A Litte Break

With some of the recent hospital bills causing a delay in the shop and various projects, as well as a higher workload due to semester changes, I decided that it was time for a break. It’s good to get a little break from the everyday now and then. I’ve recently taken a brief trip to Bryson City, NC and stayed at a small cabin along the Deep Creek River. During that time, I hiked up the Deep Creek trail a bit to view some of the rapids and waterfalls along the river. Deep Creek has a very special meaning to me. I grew up visiting and camping at Deep Creek. I had relatives (now passed) that lived in Bryson City and the campground was very cheap to stay and best of all, it used to be open year-round. This meant that one could go camping during the cold months when all of the tourist-y, fair-weather campers were gone. That’s when I learned how to camp in cold weather. It’s no longer open year-round and the last time I checked the rates, while they are still cheap, they’re going up. When it comes to vacations, if I have a choice between the mountains or the beach, I’m the type of person that will always choose the mountains. Even the most crowded day I’ve spent in the mountains at peak tourist season was preferable to a day at the beach. But, that’s just me.

I’ve taken a lot of photos of Deep Creek before but I’ve never had the opportunity to take specific types of photos there. As an amateur photographer, I’m still learning a lot about digital cameras and their settings to adjust the quality of a photo. But one type of photo I think I’ve gotten good at is what I call a flow shot. I use that term to describe a photograph of water not necessarily captured in a split-second, but rather a slower exposure that captures the “movement” of water. Small rapids and waterfalls are a particular favorite of mine when it comes to this type of photograph, but it has a wider application as well. It requires a few things; one crucial requirement is correct lighting. When taking this type of photograph, too much light can be a bad thing. It’s best to have the shot hidden in the shade, or better yet, an overcast sky. This is the main reason why I don’t have a lot of “flow” shots of Deep Creek. The weather just didn’t make it easy to get those types of photos. But on this trip, the weather was wonderfully cooperative. The sun remained hidden behind overcast for most of the day. It didn’t rain on us and the temperature was cool. This helped with condensation, which can be a real hassle when working with different camera lenses. I took just over 300 photos, most in one day. And, I managed to get one or two critters on still. It’s also helpful to have a camera that can offer a lot of manual control over its settings. Having control over ISO, aperture and shutter speeds will allow one to take a photo with different levels of detail. And, from my photos one can see that many are of the same image, but with different settings. My camera is a Sony Alpha DSLR A390. Mine came standard with the 18-55mm lens but I also purchased an extended range lens, which I think is 50-200mm. Additionally, a darker filter lens would be helpful in reducing the amount of light taken in a longer exposure. It would’ve been nice if I was able to take more shots of the surrounding mountains but I only had so much time to work with. Typically with most good vacations, this one was just way too short.

There’s a reason I don’t often make videos with my pictures and that’s because of time, or more specifically, the lack thereof. I think that I’m not too bad with my camera and if I were to “go pro” I might just be able to earn a living as a professional photographer. But, I’m not a good video editor. In fact, as a video editor, I’d make a great machinist. The process is very slow, tedious work for me. Maybe I just don’t have the necessary base skills to be better at it. Or, maybe it’s just because Windows Movie Maker really sucks. But, facts are facts, and the fact is that I just don’t have the procedure of editing a video down to a time-efficient process. Because of my duties at the community college, I can’t offer up a lot of time for this process. So as a result, I don’t normally make videos despite having probably well over several thousand photographs of various places I’ve visited and of my home. But, some of these photos came out so good that I just had to share it.

These are images from Tom Branch Falls, Indian Creek Falls, and other spots all along the Deep Creek Trail.

Enjoy.

http://youtu.be/m_QcLtNWj3w