Cooleemee River Park (Bull Hole)

As any who follow this blog might know, I often visit and photograph at the Cooleemee Riverside Park (Bull Hole) located on the South Yadkin River near the small town of Cooleemee, NC.

While usually interesting, it’s especially so after a few days of rain–such as we just experienced.

By contrast, in dry periods little or no water flows over the dam, it’s directed via a side channel to drive a water turbine for producing electricity.

Photographs are wonderful but they do at times have some limits.

I decided I’d try something different this time out.

Perhaps a little video would impart more of the total experience and give more backdrop to photos of the area?

The video is only about a minute long so you won’t get too bored or fall asleep. ;-)

This was captured using a Flip-Video minoHD. The original video was much, much better quality before uploading to YouTube but if you watch it in HD (the little red HD button bottom right) it’s not too bad. The audio certainly never did the roar of tumbling waters justice.

13 Comments

  1. Hey, Earl. One of these weekend mornings we are going to run into each other. I was at Bull Hole this morning, for the same reason. I figured that with all of the rain, it would be roaring pretty good and I was not disappointed! You are right about the sound, it was quite loud and had a lot of bass in it. More of a booming sound, to be sure! :-)

    I was up there this morning between about 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM. I took a friend of mine there. He absolutely loved it. We got there a little bit late for my tastes, as the sun was already up and I couldn’t get the types of shutter speeds that I wanted, so I shot off tripod all morning. Still had a great time, though.

    Now, Hobbs and I are back in Summerville, SC. :-) I am planning an outing to the beach for him sometime this week to chase those pesky seagulls!

  2. Hey Paul, Yea, we just missed each other. I didn’t do much still photography. Took the video and a few photographs and then just sat on the rocks a bit enjoying the moment.

    So Hobbs is riding shotgun with you these days? That’s probably nice for both of you. We’ll have to hook up one of these weekends. :-)

  3. The video does give not only a good view, but the feeling of the excessive water as it splashes down this way and that. Fine shooting.

  4. @Don: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.

  5. A great video segment which really shows the power and beauty of this amazing location. A wonderful experience, many thanks

  6. This looks like a great place Earl. I love the deep black tones in the image here. Looks like you could spend a lot of time here with all that water to explore.

  7. beautiful shot, it works great in bw

  8. The video turned out great, in spite of the fact that we all know that some of the bass is missing in the audio. I switched to HD and found it make a nice difference. What a a super location for shooting. No wonder you return frequently, and I can see why occasionally you just sit and soak up the experience rather than shooting.

  9. @Anita Jesse: Thank-you. When first arriving at this spot I usually stand for a long period taking it all in, especially if the water level’s high. I enjoy absorbing the natural energy of the place almost as much as photographing it.

  10. This is a “luscious” photo. Rich, moving, it’s wonderful (at least for a water person like me). This is one to be proud of.

  11. @Bob: Thanks, that location is located only 30 minutes from my home so I shoot there regularly. You’ll probably see some other shots from there if you keep checking back. Water is a favorite photography subject of mine.

  12. This is a great photo and the black and white just makes it even more interesting. I think you did a great job. I just reviewed your other photos and they too are wonderful. I have just taken my first few pictures of Bullhole but I am not a great photographer. You can see and tag them on my Facebook page. Thanks for sharing your work….ITS BEAUTIFUL!