While leading a series of photo workshops in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park last week, we made a couple of visits to Roaring Fork, one of the most beautiful mountain streams I know out of all the places I have been and seen. Roaring Fork’s signature characteristic is the presence of lush, mossy green boulders scattered throughout the course of its dash toward the tawdry gateway town of Gatlinburg. This year, Roaring Fork was particularly green and lush.
I wanted to create one image that captured how the sight of this stream made me feel every spring when confronted with the soothing greens and the tumbling water of the “Fork.” Usually, I would work very hard to find a striking, dynamic composition that was uniquely mine or in-your-face bold. I might wait a scene out on my day off for unusual lighting conditions or fog perhaps. This time, however, I was content to simply let the sheer beauty of the subject itself carry the image. The light is overcast and flat. Nothing epic here. The composition, while still agonizingly worked out, is rather simple and pedestrian. It won’t make my top ten images for the year, yet I love this. It doesn’t contain any deep, hidden meanings nor any geopolitical statements, unless the viewer finds one on his or her own. It’s simply beauty for beauty’s sake.
Canon EOS 5D Mk2, Canon 16-35 f2.8II, 1 second @ f16, ISO 100, polarizing filter
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6 Comments
I love this photo! It is beautiful, And I love Roaring Fork! Get to the beras most of the time when we drive through! Love the Smoky Mts, Thanks for sharing the picture!
Beautiful shot Richard. Looks alot like the Columbia River Gorge out here in Oregon. Keep those great shots coming!
New follower from NPN & Twitter…
Thanks for sharing the image and the thought process behind it. I’m always curious what image editing is done and what software is used. Nothing in great detail. If you have a moment. Feel free to drop an email.
I gasped when I first saw the photograph, so beautiful. I live in Australia and my son did photography for a while so I got used to selecting what was good. He did a lot of this sort of shot when we walked in Lamington National park — breathtaking place. I write, and I think he’s going to return to photography. My husband died 16 months ago, so we talk about these things. Thank you so much.
Lovely photo, I am a firm believer in beauty for beauties sake, we are so much poorer when we cannot look at a scene like this and think WOW!
Wow just beautiful! I’m beyond envious that you were able to see this with the naked eye as well as thru the lens. Thanks for capturing this image and sharing it with us.