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...
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...
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...
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...
Whiteside Mountain in Western North Carolina's Jackson County has the highest sheer cliffs in Eastern North America at nearly 800ft. The mountain itself stands at just under five-thousand feet in elevation and the sheer faces point generally southward. Anytime I am...
The Chattooga River was designated Wild & Scenic on May 10, 1974. Fifty years later in May 2024, I found myself behind the camera on the banks of this beautiful river. The Wild & Scenic Chattooga River has long been a favorite destination: I was introduced...
I moved to South Carolina for college in 2001. Soon enough, I was taken with the surrounding landscapes, particularly the waterfalls. This was long before the tourism board made any efforts to mark or sign these landscape features. Waterfalls were, for me,...
This is my favorite waterfall. This is where, when I lived in Upstate South Carolina, I went to sit and find silence; the type of silence that is loud on the exterior and quiet on the interior. Most waterfalls in the Southern Appalachians are not solitary features....
Much of the biodiversity in the Southern Appalachian Mountains occurs at a small scale: liverworts, mosses, ferns etc. Becoming comfortable with a macro rig has been hugely liberating for me and my photography. This is a liverwort, a non-vascular land plant that...
Rich Cove Forest is where I lose time! Days seem to compress as I crawl about on hands and knees, finding endless combinations of herbaceous plants to delight me and the lens. Finding rich cove forest isn't hard if you've ever driven the Blue Ridge Parkway in early...
When I returned to Clemson University in 2008 for my master's degree, I was deep into a new passion for landscape photography. There are over three hundred recorded waterfalls in Oconee County, South Carolina. It was my over-zealous goal to visit and photograph them...
I didn't grow up in a naturally rich environment. The suburbs of Washington D.C. are not exactly a playground of wild environments. However, there are surprising pockets of abundance. Every spring, along the rich alluvial floodplains of the Potomac River, Virginia...
While photographing a rapid along the Wild & Scenic Chattoga River in Georgia, I began to notice the teeming life within the vernal pools along the banks of this section of river. Vernal pools are seasonal puddles, distinctinve types of wetlands that are devoid...
The intimate focal range--between wide and telephoto--is often the most challenging for me. And the most rewarding. I don't naturally see in this way: to remove the sky and leading line elements, but also to not punch in so close that the scene becomes abstract,...
I find beauty in shape and pattern. This is the beginning of a Maidenhair Fern. It's absolutely fascinating. And it's why I love macro photography.Camera: Canon EOS 5DrLens: Canon MP-E 65mmTripod: Handheld w/ flash Date taken: March 18, 2024Settings: f14,...
When I bought and built my macro rig, it was with a dream of finding subjects and making images like this one. The Southern Appalachian Mountains are rich with plant and fungi diversity; every hike an opportunity to find, notice, and pay attention to something new,...
*From my journal March 17, 2024: Camp filled up last night. Neighbors on all sides. Children. Bicycles. Dogs. Sounds of life, human life. Sometimes the campground is a real shitshow. Try any weekend. It will almost happen without fail. I thought, as I settled...
In 2021, Pat McMillan and Larry Cushman discovered the only known population of a new species of Saxifrage, which they named Shealy's Saxifrage for Dr. Harry Shealy. Unlike other nearby saxifrages, Shealy's Saxifrage flowers late winter to early spring, has five...
*From my journal, March 15, 2024: Flashes of light. Distant rumbling. Songbirds singing. An eery reddish/pink light at sunrise through the mesh of my tent fly. My first thunderstorm of 2024! Unexpected. Not in the forecast. Plans get derailed. When camping and...
I'll always remember the late Jim Fowler, local wildflower expert, when I photograph Sweet Pinesap. It was his writing and detailed blog posts about this rare plant that lead me to crawling around the forest seeking the beautiful smells of nutmeg, clove and cinnamon....
I became aware of Oconee Bell wildflowers when I moved to South Carolina to attend Clemson University. In 2022, after over nearly twenty years experimenting with photographing these beautiful wildflowers, I finally got myself and my gear in alignment, and I made what...
During winter 24' a strange 4-day stretch of weather left the Outer Banks shrouded in thick fog along the Atlantic Ocean. It stuck around all morning and into the early afternoon. I wish, in hindsight, that I had noted the unique set of weather conditions that...
While walking the beach one very cold and windy winter morning in January 24' I found this beautiful piece of black sea glass along Cape Hatteras National Seashore. It was wet, solid black. Not sure if it was a rock or glass, I held it up to the overcast sky and got...
I drove past this stack of crab pots day after day during the winter of 2024. My rental home was nearby and this area was a frequent way point for me to get eyes on the current environmental conditions. The visual pattern and colors of these stacked crab pots always...
It's general practice for me to be on location forty-five minutes to one-hour before sunrise. I can't know what's going to happen at first light. There's no app for that--and I wouldn't use it anyhow. Each morning I wake up and show up to read the conditions,...
Renting a home in the waterfront town of Manteo, North Carolina for several winters has been a wonderful experience. To be able to access subject matter without the car and at any time of day is beyond convenient; it's beautiful. The most obvious photo subject is...
When I parked at beach access ramp #4 along Cape Hatteras National Seashore on January 10, 2024 I had no ideas about what I might photograph, only that sunset might provide opportunity. What I needed was a walk. Walking clears my head and is often associated, for...