This town offers the best of both worlds, both country and downtown experiences. The farmland surrounding the town center is quintessential charming, the stuff of childrens’ storybooks. Lush valleys currently supporting fields of corn and cattle, surrounded by blue mountains. I have photographed these areas through different seasons. This is the Summer look.
I live in the city, an increasingly busy city, but my heart has always been for the country and wide open spaces. This last week or so, I have enjoyed a slightly higher elevation, less humidity, and cooler temperatures in the town of Hillsborough, North Carolina. Keeping me company were my two kids, their spouses, and six grandkids! What fun for these city kids to feed chickens and pigs and collect eggs mornings and evenings. We also found and killed two snakes that were stealing the eggs. Tomorrow I move on to Brevard, my favorite mountain town, but here are some pics from this past week.
Some years I have barely managed to get away to my favorite places in North Carolina once during the fall season, but this year I was blessed with the opportunity to visit three times. These photos were from this third visit over Thanksgiving, and in Tryon the leaves were barely hanging on to the tree limbs. Thick carpets of dried foliage on the ground crunched underfoot as we walked the trails. Everything looked a glorious mess, and it was cool and crisp but sunny. So grateful for these good times with good friends.
Every fall I try to spend time in Western North Carolina. I am like a child in a wonder world when surrounded by the brilliant colors of Fall. I don’t always time it right, but this time everything came together and I hit the peak for this area. I like to base myself in Brevard, because from here it’s a short run up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and elevations of 6,000 feet (where the trees are already bare) or I can wander around further down the mountains. Right now I’m socked in for a couple of days by a front that’s moving through and bringing a lot of rain, but here are a few from the last couple of days. No saturation added, in fact I had to back off the colors because they were almost an assault on the eyes! My favorite time of year.
This entry will be “Part I” since I plan to return in about 3 weeks to hopefully photograph some fall color in the lower elevations. The first image is of Hooker Falls in the Du Pont State Forest at Cedar Mountain. The other photos were taken from the Blue Ridge Parkway, mainly at 4,000 ft and above, where the color has just started to show. The last image is of Rough Ridge Overlook, one of the higher BRP overlook elevations where the color was magnificent. Hang in there leaves, I’ll be back soon!
I wouldn’t go so far as to say there was a “nip” in the air yet, but it is getting cooler and the humidity is dropping. The mornings are glorious and some trees are beginning to drop their leaves. Just another couple of weeks and nature will start to amaze with her explosion of color in the higher elevations of North and South Carolina. I was looking back through some photos I took in the fall of 2016, a particularly good year for color. Hopefully 2021 will not disappoint.
When I heard that Hurricane Isaias came ashore at Oak Island, North Carolina, I was dismayed, remembering this beautiful part of the OBX that I had explored on foot and by air last year. These images were shot last Summer and it was so sad to see the latest video footage of the destruction caused this past week. My best to the people of Oak Island and Bald Head Island, I know they will bounce back strong.
Well, not really mountains, but the foothills in Tryon, North Carolina. After so long feeling constrained by the threat of COVID19, it was with joy that I hit the road this weekend with two girlfriends to spend two nights in a country creekside cabin. The area had had a lot of rain over the preceding few days, so the creeks were torrents, and waterfalls cascaded exuberantly over the rocks, sending drenching spray into the spring air. What a refreshing for the soul, and what a blessing.
When I fly for aerial images in Charleston, I am spoiled with being able to shoot out of a helicopter, without doors, which affords the best and widest possible viewing area. When I travel to smaller towns, helicopters are rarely available (especially at an affordable rental rate) so I made do with the next best thing, a Cessna 172 high wing plane. This is a challenge because you are constantly trying to avoid including part of the wing strut in the image. Also I find the vibration more excessive, which results in a higher percentage of blurry images. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful evening, and I was satisfied with my final collection. Enjoy the views of the area around Southport, North Carolina, definitely an area to add to your travel bucket list.
Having spent much time exploring Beaufort, (pronounced Bewfort), South Carolina, I am currently discovering Beaufort (pronounced Bowfort), North Carolina. This quaint town has long been on my bucket list of places to visit and here I am for a few days. The waterfront area is quaint and reminiscent for me of the Georgetown, South Carolina waterfront. There are inlets and marinas aplenty, with boats possibly outnumbering cars in this area. Here are a few images from this afternoon’s preliminary excursion, and I am about to head out to find the Milky Way. It should be a lot more prominent here, since the skies are dark and don’t suffer from the same negative impact of light pollution that we experience in Charleston, SC.
