In May 2025, I did a photo shoot while strolling a trail in
Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve in Cary, N.C., a west suburb of Raleigh. I did
a post about the visit there, where the trail I walked (the Swift Creek Loop Trail) proved challenging, thanks to a steep (and long) set of wooden stairs.
Because the preserve had two other trails, I mentioned in that post that there was a good likelihood I would return to check those out. That return happened Tuesday, and the pictures on this post are from that visit.
On the second visit, I followed the slightly longer — but not nearly as challenging — Chestnut Oak Loop Trail, which I much preferred. I happened to encounter quite a few more people on this trail (I suspected probably for the reason I mentioned above).
Quite a few of those folks were with dogs, which I had never encountered in my many visits to Yates Mill Pond Park. One of those folks with a dog stopped to talk to me and asked if I was photographing birds or deer. I told her neither, and that my main interest were shapes, shadows, lines and patterns. I told her I wasn’t aware I’d have luck finding birds or deer. (As it turned out, I saw neither on the 1+ miles I strolled Tuesday.)
I learned that she was a regular at the park, which she said she liked because it was very close to her home and because the park allowed dogs. She reminded me that Yates Mill Pond Park did not allow dogs when I told her I usually did my walks there.
But as we chatted, another apparent “regular” passed by, and the gentleman turned to me and said, “She knows what she’s talking about” regarding things pertaining to the park. I didn’t doubt that; I could tell her a lot of things about Yates Mill park but didn't bother because I was certain she would not visit it because of the ban on dogs.
I did come across interesting shapes, shadows, lines and patterns, as well as some shots of the landscape and trail on Tuesday. Like at Yates Mill, Hemlock Bluffs has curious tree root patterns in the trail, but not nearly as many as Yates Mill.
Interestingly (to me, anyway), several of the “shapes” I came across reminded me of letters of the alphabet. I put them together below. Some should be obvious on immediate sight; others I’ll have to explain, and hope you’ll then see what I was seeing.
Below the alphabet letters, are a collection of shadows I came across (all on tree trunks) followed by other things I found interesting. And if you’re wondering, I’d file the lead-off photo as one of the shapes I came across — one of my favorites of the shoot. But I’m not sure what shape I’d call it. I might put it with the alphabet letters for a “C.” You think?
As usual, to view a larger version of any photo, just click on the image. To see a
full gallery of images from the shoot, follow the link in this sentence.
Above and below: A study in creating different focuses when photographing the same scene. The original photos were the same size, but I decided I should crop the stump in the one above to minimize its role as a compositional element. I trimmed a very small amount from the top in the one below for the same reason. A closeup of a still-green pair of leaves (above) clinging to its tree, and a fallen color-changed leaf in the distance (below). Two more leaf photos appear below these.
The photos above and below begin the series of alphabet letters I came across. These two should be pretty obvious. I came across them at different points on the trail.
For the one above, you have to roll with me. I see a "K," with the tree trunk on the far left serving as the straight vertical side of the letter and the bent lines on the right side of the K formed by the very dark tree in the middle of the picture. The one below should be a little easier. Please don't tell me I have to tell you it's a V.
The one above is a U, with all sides being straight lines (two vertical, one horizontal) instead of having a more familiar bend at the bottom. The one below is a stretch, but perhaps you’ll roll with me when I tell you that I saw a D in that three-sided combo of branches in the center of the photo. And finally, in the second photo below, I saw another V. Maybe you will, too? I admit it’s a bit uncharacteristic, but I saw it almost immediately.
The photo above isn't an alphabet letter, but I did see a snake when I saw it. Is that weird? (Rhetorical) For now, I’ll just refer to it as a faux snake. We’re done with alphabet letters and faux snakes. The photo above didn't look like anything in the world of reality other than a curious (or perhaps artistic?) juxtaposition of an irregularly cut tree trunk snuggled against a snake-like piece of timber crawling up a live tree trunk. I guess I wasn’t totally done with faux snakes after all!
A sign adjacent to these rocks above noted that this dry, rock section of the forest feature "exposed quartz veins that are much slower to erode than other surrounding rocks." I went to the Internet to look up what quartz veins are, and the response was "sheet-like bodies of crystallized quartz that fill fractures or fault zones inside older host rocks." That really didn’t tell me a lot, since I don’t profess being an expert in geology, but perhaps it means something to readers.
The photo above is the first of four featuring interesting (again, to me) shadows on tree trunks. The shadow on the third photo below wasn’t too big of a deal, but I like the way the snapped tree trunk looked.
Above and below are shots of “furniture” I came across on the trail. The bench above grabbed my attention because of the four-sided ground frames around the area where feet would normally rest. The much larger furniture below is actually an overlook that is up against a steep and large ravine. Unfortunately, at this time of year, there was nothing below except green foliage (grass, weeds and unspectacular bushes), i.e., nothing photogenic. Above: I just liked the challenge of photographing a lone piece of perfect lumber with a random splash of bright sunlight. Alas, I don’t have (or know about) a dodge tool on Photoshop Elements that would have enabled me to diminish the overexposed splash of sunlight near the front of the log.
Nature has a way of making scenes more interesting than they would or could be otherwise. Such as the massive spider web (above) constructed in the crook of this elbow branch and a tree behind the trunk in the right foreground. And then there this is intriguing tree root thicket (below), with an almost perfect circular hole in its center.
A pedestrian bridge (above) before I crossed it, a maintenance shed (below) near the Stevens Nature Center (first photo below) and the Stevens Center itself (second photo below).
Finishing with these crafted butterflies attached to the side of the Stevens Center, which I came across as I made my way to the parking lot after finishing the shoot.
