Cooleemee River Park
Aaron, looking out over the rocks and falling water.

My son came over to watch the SuperBowl with us yesterday and he and I made a quick visit to The Bullhole, Cooleemee River Park during the early afternoon. It was his first time at The Bullhole and I happen to snap this photo of him with the falls in the background. He said it was bigger and more impressive then he thought from the photos I’ve posted. Now he understands why I keep coming back to this spot.

This is an example of how a photo’s perspective can be a bit misleading. Those falls in the background are almost 12 feet (3.66 meters) tall and 30-40 feet (9.14-12.19 meters) behind him. He’s standing on a rock ledge 10 feet (3.05 meters) above the fall’s base and that leaning piece of deadwood is nowhere near his feet. I was standing on the same ledge but a couple of feet higher.

For all the normal reasons, I seldom post family or friends photos here but I made an exception in this case.

10 Comments

  1. Nice shot, Earl. It looks like the huge depth-of-field may throw off the perspective a bit. That deadwood log is probably 4 or 5 times his height. It’s a great effect.

  2. He does look like a giant, compared to the falls. Kind of his domain. BTW, he looks just like you. It’s probably like looking back in time. :)

    • Hi Paul, I’ve never thought he looked much like me…more like his grandfather on his mothers side. But maybe it one of those things where I’m too close to see it clearly.

  3. Paul beat me to it, but I was thinking, “Hmmm. Why does the man in the photo looks so familiar?” It sounds as though you had a terrific weekend of sharing with your son. You are so wise to take advantage of the opportunity.

    The illusions in the photograph remind me of the fallacies in the old saying, “The camera doesn’t lie.” Oh, yeah?!

    • Anita, I’m afraid in this day and age you can believe almost nothing on face value. It’s interesting because as I was commenting to Paul, I’ve never thought Aaron looked much like me…but I may have to rethink that now.

  4. Earl,

    Sometimes you have to break the rules, exceptions are welcome. Very nice shot. I like the stark trees and nice sky.

    Alan

    • Alan, thanks! I wasn’t so much trying to achieve this effect so much as simply noticing it when it occurred. :-)

  5. At first I thought it was you, a self portrait, and then had to smile when realizing it was you son. And, yes our camera lens do distort perspective as dot the lens we place on our eyes.

    • I’m glad I posted this because I’d never really seen the resemblance before, but I stand corrected now.