Cooleemee Dam Waterfall
Cooleemee Dam Waterfall

Here’s a wider view showing the main part of the Cooleemee Dam with water rushing over it (Yesterdays image was to the left of this one.)

I may have mentioned in previous posts of photos from this location that this dam was originally built for an old textile mill. The mill has long since disappeared but there is now a hydroelectric generating station that generates power for the local grid from the flow of the water. The yellow/tan structure in the far right is part of that station.

You can see, debris frequently washes down river to be caught on the top of the dam. I believe someone removes this debris in dryer times, when there’s no water flowing over the dam, but I’ve never caught them doing so.

I used a Singh-Ray Vari-ND filter again for this shot to give a longer exposure time. It was a cold bright sunny day and the white rushing water reflected a great deal of light.

8 Comments

  1. The ND filter gave your exposure adequate time to produce this marvelous looking water.
    A spectacular shot!

  2. You’re killing me, buddy! Killing me! I miss the sound of rushing water. Looks like I’ll have to go to the beach tonight and do some long exposure wave studies! Maybe not, though. It’s been rather chilly and windy. A**-bitin’ cold, indeed! Maybe I’ll just stay in and practice my guitar!

    • Sorry, didn’t mean to cause any anxiety, ;-) An interesting side story on these shots is that I didn’t have my tripod so for the long exposures I was on my stomach on the cold granite with camera resting on my gloves. Needless to say after a few quick shots I pealed myself up from those coooooold rocks! Suffering for the arts you know…. :-)

      • LOL! Well, I cannot begrudge you these shots. You gave your all for them. Great work, Earl. BTW, I didn’t do any wave motion studies this evening. It was kind of chilly and I found a place much closer to work to take a few pictures before heading home. When I felt the chill in air and the wind, I suddenly remembered that I needed to go and practice my guitar! :-)

  3. Happy New Year Earl!

    Wonderful shot. And made me think about digging out the ND filter set I bought last year. I’ve only used it once or twice since then. I’ve got to get back on the photography horse. Keep inspiring me! :)

    • Hey, Richard — Happy New Year to you too!!!!! I hope you and yours had a wonderful holiday season and are all well.

      Drag that stuff our and start taking photos again. I’d love to see some of your shots. :-)

  4. The long exposure was perfect for the water, love that you shared that you used a ND filter. I agree…makes me want to go to the water and experiment with exposures. Thank you for sharing