Babbling Brook

Back in the deep dark woods one might expect to be surrounded by any number of things. Trees, plants, animals, even the odd stream, what you might not expect is to find a world within the world. This photo is an interesting example of a micro eco system pressed into a crevice of the mountains, often overlooked, often ignored. The truth of this photo is that…. It’s only, at most, two feet tall. Not the main body, from the top of the photo to the pond. A little curiosity, streaming water along the path, so small you may blink and miss it walking by, hidden by the larger world around it. Take a moment to be amazed at this Babbling Brook deep into the Great Smokey Mountains, somewhere on the North Carolina Tennessee line.

So, this water feature is, well small. Yet, by all accounts, it looks larger, until you begin looking at some of the details in the photo. The Leaves are a bit too large, the moss seems to have truly gotten out of control, even the branch in the upper portion of the fall looks like it could be a broken tree. This of course is all forced perspective, then some clever dodge and burn to create a bit more layer, more depth.

I began trying to shoot this scene with a wider angle lens, and I just couldn’t find a place it looked good from bellow, so I got up slightly above the whole thing, then began fiddling with my focal lengths, until I decided to try a telephoto lens. 50mm Is what I settled on at the time, though I wish I had shot a bit tighter still, maybe 70 or 75. So, I lost a bit of detail in the crop, but I still think this is a passable image, worth trying yourself. See if you can make a mountain out of a mole hill.

Until Next Time!

Aperture: f7.1
ISO: 800
SS: 1/2 second
Focal: 50mm

Fujinon 50-140mm