Tuesday, October 2, 2012

North Carolina's Mountain Treasures

The Wilderness Society's new book features some of my photographs.



That's my Osprey shot on the cover and these photos are included in the book.
  


It's also in the Preface along with the next one of Horseshoe Bend in Swain County, NC, which they cropped.






Siler Bald along the Appalaichian Trail in Macon County, NC.


Alarka Creek in Swain County, NC

Cullasaja Falls in Macon County, NC
Cullasaja is Cherokee for where the sweet waters flow.  
This picture is "stitched" together from 3 horizontal shots.  
Stitching allows you to get a normal perspective with wide-angle framing.

Whiteside Mountain in Jackson County, NC



Friday, September 7, 2012

SCIWAY Pictures

I've let SCIWAY use some of my pictures, since they promote tourism in SC.
Stono River Sunset and Sandpiper Pond were the South Carolina Picture of the Day.  The Stono River shot caught the attention of NIX526, since there would be a bridge built over the Stono River not far from where this shot was taken.  Waites Island is privately owned and there is a portion that was donated to Coastal Carolina University as an educational research facility.  

Stono River Sunset


Waites Island


Wadmalaw Island Sunset


Brookgreen Gardens



Sandpiper Pond
at Huntington Beach State Park


Milldam Plantation
(also known at Kinloch Plantation)


Thursday, September 6, 2012

Iotla Valley School Pictures

The new Iotla Valley School just opened in August 2012.  They bought 12 of my pictures and I made 13"x19" prints and framed them at 18"x24".  They are hanging in groups around the school.  They are also using smaller-sized prints for directional signs.  All of the pictures were taken within a few miles of the school.  There are larger views and picture descriptions below.




Iotla Valley School Pictures

Light on the Ramsey Farm – I decided that I was always taking pictures on beautiful blue-sky days and that there also was something beautiful about changing weather.  So, I started a series on changing weather and this was the first image.


Albert’s View – This is the second image in the changing weather series, taken just two days after Light on the Ramsey Farm.  I was driving on Iotla Ridge and saw the clouds and sun to the west.  I decided to drive over to Al & Margaret Ramsey’s house and pulled in the driveway.  I knew Margaret but I’d never met Al before.  I introduced myself to him as I ran with my camera to capture the shot before the light changed.  He came down the steps and introduced himself saying, “I’m Al Ramsey, or what’s left of him”.  I named the picture Albert’s View and made him a print.


Variegated Fritillary Riverbend Road – I discovered butterflies in 2003 and have been shooting them ever since.  In looking for other ways to photograph them, I came up with what I call butterfly landscapes.  You need a shot worthy of taking without the butterfly and you need the butterflies to cooperate.  Needless to say, you don’t find that combination often.  I love this view of the Houston place, LTLT’s Gibson Bottoms, with Mason Mountain and Peak’s Bald & Mouse Mountain in the background.


Cowee Scene – I’ve been taking pictures from this spot on Cowee Creek Road for years.  I have it in all seasons.  I place my camera on top of the same fencepost and frame the shot the same every time.  It is Mouse Mountain and Grant Knob in the background.


Cowee Fish Weir – I’d taken pictures of the fish weir before, but never with anyone on the river.  I drove past it one day and saw this couple a few hundred yards upstream.  I pulled over, ran back, made it through the cane by the side of the river and positioned myself right as they reached the weir.


Ramsey Hills – This is the view of the Ramsey’s back pasture after you drive by the airport headed towards Hwy 28.  It was taken in the fall, late in the day when the sun is low and the light is pretty.


Harvest Moon – I had seen the moon rising over the Gibson pasture on Riverbend Road and thought it would make a good.  One fall evening, I decided to take my camera and hang out on the hill and wait for the moon to rise.  They had just rolled the hay and I liked the light on the hay bales in the sunset with the moon coming up behind them.


Those Precious Mules – I tried several times to capture Clayton Ramsey’s mules with some success, but the light the morning I took this was exceptional.  If you look closely, you can see small rainbows in the morning mist on the right near the old Houston house.  The mules, from left to right, are Amos, Jim, and June.  The title comes from Clayton’s daughter, Sharon, who referred to them that way when I showed her the picture.  Clayton proclaimed, “Well, they are the only livestock I have left!” when I told him what Sharon had said. 


River Smoke – I tried to get this picture for several years, but I always shot into the sun or away from it.  This day, a few minutes after I took Those Precious Mules, I went down to the Little Tennesee River near Iolta Bridge and shot at a 90-degree angle to the sun.  Voila, that was the secret.  Often I get more than one good shot in a day and sometimes I get nothing.


Making Hay at the Cowee Mound – Before the Cherokee regained the Cowee Mound, the Fouts family made hay on the property, which is the old Hall Farm.  I was there taking a butterfly landscape for LTLT day after day and one day they came and rolled the hay.


Great Spangled Fritillary at the Cowee Mound – The Cowee Mound is probably my favorite place on earth and a great place to take pictures and see butterflies. 


Frank Smith Rickman Store – I saw Frank Smith, Pepe, his dog, and Sugar, his mule, out for a ride one fall day near the Rickman Store.  By the time I stopped and got out of the car, he was past it.  I knew him, so I asked if he would go back and come past it again.  He did immediately and by the time I was ready he was almost past it again, but I got this one shot.



Cherokee Preservation Foundation Report Cover



This is a Variegated Fritillary at the Cowee Mound, which the Cherokee purchased in a deal brokered by the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee.  



Land Trust for the Litlle Tennessee Fundraising Brochure

This piece was produced for the 2012 LTLT fundraising effort.  All of the photographs are mine.  This is the .pdf file that was sent to the printer, so it has press marks.  




Here's the follow-up piece which continues the land, water, culture theme.
LAND is the sunrise from the brochure.  WATER is a shot of ducks on the Little Tennessee River, the only time I ever saw it frozen.  CULTURE is a shot of an old barn in West's Mill that LTLT recently acquired.




North Carolina Land Trusts Directory


North Carolina Land Trusts selected my fishing picture for the cover of their 2012 Directory.  It was taken along the Little Tennessee River in Swain County, North Carolina, near the swinging bridge at Horsehoe Bend.  The other pictures are not mine.



Horry Georgetown Technical College Billboards

I took a number of pictures of classes for HGTC, and they selected some for billboards.  The first one is Cosmetology, the second is Forestry.  
The golf picture was shot for a billboard and a golf course was Photoshopped behind him.







Monday, July 16, 2012

Smoky Mountain Free Press Article


This is an article in the Smoky Mountain Free Press with my pictures.


First Creation Commemorative Book


The Highlands Cashiers Land Trust published First Creation to celebrate their 100th anniversay. The cover photo is not mine, but I do have 21 of my pictures included.  The first printing sold out and there was a second one.

Here is my version of the cover shot and the 21 pictures they selected for the book.  If you click on any of the pictures, you will get a slide show with a larger view. Click Read more to see the pictures.  


Blue Ridge Forever Posters




These are 32" x 40" posters made to hang in store windows.



Mountain Landscapes "Toolbox" Front Page

































I did lots of photography and videography for Mountain Landscapes Initiative, including landscapes, portraits, video interviews, and video B-roll.

Franklin Chamber of Commerce's Vistor Guide


I love butterflies and photographing them.  I wrote this article for the Franklin, NC, Chamber of Commerce's Visitor Guide and illustrated it with my butterfly pictures.