This waterfall is an old friend.  I visit every time I’m in the area.  It represents outoor adventure for me.  I wasn’t even twenty when I moved to South Carolina from the suburbs of Washington D.C.  I quickly became aware of the Wild & Scenic Chattooga River, and not long after, the abundance of waterfalls along the Blue Ridge Escarpment (though it would take years to learn this term and its meaning).  The forests and waterfalls became a magnet for me, their pull an adventure that I needed to explore.

I sat at this waterfall in my twenties, just before leaving the area for my first career position in Construction Management.  I wondered if I’d ever return; if I’d ever have this sort of time again to spend chasing adventure along a trail, in the forest.  I didn’t even have a camera or a cell phone pic to commemorate the moment (and back then it didn’t matter one lick anyhow).

Turns out, I returned to the area a few years later to pursue a Master’s Degree.  And I brought a budding enthusiasm for my newfound hobby of landscape photography with me.  I couldn’t wait to test my newfound hobby against all of these waterfalls and rivers.  I shouldv’e been this excited about my studies at the University, but it was my time out here–driving dirt roads, hiking forested trails, standing beneath waterfalls, trying to communicate visually with the camera–that became the quiet hum of motivation in my life.

Here I am, in my forties, still visiting the same waterfall.  I’ve made photography central to my life:  my lifestyle.  I’ve seen the waterfall better.  I’ve photographed it better.  Doesn’t matter.  I still go.  It’s no different than visiting family.  It’s still important–the process:  the driving dirt roads, hiking in the dark, the first bare foot into a cold moving stream, the magic on the back of the camera when a slow shutter transforms the water.  These experiences–outdoor photography–have become the steady hum of my otherwise quiet life.  There’s still a feeling of importance–that I’m answering something deeper, something meaningful, within myself.

Camera:  Nikon D850
Lens:  Nikon 17-35mm f2.8 @ 25mm
Tripod:  Really Right Stuff TVC-33

Date taken:  April 20, 2025
Settings:  f13, 0.5 second, iso 250