The Dam Waterfall

Yesterday the stormy weather finally broke long enough for me to spend some time in the woods. I decided to go to one of my favorite spots. I drove a few miles up Hwy 9 from my house and made the turn into Vickery Creek. This park has several trails that wind approximately two miles around the river. I chose not to go in my usual entrance this time, seeing as though I was by myself. My normal entrance consists of a steep descend among a rock facing. You can usually find people repelling from these rocks if that helps you with the size. I had my tripod with me to get better pictures, so I decided it would be a bit safer to hike from the other side of the river.

I started walking up the trail when I realized the way I would usually go also would require some skill. It would be a narrow squeeze on the edge of cliff overlooking the river. I looked at the map and noticed there was one more trail that would lead me to my destination. I took it. A trail I had never been on before. I took a right at the fork; camelback and tripod strapped to my back, and found myself climbing in elevation at a rather rapid rate. I was still able to hear the river; however, looking down proved I was high enough up to not see through the dense trees to the water. Looking back to the trail ahead of me, I noticed this.



The shadows bouncing off the floor of the trail with the tree roots looked beautiful all of a sudden. I set up my tripod as close to the ground as possible. I wanted to capture the contrast of the ground with the roots growing up from the earth.

Continuing down the trail, I was finding so many things I wanted to photograph. I was wasting too much time if I wanted to reach my destination with enough sunlight to get the shot I wanted. I forced myself to leave my camera alone for a while. That only lasted for about ten minutes. What would have taken me half an hour to hike took me a little over an hour. I finally reached the spot I was looking for. I looked over the edge and saw several people sunbathing and taking pictures. I noticed a new trail though. Since I wouldn’t be able to get my shot right then, I decided I should explore. I walked down this trail, right along the river, noticing I was dangerously close to the edge the whole time, and found a rope swing. The thought crossed my mind to just go for it and jump in, but I had to get back to get my shot.

On my trek back, I discovered this interesting tree. There were all of these things growing up the side. I sat with my tripod, playing with different shutter speeds and settings, and took twenty different shots. I finally decided on this shot.



After finishing with the tree, I walked back to my entire reason for coming to Vickery Creek. The people were finally gone. I had the place to myself. I had the waterfall.



This is the Roswell Mill Dam. It's a 30-foot dam and millrace that was constructed in the mid to late 1830’s on Vickery Creek to supply water to the Roswell Mills. I love this waterfall. I sat with my tripod and once again started playing with the shutter speeds on my camera. I was trying to get a certain shot I recently learned how to do. It was going to take some time though. Thirty minutes and 45 pictures later, I finally got what I wanted. I wanted to capture the flowing movement of the water. This is is my favorite picture from this trip.

The first trip out...a bit of a rush though.

Last year I discovered the great thrill of Geocaching. Going out on these adventures in search of a small container, usually hidden away in the woods, I have discovered several rather beautiful places around Atlanta. Recently I have decided, for the purposes of this blog, that I will try to take my love of nature and photography to try to capture some of this beauty on film. To add to the influence of this blog, I have also recently been occupying my time watching a show on The Weather Channel, “From the Edge with Peter Lik.” This show features a landscape photographer searching for some of the most beautiful places in the United States to capture on film. This show has inspired me to imitate on a small scale, or at least attempt to imitate.


One of the easier trails I have found is in the Dunwoody Nature Center. I never would have found this place if it wasn’t for looking for a Cache. This small preserve has several winding trails, but nothing too tedious to walk along, as well as a Nature Education Center for children. While walking this trail I discovered several picturesque spots. This first picture is of a stone wall near the beginning of the trails. This was not the best time of day to try to take pictures, but I had to get something. I really loved this wall. Every time I return to the Nature Center the wall looks slightly different, depending on the water level from the creek. This visit showed a really low water level, but the wall still looked amazing in the middle of the trees.


This next picture is from the underside of a rather large rounded bush I had found. I really don’t know what type of plant this is, but it created this natural rounded shelter. Trying to take a picture of the outside of it was nearly impossible. The dimensions become skewed from the outside, so I decided to move slightly inside the bush. From this angle I was able to capture the sun shining through the leaves as well as the shelter feel to the bush.


This last picture is my favorite from this hike. As I was walking back to the car I found a broken tree stump. The rest of the tree was nowhere to be seen, but the lonely stump called to me. I was drawn to the patterns from the break on the inside. I spent most of my time taking shots from different angles to find the best one. I really loved the contrast between the different sides of the break and the splintering of the wood. I was trying to capture all of the small details in the wood on this.

This hike and picture taking adventure, I will admit, was a rather rushed one. Unfortunately, I did not have the daylight I needed to take the best shots possible. My next hike and picture session will definitely be more planned out and will provide much better photo quality. The next one will be in the early morning hours in a park. I haven’t decided exactly which park yet, but I am leaning towards a trip to the waterfall.