Upper Catawba Falls - a photo on Flickriver

            Visited Upper Catawba Falls for the very first time this morning in perfect conditions.  The fog was so thick when I first arrived that I couldn't take any photos.  But over time, the fog lifted a bit then came and went until mid morning.  So I had some nice variety in the foggy conditions.  Even though the falls were flowing nicely there was no generated "wind" and the leaves were almost motionless.  The one issue I did have to deal with was a very bright sky right above the falls.  That will impact the quality of some of my photos I think.

This was the first time I visited the upper falls.  I hadn't been to the lower falls in probably 5+ years.  I never really liked that falls all that much.  If there was enough water flow to make it look good, the leaves would really be blowing from the wind the falls generated.

The hike is rather tough with it being mostly uphill the entire way. I think the round trip hike is just a bit under 4 miles.  It's not really steep but it is just a grind uphill much of the way.  There has been a large project to construct a complex set of stairs, some 300+ to get up to the upper falls.  I've read a lot of negative comments about the large complex of stairs and how it distracts from the surroundings.  But for the photos I was most likely to take they wouldn't have gotten in my way.  And they do allow visitors to safely see a very beautiful waterfall.  I was amazed with the staircase and all the planning and engineering, not to mention the actual construction, required to improve access.  Construction is still going on in a few places.

For photographers it will mean sharing the falls with a lot of people.  I arrived at  6:30am this morning and I was the second car in the lot.  The other photographer left not long after I arrived and I had the whole place to myself for a couple of hours or more.  I wasn't until around 10:30 - 11 that the crowds began to come it.

Upper Catawba Falls is beautiful and I highly recommend seeing it.

Thanks for viewing my photos. 
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Copyright Reid Northrup, 2024. All Rights Reserved, Worldwide. Please don't use my photos in any way without my written permission.

Taken on: June 17, 2024

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Camera: Nikon D850, f/16.0, 8 sec, 24mm, ISO 64 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D850
Lens:	17.0-35.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture:	f/16.0
Exposure Time:	8
Focal Length:	24mm
ISO:	64
Exposure Bias:	-2 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Center-weighted average
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 13.3.1 (Macintosh)
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