Fossil Hunting

Greeter Falls Hike

Erik Guimaraes, Jeanne Fitch, Stephen Bryant, and myself hiked from the Stone Door to Greeter Falls. For some reason I decided to carry all my heaviest camera gear and pack some outdated Cliff bars. By the time I left the trail, I was exhausted, and sick. Not my best hiking memory.

Rock Island sunrise

I took advantage of a sunrise one beautiful morning from the north side of Rock Island State Park.

Roadside Geology of East Tennessee, Knoxville Area

Working with Marcy Davis with the goal of getting photos for her upcoming book, "Roadside Geology of Tennessee" I took advantage of friendships in Knoxville and arranged for a place to crash and a tour guide (Thanks Matt, Abby, and Katie!). Here are just a few select photos from two trips in early 2014.

Frozen Tennessee

Since the beginning of January, Tennessee has been on average colder than the previous 4 years. Perhaps colder than more years before that. I cannot recall seeing as much ice in any previous year, with the exception of the ice storm we had in the 1990's.

I have tried to make the most of this event and photograph as much frozen water as possible. It's like being in some new landscape. It's like travelling to another country. The same waterfalls I've photographed 100 times before now are suddenly fresh and interesting again.

Or are they?

I've seen so much ice in the last few weeks that it's not terribly interesting anymore. I hate to admit this, but I do get habituated to things pretty quickly, and soon I'm off seeking the next shiny thing. But I'm old enough to have some foresight now. And I know that in the heat of the impending summer, I will turn to my friend and say, "Remember when this waterfall was frozen? That was cool." We'll talk about his winter for years to come, and it will begin the same way each time, "Remember when..."

Despite that I'm exhausted with ice, icicles, frost, snow, or any other frozen water, I'll keep shooting. I'll do the hard work, because I know that if I don't take this opportunity, I'll regret it.

Here is more frozen stuff...

Cane Creek, Fall Creek Falls State Park

This is one of my favorite photo shoots that I've ever done. It was during a week whose mean temperature was 27°.

Fall Creek Falls State Park was empty. There was no evidence that anyone was at the park at all; no cars, and no footprints in the scattered shallow snow that covered the ground. There are few things in the world that I love more than having a place to myself. And because this was a solo trip, I absolutely was by myself.

Donning gloves, I descended the cable trail to get to the base of Cane Creek Falls. I hope these photos convey the sense of beauty that I enjoyed there that day.

Cumberland Plateau Archaeology

Jay Franklin of ETSU invited me to document an ongoing dig in Pickett State Forest. In a relatively small shelter, he and his team found a bedrock mortar where Native Americans would have processed foods. They found numerous points, and layers of stratified ash between sand indicating repeated use over long periods of time. I will update this post with better and more accurate data once I read any forthcoming publications regarding the site.