Back in July I did a post on taking photographs at Bull Hole Park and swimming hole on the South Yadkin River near Cooleemee, NC. With the heavy rains this week, I headed back this morning to photograph the resulting water run-off.
This first photo is from July when water levels were low due to a two year long severe drought. You’ll notice there’s not much water running over the dam, most is being routed along the far side for hydro-electrical generation.
It was easy walking on exposed rocks to the middle of the river basin.
The next pictures are from this morning. I could hear the thunder of the water from where I parked my car. The water flowing over the dam formed a heavy mist in the air. You’ll notice the water is a very reddish color resulting from the local red clay soil.
The feeling of the power of this swiftly moving water was amazing and you can bet I was very careful moving about on the rocky river bank. No walking and shooting at the same time for me this morning. ;-)
Most of the spots I took photos from in July was under six to ten feet of water today so I had to make due from other vantage points.
Two guys from the local fire department stopped by to check the river while I was taking photos. They had a busy day yesterday and one told me they did 70 water rescues throughout the day.
They were heading home to sleep for the first time in 24 hours.
Man! That would be a perfect place to go to and do some long exposures. You could get some nice, silky water shots. :-)
It’s amazing how many rescues the fire department had to do. 70! You’d think that with all of the rescues that go on, people would catch a clue and give that water a lot of respect, but alas, they figure: “Well, the other person was stupid! It won’t happen to me!!!” I’m sure that many of them are quite surprised, unjustifiably so, when they get caught up in the torrent! Duh!
It’s a good thing that you didn’t decide to walk to the middle of the dam. That looks like some tricky passage there. ;-)
@Paul: Yeah, I did shoot some long exposures with a tripod and they turned out well. I’ll probably publish a couple a little later. I may try and take a little red out of the water with some post processing.
I know. You can’t over estimate how stupid people will act. They always think it can’t be them or perhaps they don’t think at all. I don’t get it but flood a road and they’ll drive right into it time and time again.
Hope things are going well for you. :-)
What a difference a “little” rain can make! The contrast is amazing. Glad you didn’t walk and shoot at the same time. I imagine those rescuers are tired of dragging people out of those swift waters.
@Photo Buffet: Yes, if I would of “miss-stepped” in this water I would of been in real trouble. I’m have a lot of respect for natures forces when it’s like this.