Peace in the Valley

Stream in a Mountain Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



Tranquility flows with this mountain stream
 as it tumbles down a lush valley in the Smokies.

Otherworld

Spruce-Fir Forest, Mount Mitchell, North Carolina
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Click on image for larger view.)



The thick, dark coniferous forest on Mount Mitchell
 appears mystical when the sun beams through the mist.

Row House Display

Row Houses, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



Window boxes and flower pots adorn row houses
 along Queen Street in the Historic District.

An Evening Invitation

Tree by the Roadside, Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



Warm evening light adorns a tree
 that frames an inviting road in the Smokies.

Foggy Friday

Surfer in the Mist, Folly Beach, SC  
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Click on image for larger view.)


A lone surfer trudges along the beach
 on a fog shrouded morning at the Folly Pier.



 

The Finer Things of Life

Streamside, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



Lacy foliage graces the streamside
 of a cool mountain valley in the Smokies.

Slant of Light

Courtyard Alleyway, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



Slanting sunlight illuminates a courtyard alleyway
 in Charleston's French Quarter.

Appalachian Apparitions

Conifers in the Mist, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



A pair of ghostly conifers appear out of the mist
 near Clingman's Dome, the highest point in the Smoky Mountains.

Hues of Twilight

Lantern with Wisteria, Charleston, SC
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



A combination of natural and man-made light at twilight
makes a vivid vignette of a lantern on the Battery.

Reused

Old Doors, Rome, Italy  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Click on image for larger view.)



A pair of old doors and a well worn wall
 serve as canvases for ads in Rome.

Sun-drenched

Road Sign, Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



A sign makes a graphic silhouette
 along a sun-drenched road in Cades Cove.

An Eye for Monochrome

Boulders in a Mountain Stream,
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Click on image for larger view.)



Even without hues,
one can appreciate nature's wonder
through the eye of a lens.



 

To the Nth Degree

An "N" Fence, Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee



You probably know by now that I am fond of Cades Cove
 and its 19th century rural charm.
I've been visiting here for decades and never seem to tire
 of its rustic beauty. I would keep coming here forever if I could.

Appalachian Rain Forest

Smoky Ridges, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Click on image for larger view.)



Much like a temperate rain forest, these verdant mountains
 exude moisture in the form of rising mists,
hence the name given to them by the Cherokee...
"place of the blue smoke", which eventually became
the Great Smoky Mountains.

Follow the Red Brick Path

Brick Alleyway, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



Stolls Alley is a narrow brick path from the colonial era
neighborhood South of Broad
to the antebellum mansions along The Battery
The milieu here has an old country feel to it.

Colors of Charleston

Houses Near Rainbow Row, Charleston, SC
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



While most rainbows fade,
Charleston's rainbow shines all the time.

Crow in the Cove

American Crow, Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserve
(Click on image for larger view.)



A young crow perches momentarily by the road that loops
 around Cades Cove, a mountain valley in the Smokies.

End of the Rainbow

Rainbow in Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved

I finally found out what is at the end of the rainbow!

Cades Cove!

Labor of Love

Forest Cascade, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



I spent nearly 8 hours photographing along a short stretch
 of backwoods road, fronting a mountain stream in the Smokies.
I worked as many angles as possible,
encountering views like this one...
a feeder brook cascading over a leafy slope.

Blue Patina

Mountain Stream, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



As twilight deepens in the valleys of the Smokies ,
a long camera exposure reveals a silky sheen
 on the surface of a mountain stream.