Machine Falls Hike…

This summer, my daughter and I have been attempting to visit some of the wonderful waterfalls in the Middle TN area. Machine Falls in the Short Springs Natural Area near Tullahoma was our next destination, planned for yesterday morning, bright and early. I drove to Brentwood to pick up my daughter at 6:15am, exiting the interstate to a layer of fog over the area. I took a quick detour in an attempt to find a nice view to shoot. I found a nearby horse farm bathed in early morning light and fog…

© ALL IMAGES COPYRIGHT PROTECTED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. – DAVID L. MOREL ~ 2015

Fifteen minutes into my morning and already have a nice image. The day was starting out good! So, I headed on to pickup my daughter. I promised to give her a wake up call before I arrived, so I pulled into a gas station and dialed, no answer. And texted, no answer. And dialed, still no answer. I gave it a rest when I noticed the sun coming up behind a nearby tree.

Back in my car, I dialed again and again, nada! So, I had a dilema, go ring the bell and wake everyone up, or just let her sleep. I put the car in gear and headed on down the highway towards Tullahoma. When I exited the interstate, I stopped for a sausage biscuit, my go-to breakfast choice when out shooting early in the morning. While waiting to pay, I noticed the hotel across the parking lot. It was reflecting in a large puddle and I knew I wanted to shoot it. Grabbed the biscuit, paid the cashier, and parked my car to get an image of the reflection.

Ok, time was slipping by and I needed to get going to the waterfall. I didn’t intend to stop on the way, but this one barn that has caught my attention in the past but never enough to get me to pull over, was in a nice light. So, I pulled over and shot it for the first time.

An hour or so later, I found myself in the parking lot of Short Springs Natural Area and began the hike to the falls. It wasn’t a long trip to the falls, but it was a little steep heading into the gorge. the hike out was going to be fun for sure! I made it to the creek flows from the falls and started to make my way towards the falls. I had never been here before so I didn’t know what to expect. The time was close to 8:30 and the sun was starting to get up. I was afraid it would make shooting the falls difficult. Then I came around a curve in the creek and saw this…

Wow! That is the actual word that came to me at this moment. Machine falls is not the largest, not even close. It is not a big tourist attraction, my car was the only one in the parking lot. But, the falls were beautiful and the light was just right to showcase the beauty of the falls. I proceeded to shoot for the next 90 minutes, wading in ankle deep water, climbing slick rocks, composing, and clicking the shutter. Here are some of the images I liked the best.

I was shooting with my new Fuji X100T and it is a fixed focal length camera, 33mm. I really wanted to have something wider to get an overall of the falls. So, I shot a 12 shot collection of images and then combined them in Photoshop of this image.

I was tempted to scrap the trip when my daughter over slept, but I am so glad I didn’t. If you get a chance, go check them out!

5 thoughts on “Machine Falls Hike…”

charmainet@bellsouth.net on July 27, 2015 at 9:38 am said:

Beautiful! And your narratives are getting impressive.

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- davidmorelphoto on July 27, 2015 at 9:40 am said:
  
  Thanks! 🙂
  
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Sheila Marie Delgado on July 27, 2015 at 11:55 am said:

Oh what a beautiful mornin’… looks like everything’s going your way! Love these!, I really like log resting by the falls. The fog, the tree, the barn…. all of them 🙂

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- davidmorelphoto on July 27, 2015 at 11:58 am said:
  
  Thank you Sheila!
  
  Reply ↓
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