Chasing Waterfalls

[moose135]

Since I've been down in North Carolina, I seem to have developed a fondness for shooting waterfalls. Primarily in the mountains in the western part of the state, there are hundreds of waterfalls of different heights and sizes. Saturday morning, I set out for Blowing Rock, in the northwest part of NC. There were three waterfalls I was looking to find, on and near the northern section of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

First stop was at the Cascade Falls, on the BRP. Unfortunately, while there is a nice trail to the falls, there isn't a good spot to see the entire falls. And the parking area is at the top, meaning a decent climb back up the trail after you've seen the falls...

This is the upper section of the Cascades:

http://www.moose135photography.com/NorthCarolina/Chasing-Waterfalls/i-czHk77K/0/XL/JM_2013_07_20_Cascade_Falls_003-XL.jpg

And the lower section:

http://www.moose135photography.com/NorthCarolina/Chasing-Waterfalls/i-Q4qJsFt/0/XL/JM_2013_07_20_Cascade_Falls_001-XL.jpg

And this is the stream leading to the falls:

http://www.moose135photography.com/NorthCarolina/Chasing-Waterfalls/i-brVQdrt/0/XL/JM_2013_07_20_Cascade_Falls_002-XL.jpg

From there, I headed to Widow's Creek Falls, in a state park off the BRP. It's said to be a very nice set of falls, and not far from the road. Unfortunately, it looked like there was a wedding going on there, with cars parked everywhere and a million people hanging around, so it will have to wait for another day.

My last stop was Moravian Falls, in the town of the same name. The falls are located at a small campgrounds, with an old mill next to the falls.

http://www.moose135photography.com/NorthCarolina/Chasing-Waterfalls/i-Q9xDzHv/0/XL/JM_2013_07_20_Moravian_Falls_004-XL.jpg

http://www.moose135photography.com/NorthCarolina/Chasing-Waterfalls/i-PTsxqCm/0/XL/JM_2013_07_20_Moravian_Falls_001-XL.jpg

http://www.moose135photography.com/NorthCarolina/Chasing-Waterfalls/i-N8D5ktw/0/XL/JM_2013_07_20_Moravian_Falls_003-XL.jpg

http://www.moose135photography.com/NorthCarolina/Chasing-Waterfalls/i-Ns5NjQb/0/XL/JM_2013_07_20_Moravian_Falls_007-XL.jpg

http://www.moose135photography.com/NorthCarolina/Chasing-Waterfalls/i-HpPLsHK/0/XL/JM_2013_07_20_Moravian_Falls_008-XL.jpg

http://www.moose135photography.com/NorthCarolina/Chasing-Waterfalls/i-KM8Nkvw/0/XL/JM_2013_07_20_Moravian_Falls_002-XL.jpg

As I was getting near the mountains in the morning, the skies opened up - a recurring theme around here this summer. It was so bad, a number of us pulled into an empty parking lot along side the highway to wait it out, including this lady who had to improvise to try to stay dry in her topless Jeep...

http://www.moose135photography.com/NorthCarolina/Around-North-Carolina/i-KxBCdhx/1/L/JM_2013_07_20_Storm_001-L.jpg

[Cary]

Moose finds his natural environment...nice shots :P

[Vinny Ohare]

Very nice shots Moose! Beautiful area, my friend rents cabins up in Virginia and you may have inspired me to rent one out and unplug for a weekend.

[threeholerglory]

1:58


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WEtxJ4-sh4

Nice shots Moose! I'll be down in Asheville this weekend...can't wait!

[Roush6NY]

Great shots !

[captmjk16]

Pretty cool stuff Moose.

[wunaladreamin]

Really great shots Moose!

[MarkLawrence]

Awesome shots John!!! That is just stunning stuff!

[Derf]

Very Nice John, love the slow shutter!

[Zee71]

Great images Moose and love the shot of the Jeep and the umbrella.

[moose135]

Thanks guys! Mike, have fun in Asheville. I'd take a ride out, but I'm going to be in DC this weekend.


...love the slow shutter!
I recently got myself a variable ND filter (2-8 stop) so I was shooting some of these at 25 - 30 second shutter speeds.

