This Image is a reminder that often we go to a location for a particular reason and find ourselves irresistibly drawn to something entirely different and other. Goforth Creek, in the Ocoee River Gorge of Tennessee’s Cherokee National Forest, is so beautiful in its own right that it is only natural to go to photograph the amazing stream as it plunges over cascade after cascade on its way to the Ocoee River; but the relatively narrow watershed of Goforth is also incredibly wonderful. Like a nebula of star-forming gases, its valley is a birthing ground for boulder fields like the one I found here. As I was clambering around in the creek, I looked up to notice the distinct line of boulders, beginning with the one where I stood, that receded up the mountain toward the great rock outcroppings that had given rise to them. The line stood out so clearly that I was immediately drawn to photographic it, but there seemed to be a lot of accompanying clutter that required refining. It necessitated positioning the camera carefully to exclude elements on the left and right that were not part of the story; then I included the bottom of the nearest boulder, but truncated it on the left. The sun was just coming above the rim of the ridge high above, and it backlit the new growth on the beech trees nicely. I used the trees themselves as a secondary leading line to compliment the rocks, and the color at the top to draw the eye upward along the line of boulders into the background. A focal length of 27mm gave the angle of view I wanted. An aperture of f/16 gave depth of field; and a shutter speed of 0.3 seconds at ISO 100 gave an overall medium exposure.
Super nice
Reminds me of Elliot Porter, my first favorite photographer.
Hello Aileen and Robert. Thank you both for joining this conversation and for your kind comments. Robert, when we have coffee next week you can share with me what it is about this image that resonates with you. I’m glad you like it. Aileen, it’s great to hear from you. I hope you’ve been well since our Arrowmont adventure. I’d love for you to join me there in September; it’s going to be a fun week. I share your feeling about Eliot and am honored to be thought of in the same sentence. Funny thing is, when I was composing this image, it was exactly Eliot’s work that was on my mind. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen his book, Intimate Landscapes. It’s wonderful, and reveals his mastery of this particular format of imagery. But I certainly share your thoughts about what a great legacy he left for us. We seem to have gotten away from compositions like this in our efforts to create drama; so I really appreciate that you were drawn to it, especially for the reason you have expressed. Thanks, again.
Don, I am sorry I am late commenting on this image. It is one of my favorites of the ones you have posted recently, yet I am hard pressed to tell you why. The “C” shaped line created by the boulders is a subtle but definite part of it. Of course the verticals of the tree trunks dissecting the “C” create a nice balance. The foreground boulder, rather than anchoring the image, actually leads us into the string of boulders that make up your subject. All that techie stuff is not what draws me to this image. I wish I could tell you what it is, but I can’t define it. I too like the Eliot Porter comparison but more than that it is somehow primeval in the story it shares. Suffice it to say, “I like it”.
Dorsey, with the schedule you keep I’m grateful that you find the time to respond at all; and I appreciate your thoughts and comments a great deal. I had much the same reaction as you when I looked up and saw the image staring at me. It stopped me in my tracks and I was hard pressed to say why, but I knew I was really drawn to it. I have that reaction to a lot of Porter’s work and just know that I like it at a visceral level. I have nearly every book Porter did and they all attract me in the same way. I’m very pleased that it resonated in that way with you. One of the things of which I was aware as I stood there was that the boulder field seemed to increase in magnitude as the boulders “flowed” down the ridge. Perhaps that has to do with mass and inertia, or some such physical phenomenon; but I felt the force of it very keenly. I hope all is well with you, and thanks, again for sharing your observations.