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Roan Highlands Sand Myrtle
Landscape photography, for me, is like assembling a puzzle. Only this puzzle--the outcome of which is an understanding of place--can be approached and completed from infinite different angles and strategies. The pieces don't follow any particular order or make any...
Valley Fog Sunrise
I'm a morning person. I'll always favor the early hours of day. The way that I feel physically: loose, energized, strong. The way I feel mentally: fresh, hopeful, optimistic, a sea of possibility. I'm relaxed but I'm also primed. The new day is another...
Cliff Saxifrage
Cliff Saxifrage is an extremely tiny wildflower native to the Southern Appalachian Mountains. It grows in the damndest of places, appearing along the margins of rock outcrops at high elevation. I've always smiled that such a dainty flower chooses to live in such an...
Inverted Cloud Spring Sunrise
Anyone familiar with cloud, or temperature, inversions knows how hypnotic they can be. Warm air traps cooler air, the pressure and temperature difference bringing intangible elements of the landscape to life. A layer of misty fog seems to crawl across the lush,...
Art Loeb Trail Sunset
The Black Balsam area off the Blue Ridge Parkway is one that I'm pretty familiar with, but that I've also never much connected with. Not sure why. The Art Loeb Trail, shown here, traverses the crest of open, grassy balds. The views are gorgeous. The popularity of...
Spring Mountains + Rainstorm
"A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because its trust is not on the branch but on its own wings." --Charlie Wardle Despite failing more than succeeding at the business of photography, I've never questioned the "rightness" of the pursuit....
Indian Paintbrush Green Flowers
While my photography client and I were working a roadside meadow together along the southern Blue Ridge Parkway in Western North Carolina, she called me over to see some beautiful water droplets that were hanging from the stigma of each greenish/yellow flower on an...
Painted Trillium Translucent Leaves
My favorite photo clients are those who can appreciate--and even enthusiastically embrace--the small. I know, I probably shouldn't say that. Sorry, not sorry :-). The Southern Appalachian Mountains are absolutely full of beautiful small botanical treasures, each...
Cloud Inversion Sunrise
I'm always nervous before leading a paid photography adventure. While I have no control over the weather--and the weather will largely shape the experience of outdoor photography--I still want to deliver the type of day that will inspire my clients to keep...
Blue Ridge Parkway Sunrise
I love to witness sunrise from the Blue Ridge Parkway. Instead of posting up at a popular overlook, however, I've taken to the challenge of finding atypical views between the overlooks. This was between East Fork Overlook and Black Balsam in Western North Carolina....
Looking Glass Rock Inverted Clouds
If you've ever driven the southern Blue Ridge Parkway through Western North Carolina, there's one iconic rock that you'll likely remember: Looking Glass Rock. Standing nearly four thousand feet in elevation with a slick, bare surface of whiteside granite, Looking...
Bearded Grass Pink Orchid
Rare plants occur in rare places. To know one is to know the other; each points the seeker towards the other. British writer Peter Marren writes, "rarity lends a plant distinction. ...The plant is not only precious, but part of the meaning of place, its genius...
Tremont Cascade Spring
The Middle Fork of Little River within Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) is a target rich environment for photographers. This area is known locally as "Tremont" after either the historic logging town and/or the current Tremont Institute. A dirt road...
Roaring Fork Sun Beams
While wading Roaring Fork, I rounded a bend a came across this beautiful scenic of sunlight beaming through thick forest and onto lush, mossy boulders within the river. The temperature variant between the water and the air was such that low-lying fog was hanging just...
Roaring Fork Mossy Stones
I've always shied away from Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Too busy. Too commercial. Too many visitors. And, perhaps most importantly, I felt I could find similar landscapes outside of the park that were quietier, less visited, without the hustle of...