN the type of destruction that the ATV’s are causing in our mountains! The problem is the very apparent disconnect between the operators and the environment they are riding in. They DO NOT lift a finger when it comes to maintaining the trail systems. This is the #1 thing that they could do to repair their image with the general public. Also, by showing a bit of responsibility they could, very well, be rewarded more places to ride. I just don’t understand the mentality of these riders. They need to wake up! Maybe a required class needs to be taken before they could ride in these areas. Someone needs to teach them how to ride and respect the privilege of riding these trails. They need to understand that riding on these trails is a privilege not a right!

 

Please note: I’m not blaming anyone or any group for the fire. I’ll leave that up to the officials that are investigating the fire. I’m making a comment about the destruction of the forest around the ATV trail. When I moved here, just over 12-years ago, only mountain bikes and motorcycles rode the multi-use trail on Buffalo and the trail was a single-track trail with very few problems. Now it is a highway! Huge mud-filled holes with multiple, illegal, trails running all over the place. Riders should police themselves! If they see someone riding illegally then they should handle it accordingly. If not, they should loose the rights to ride the trail, period!

 

 

 

Rocky Fork Gorge, Unicoi County, Tennessee

 

WOW! What a wonderful hike! My friend Dave Ramsey and I made the hike up into the gorge where Rocky Fork drops over 250′ in less than a 1/2-mile. It’s very impressive as Rocky Fork drops over, through, and around the massive, house-sized, boulders as it works its way to the convergence with Flint Creek. The hike up is a bit challenging due to no really defined trail access. There’s an old faint road with a fisherman’s trail but it crosses Rocky Fork many times. I found it more fun to wear my Chaco’s and work my way along the edge, wading into the crystal clear water, just enjoying the trip. I can say, we were probably the first to be in there for a while, maybe in years! This is the great part with Rocky Fork; it has the feel of Great Smoky Mountains National Park but no people! Most of the time that I’ve been in Rocky Fork, I can feel comfortable in saying that I was the only human being in the entire 10,000-acre tract! It’s a great feeling!

 EOS 5D, TS-E 45mm w/ polarizer, f/14 @1/4sec

Foamflower, wild blue phlox & star chickweed, Shelton Laurel Backcountry Area, Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina

 

The Shelton Laurel Backcountry Area is really a wonderful place! Abbey and I took our little girl, Serén, on her first hike in the mountains there yesterday. The flowers are still beautiful! There’s an abundance of purple phaceila, wild blue phlox, wild geranium, trillium, and the list goes on! walking up the old road is like walking through a wildflower garden! Here’s another closeup from a few days back.

EOS 5D, TS-E 90mm w/ EF1.4x extender, extension tubes, f/7.0 @ 1/12 sec, ISO 250

Crab Spider and Black Swallowtail, the food chain in miniture!

 

Again, I don’t do very much close-up work with the camera but this was just awesome! Well, kind of freakish to me actually, for I’m not a fan of spiders! As I was photographing the beautiful flowers I noticed these swallowtails that were not moving like the others. With closer inspection I notice why, they were lunch for a wonderful little crab spider!

BTW, the TS-E 90mm makes a wonderful macro lens! It will focus to 1′ without extensions tubes and it stops down to f/32. I set this up with my 1.4x extender and extension tubes.

EOS 5D, TS-E 90mm w/ EF1.4x + extension tubes, f/9 @ 1/5 sec

Spring Fern #1, Shelton Laurel Backcountry Area, Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina

It’s been a long time since I’ve photographed close-ups. I’ve never really been one to even think about it but over the past few days I’ve had a great time looking at the natural world in miniature. This was one of my favorites of today’s shoot! Shay, my Border Collie, and I went out for a few hours this morning and it was perfect! I’ll post more over the next few days.

EOS 5D, TS-E 90mm w/ EF1.4x extender, extension tubes, f/10, 1/4 sec