[steve1840]

Excellent shots moose! Making me want to go find some waterfalls now and use my recently purchased variable ND filter as well.

[BDLGUY]

John,

Did you use your tripod when you took photos of the waterfalls? Also what is your glass filter?

Thanks!
John P.

[moose135]

Yes, I was using a tripod for these shots. I had just gotten a Tiffen 2-8 stop variable ND filter, and used that on a Sigma 17-50mm lens. Some of the shots from Moravian Falls were 25-30 seconds, at the darkest setting on the ND filter.

[Aviation.High.Guy]

Great images Moose. I shot the falls at Dupont state forest while we were in Asheville last week. Triple falls over there is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen.

[tlabranche]

Great shots!

[moose135]

Finally had good weather on a weekend when I was home, so I took a ride out for some more waterfalls. First stop was Dupont State Forest and Triple Falls. As Don said, it's quite spectacular.

http://moose135.smugmug.com/NorthCarolina/Chasing-Waterfalls/i-95FkHmS/0/L/JM_2013_08_24_Triple_Falls_002-L.jpg

At this intermediary section, you can go out into the water at the base of the upper falls section, and being a warm, sunny Saturday, there were loads of people there - it was a challenge to get a mostly clear shot.

http://moose135.smugmug.com/NorthCarolina/Chasing-Waterfalls/i-NWFk7Kv/0/L/JM_2013_08_24_Triple_Falls_004-L.jpg

Looking down the lower section.

http://moose135.smugmug.com/NorthCarolina/Chasing-Waterfalls/i-wbXF2bQ/0/L/JM_2013_08_24_Triple_Falls_006-L.jpg

From the same parking area, it's an easy walk to Hooker Falls, but I've read that they are even more popular for splashing around in, so I'm saving that for a cooler day. After leaving Dupont, I stopped at Looking Glass Falls. They are right off the highway - and are also a popular swimming site.

http://moose135.smugmug.com/NorthCarolina/Chasing-Waterfalls/i-X6vbqFh/0/L/JM_2013_08_24_Looking_Glass_Falls_003-L.jpg

http://moose135.smugmug.com/NorthCarolina/Chasing-Waterfalls/i-pDtdT4b/0/L/JM_2013_08_24_Looking_Glass_Falls_002-L.jpg

Not far from these, is the Living Waters Ministry retreat center. They have three waterfalls on their property, and they permit the public to enter and view them. Two of them are side by side - the French Broad Falls (on the left) and the Shoal Creek Falls.

http://moose135.smugmug.com/NorthCarolina/Chasing-Waterfalls/i-jH4JKs7/0/L/JM_2013_08_24_French_Broad_Falls_002-L.jpg

http://moose135.smugmug.com/NorthCarolina/Chasing-Waterfalls/i-DPGJbFh/0/L/JM_2013_08_24_Shoal_Creek_Falls_001-L.jpg

http://moose135.smugmug.com/NorthCarolina/Chasing-Waterfalls/i-r75P8p8/0/L/JM_2013_08_24_French_Broad_Falls_003-L.jpg

Down the river from those two is Cathedral Falls. These are from the upper portion of the falls. The trail looked like it continued down toward the bottom, but it was getting dark and I decided to save that for another time.

http://moose135.smugmug.com/NorthCarolina/Chasing-Waterfalls/i-Z2SK9WJ/0/L/JM_2013_08_24_Cathedral_Falls_001-L.jpg

http://moose135.smugmug.com/NorthCarolina/Chasing-Waterfalls/i-LhxjcDm/0/L/JM_2013_08_24_Cathedral_Falls_002-L.jpg

I did spend some time on the Blue Ridge Parkway - found a nice spot to shoot sunset, and maybe do some star photography. Unfortunately, just as the sun was heading down, the clouds started rolling in...

[Aviation.High.Guy]

Beautiful!!

[727C47]

back in '93 I was spending 3 nights a week in Asheville, on a freight run that originated in Toronto,we flew DC3s, round the the clock , in every type of weather, we faced the worst ice encountered in my career over those Blue Ridge mountains, but I came to love,and cherish our time there.