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...
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,...
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...
"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....
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...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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....
Jocassee Gorges - Spring 2023The Southern Appalachian Mountains are defined by their biodiversity. To know this place--to understand the physical landscape--is to know the plants. This is what I've come to believe. Chasing the early spring bloom as a photographer is...
Hiding Among Tall Grasses Gray's Lilies are globally rare wildflowers growing within critically imperiled habitat. I travel to the grassy balds of the Roan Highlands to visit the largest known population of these wonderful Southern Appalachian wildflowers. Late...
2022: Year in ReviewFirst with the good. It was a tremendously productive year. I processed, catalogued, and keyworded over seven hundred new images. Nearly two per day on average. In the field, I connected more intimately with the landscape. I found new (and...
Trip Journal: June 12-15, 2022The Blue Ridge Parkway is America's longest linear park travelling 469 miles along the spine of the Blue Ridge Mountains from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina. Overlook...
Trip Journal: June 9-11, 2022 The Blue Ridge Parkway is America's longest linear park travelling 469 miles along the spine of the Blue Ridge Mountains from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina. Overlook...
Trip Journal: April 27 - May 4, 2022 The Blue Ridge Escarpment is a place of transition where the high mountains of Western North Carolina drop dramatically into the Piedmont of South Carolina and Georgia below. Steep elevational drops, high rates of precipitation,...
Trip Journal: April 20-26, 2022The Blue Ridge Escarpment is a place of transition where the high mountains of Western North Carolina drop dramatically into the Piedmont of South Carolina and Georgia below. Steep elevational drops, high rates of precipitation, and...
I'm partial to Oconee Bell wildflowers! Perhaps it's because I lived in Upstate South Carolina for almost a decade. I moved from Northern Virginia to Upstate South Carolina for college at Clemson University. After leaving for work, I returned again for a second...
February means the end of winter for me: it signals the start of the great spring bloom. I don't much care for the daffodils that decorate suburban lawns and manicured gardens. I do, however, get very excited about the return of natives like trillium and bluebells....
Happy Valentine's Day, folks! When I lived in Upstate South Carolina I drove NC-107 frequently to access the Chattooga River and to get up to the Blue Ridge Escarpment. Silver Run Falls, a small waterfall near Cashiers, North Carolina, was just off the roadside. The...
In 2013 I lived in an apartment in Upstate South Carolina. Whenever the forecast showed snow for the mountains of Western North Carolina, Whiteside Mountain is where I would rush off to. It was a straight shot up the sinuous NC-107. Whiteside Mountain is the...
Becoming a full-time landscape photographer was a real thought at this point in my life (2014). It was risky for me. I had invested heavily--both time and finances--in my degrees and work experience within the construction industry. Cutting the cord was going to be...
2020 was nuts! I don't need to repeat what all of us have already lived--it was different, to say the least. My bubble included others: we climbed all over each other; we participated (willing or unwilling) in each others teleconferences and online seminars; we...
As I write this in late December, my area of Northern Virginia is but a sprinkle of rain from being the wettest year on record (Update: we got the extra rain and we broke the record). 2018 was wet. The damp certainly had its effect on annual blooms and seasonal...
In March 2016, while I was photographing the annual spring bloom in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, Our State Magazine--a North Carolina periodical--reached out to me and offered an opportunity to complete an assignment to be featured in the April 2017...
YEAR IN REVIEW 16 Memories for the Year 2016 Mark VanDyke, Photographer 7 December 2016 This year more than any before I began to understand that it's not about the image for me personally. I stopped obsessing about getting the image or wondering about how I'm going...