Water rushes through a rocky gorge in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, as seen along Little River, located across the street from The Sinks. It’s a beautiful area to visit, and you can find fine prints available here.
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These photographs were taken from scenic overlooks along the Foothills Parkway in Townsend, Tennessee, featuring views of the Smoky Mountains. Prints are available in my gallery.
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Prints available. This photograph was taken from the top of Norris Dam, a hydro-electric dam located in Andersonville, Tennessee, looking down 265-feet over the edge.
Standing 120-feet tall, Mingo Falls is located on the Cherokee Indian Reservation, in the southern Appalachian mountains near Cherokee, North Carolina. It’s a short uphill hike with many steps and can be enjoyed by visitors of all ages!
You can find prints available for your home or office in my galleries at Pixels, Redbubble and ArtPal. Thanks for stopping by!
As evening beckons, a fading sun streams its final ray of daylight over the Smoky Mountains, casting long shadows of trees and illuminating a patch of water on Thunderhead Prong. Prints available.
Water cascades over and around rocks along Thunderhead Prong, located in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Prints available. Thanks for stopping by!
PHOTO CREDIT: modified photo from unsplash.com.
Kind Hearted Woman, by Eric Clapton (2010 ) – see lyrics here.
This photograph features Upper Catawba Falls, located up the mountain approx. 1/2 mile beyond Lower Catawba Falls. Currently closed for trail renovations, I shot this picture on a previous hike while visiting North Carolina.
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After enjoying the arches, caves and vistas from atop natural land bridges at Twin Arches, located in Big South Fork National Park, near Oneida, Tennessee, I continued hiking and photographed this large, overhanging cliff. If interested, you can find prints available in my gallery. Thanks for stopping by!
Following a heavy rain overnight, high water along Thunderhead Prong surrounds a tree and cascades over large rocks near the riverbank. Fine prints are available.
This photograph was taken from inside a massive cave underneath the 40-foot tall Big Laurel Falls, located in the Virgin Falls State Park. Although the water level along Big Laurel Creek was low during my visit, its interesting that the entire area sits on top of a broad network of subterranean caverns. As such, this waterfall (and others) disappear underground, oftentimes to reemerge some great distance away.
You can find a variety of fine prints featuring my photography in the following galleries, including such options as framed, canvas, art, metal, wood, poster, acrylic and tapestry. Other products are also available…
Thanks for visiting & enjoy the great outdoors!
Follow this path through the forest to an expansive view from the top of Black Mountain, located in Crab Orchard, Tennessee. Sitting on the caprock, you’ll have an eastern exposure of the Smoky Mountains in the distance.
You can also visit my gallery to find a variety of prints featuring my photography, including: framed, art, canvas, metal, wood, acrylic, poster and tapestry.
Middle Prong Little River was flowing fast after recent rainfall, weather of which (in part) motivated my road trip to the Smoky Mountains. While I knew that the river would be full, I’d also hoped to capture some landscape scenes with fog on the water.
Forecasts indicated dense fog alerts throughout eastern Tennessee, which were subsequently observed along the entirety of my cautious drive. That is, until I travelled beyond Townsend and into the Great National Smoky Mountains Park. Mysteriously, only scattered patches of fog were present?!
As a landscape photographer, I’ve learned to make due with such potentialities, and, in addition to the many wonderful waterfront scenes I found, I also planned to visit the Foothills Parkway afterward, for a view from above the clouds and fog…more on that later.
If you’d be interested in enjoying my photography at home or work, then please visit my galleries at Pixels and/or ArtPal to discover the perfect accent piece! Many prints are available.
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This morning photograph features Thunderhead Prong, located in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Prints are available on my gallery. Thanks for visiting!
Following a stop to enjoy Fog on the Water, and then a very short hike to see Morning on the River, I next drove to the trailhead of Middle Prong Trail, keeping right at the split to hike along Thunderhead Prong Quiet Walkway. This is Thunderhead Prong, and, yes – I did have the trail to myself.
Interested parties can find fine prints and more in these galleries: Pixels, Redbubble and ArtPal. Many options are available, so stop by and have a look!
Prints are available in my gallery at Fine Art America. This is Upper Piney Falls.
Choose from the following print types: framed, art, metal, canvas, poster, wood, acrylic and tapestry. Also, framed prints may be customized to suit your wishes!
Backstory
Yesterday, I left Knoxville at 5:50 a.m., driving over an hour through the dark, in order to hike to the 80-foot tall Upper Piney Falls. My goal was to be on the trail by 7:10 a.m., one-half hour before sunrise, so that I could reach the falls near daybreak. On the final stretch of my journey, slowly driving around potholes through a quiet farming countryside, I crested a small hill to see a large cow standing in the road. Safely moving within a few feet of the animal, I rolled down my window to say, “You be careful – go on home, now”. The cow didn’t move, but soon after, I arrived as the only car to park in a small lot near the trailhead of the Piney Falls State Natural Area.
It was only 30-degrees as I headed into the still-dark forest. After hiking nearly 10 minutes, I heard something somewhat heavy moving among the trees, and raised my voice so as to let it know that I was aware of its presence. It was impossible to know for sure what it was…a bear? Sasquatch? Another cow?
Many areas of Tennessee received a few inches of snow on Monday, accompanied by frigid, single-digit temperatures. The cold persisted through Tuesday, though Wednesday afternoon relented to reach a high near 45-degrees. That warmup caused snow and ice to melt, which then froze again overnight. Hence, many surfaces around the waterfall during my hike were extremely slippery! As such, accessing locations downhill from which to take photographs was a strenuous, methodical challenge – for all practical purposes, impossible without trekking poles.
In my third photograph (see above), taken at an elevation approx. midway up the falls, 15-foot tall icicles had melted the previous afternoon along the trail (a popular footpath in warmer weather), before refreezing. This was indicative of all surfaces, including hillsides, as what appears to be snow was actually ice. As such, my efforts to follow the trail behind the falls were thwarted at the edge of ground cover. So, without sufficient footholds, I begrudgingly (but safely) turned around to begin my hike to the next location…Lower Piney Falls.
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Phil Perkins • Photography 