Question for South Eastern (US) Waterfallers

Hey folks,

 

What are the falls in your neck of the woods looking like?

 

With the lack of rain, this is what Upper (South) Caney Creek Falls, in

Bankhead National Forest looks like right now, compared to two years ago at the

same time. Pardon the lousy exposure today, it was a scouting mission. I

converted today's to grayscale to aid in comparison.

 

Today:

http://www.photo.net/photo/6522617

 

October 22, 2005:

http://www.photo.net/photo/3823389

 

October is normally a lean time of the year, but that's pretty bad.

Oh, and that's after a little rain this week.

Nice pix. It's a lovely fall either way, but I'll admit it's better with water...

I've found that focusing on smaller sections of the smaller falls has been more worth my time this October than the full fall shots. The lack of water definitely makes a difference. The first few pics here were taken last weekend...

 

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=416643

 

I picked out elements of the falls rather than the whole, and I was pretty happy with the results.

Michael,

 

I was actually planning on switching to detail shots during my excursion yesterday, especially because the bottom of U. Caney Creek Falls is really nice at certain angles. Unfortunately, there appears to have been a bunch of Coyote or wild dog traffic in Bankhead recently, and my dog wanted OUT. Kept bumping the tripod. Smart little sucker, figured out how to obstruct me...

It's been a hard year. We're almost 13 inches below our normal annual rainfall level. The last time I shot Fall Creek Falls (last November), they were way below the flow rate. I'm almost afraid to go look at them now. I'm also wondering if we're going to get any real fall colors this year......

William,

 

I visited Fall Creek Falls in June. It was basically just a little bit of falling mist...

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/6046445

http://www.photo.net/photo/6046443

Hi Joshua,

 

My favorite stream is the upper Tallulah River (above Lake Burton) in extreme NE Georgia. The last couple of times I was there (and going later today), it has looked lower than I had ever seen it. So I went to the USGS website to look up the real-time data for the river. Here it is. (Go here for real-time streamflow data for Alabama: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/al/nwis/rt )

 

As of today, The river has a lower flow rate than ever before recorded for this date in the last 42 years. Today, it is 27 cubic feet per second. The previous low was 30 cfs in 2001. Median flow for this date is 92 cfs, with the all-time high being 472 cfs in 1983. The Tallulah River has been this way, but getting lower, since the beginning of the year and for a couple of years before that. The drought is really awful.

 

Photographically, as someone else said, you should switch to detail shots with long exposures. I personally do not like exposures > 1s with a heavy flow rate stream. It washes out all the detail and conveys a false sense of tranquility in a rushing river. But for low flow rates, I lenthen my exposures significantly, not just out of necessity but because I want to convey a different mood.

Larry H.,

 

I was wondering when you'd chime in. I've been looking at that map with disdain for a few weeks now! Those angry color dots have been growing in number all year.

 

My feelings with regards to long exposures are generally similar to yours. Long exposures are for small waterfalls, details, and situations where tranquility is what you want to convey.

 

If we don't get some rain soon even some of the more reliable falls in Bankhead will go dry. I was planning to do a little bushwhacking when the leaves drop, but the falls I wanted to visit are pretty much certain to be dry.

The Tallulah River didn't look any drier this weekend than last week, when there was supposedly a little rain on the 5th. But there's lots of stream bottom exposed. I'm also worried about stress on the (stocked) rainbow trout. I saw one normally deep hole where their dorsal fins were grazing the surface. The fish I'm really worried about are the native brook trout in the Coleman River, which is a tributary to the Tallulah.

 

Alas, I didn't have time for photography this weekend, but it may have been too discouraging if I'd tried anyway. BTW, for leaf peepers in the SE, only a few maples at about 3000' were beginning to turn in extreme north Georgia. I've got a sneaking suspicion that the drought may make the leaf season better than normal, when it comes, which I guess will be 1 1/2 to 2 weeks, later than normal.