NC Trip: Day 2.

On Sunday we officially left Asheville for the Great Smokey Mountains, where we would stay for three nights at the Nantahala Outdoor Center. Truth: after hiking for two days, we found that our rooms were at...the...bottom of four flights of outdoor steps. To quote Earnest P. Worrel: "These steps might as well be Mt. Everest."

But before that, at the beginning of the day, we headed to the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, a cool seven miles through picturesque forest that includes trailheads to several waterfalls.





I knew from my 'research' that there was a much higher chance of seeing black bears in the Smokies than in the Blue Ridge - but I didn't expect us to encounter one literally five minutes into the trail!





So it looks like an adolescent bear, especially since the mama didn't come barreling out of the woods to eat all dozen of us who had gotten out of our cars to follow the bear on foot.

We chose Grotto Falls as our waterfall for the day; it was warmer than the day before, and the trail, we think, is closer to 2 miles one way than the 1.5 they advertise. Very beautiful, though, and I'd never seen so many rhododenron in bloom as there were this year.







Grotto Falls was literally a piece of paradise. Even with a ton of people there (who happened to be much more cognizant of those who were taking photos).





When photogaphing waterfalls the ideal situation is a cloudy day; we didn't have any of those that week. ;-) Hence my neutral density filters. So it was difficult to get a great exposure in which the water didn't have blown highlights and the surrounding area was exposed correctly (so that the entire photo has even lighting). But, I did what I could! I especially liked the moss-covered rocks at the base.





There are plenty of overlooks along the Parkway; unfortunately I didn't get a snapshot of the name of this one but, the memories last nonetheless.







I was, I'll admit it, a bit adamant about catching the sunset at Clingman's Dome while we were in the Smokies. There was a lot of driving involved, having to get to the NOC and then back to Clingman's, so I'm very grateful to my friends for being up for it.

Lots of sunset photos here!

NC Trip: Day 1.

I didn't expect it to take me this long to post photos! I am ashamed.

On the bright side, I've been kinda busy at the 'business' blog (check out the link, righthand column), redecorating and rearranging things. And I've been learning studio photography and how to shoot people. :) (With my camera) I've also been to the Chinese Lantern Festival at the botanical garden. So there is plenty to post in the coming days and weeks. Hope you enjoy!

Okay. Day 1.

I made it to Asheville in 8 hours and 45 minutes. I am awesome. I managed to sleep a bit before packing up the car and heading out by 1 am. So with no pit stops for sleep - yay! - and two stops for gas (boooo), I showed that stretch of highway who's boss.

We had quite a first day (we being my photog friend Jennie and her husband Randall. I know. I'm always the third wheel). We went to: Looking Glass Falls, Graveyard Fields, the Richland Balsam area, and stopped at a multitude of overlooks all along the way.

I had uber-prepared, as I think I've mentioned here on the blog, by purchasing two more ND filters, both a +4. So stacking them along with the +2 I already had, meant that I could finally, really get those waterfall shots. It also meant that I came to understand the limitations of my camera better, and while I love my entry-level DSLR, I am no longer an entry-level player.

So here's Looking Glass:



Yellowstone Prong along the hike to Graveyard Fields:



A zoom shot of the lower portion of the lower falls (more on why in a sec):



And a portrait-style orientation of the lower falls:



Notice. The people. They were everywhere. In the water, on the rocks, at the top of the falls, at the bottom, crawling up, crawling down...it made me wish I'd packed something other than my camera. Now, the weather was great, and it was a cloudy day for about half of it so prime time for people to get and enjoy their beautiful state. But all the same...I guess I just never though of waterfalls as places to go frolicking in a bathing suit. I thought you were supposed to stand in awe of nature, and get a few great shots. (And believe me, the crowds were worse at Looking Glass)

So there are a few folks in the photo above - but at least they're wearing nice colors. ;-)

A few pretty shots, from the Graveyard trail and from an overlook:







Funnily enough, though I'd gone on this trip with one singular goal besides re-connecting with my friend, that being to capture some great sunsets, I didn't take into account the perfection of the clouds until we were up in the Richland Balsam area.

It was stormy looking...



Then the light began to break through...



And then the heavens opened up.



A great final image for a great first day.

Missouri Botanical Garden.

A couple of months ago I decided that since it was finally spring and I hadn't had hardly anything to photograph since last autumn, I would go out to the botanical garden and splurge on flower photos. (As you may have guessed, I kind of like photographing flowers)

This will likely be my last post before my trip to North Carolina. I leave super early this coming Saturday morning; we've got the logistics mostly planned out, and my money is safely tucked away. We'll be spending a few days in the Smokies, and then a few days tooling around the Blue Ridge Parkway, seeing sights new and old. My calm tone betrays how fantastically over-excited I am to finally be going back, and with two more camera lenses, several different filters, a tripod, and mo' knowledge. Plus a vow to myself to get those overlook photos at either sunrise or sunset, instead of at high noon with nothing but haze and white sky to photograph. :)

Anyway...flowers.