A lake, a pond and other things at Wake County's Lake Wheeler Park

In southern Wake County, N.C., there are two lakes, Wheeler and Benson, that are about 6 miles apart as the crow flies. Three major north-south thoroughfares are between them -- Lake Wheeler Road on the far west (which goes right by the lake of the same name), Fayetteville Road in the middle, and Old Stage Road on the east (although technically Old Stage runs along Lake Benson's western border).

On maps, they look to be almost the same size -- big enough to support recreational boating, fishing, and parks that allow for trails and hiking, playgrounds, and picnicking -- but not anywhere close to the size of, say, Lake Winnebago (which I include for my Wisconsin friends and readers!).

Both lakes happen to be within reasonable traveling distance to where I live, so I decided to visit each recently to indulge some photography -- finally -- after months of putting it off. Ideally, I should have waited until the autumn colors changed, but there's nothing that would prevent me from going back at some point.

I use today's post for the first of the lake parks that I visited recently, Lake Wheeler, the one after which a major road has been named. It has 800 total acres, of which 650 are water.

On the day I was there, Sept. 25, it was overcast the whole time, so I did not use my polarizing filter for any of the shots. I like using the polarizing filter when I do any shooting involving bodies of water because it helps cut through glare and does a beautiful job bringing detail to water reflection and enriching the blue in skies. The reverse would be true when I made it to Lake Benson six days later; it was sunny the whole time, so the polarizing filter came out for that shoot.

I came upon a surprise when I started strolling through Lake Wheeler Park; there is a picturesque 8-acre pond, surrounded by forest, within the grounds. Yes, this is in addition to the lake. The smaller body of water is called Simpkins Pond, which flipped on a light bulb to explain the origin of nearby Simpkins Road that I'd traveled on quite a bit in my 18 months living in North Carolina.

One of my favorite shots of the say came from an opportunity I had to photograph the lake's spillway, a slice of which can be seen in the photo leading off the post. Motorists on Lake Wheeler Road catch a glimpse of the spillway, but a glimpse has never been long enough for me. There isn't really a place to pull off the road there to take it in the way I'd wanted to until the day of this shoot, when I got to this point by foot after parking inside the park.

While I was there, I enjoyed a serendipitous moment when a man navigating a bright red canoe paddled by. A gaggle of geese positioned along the spillway's uppermost crease served as spectators.

A portion of the lake's size is illustrated in the first two photos below. It also underscores the overcast skies I mentioned previously.

As always, click on any photo to pull up a larger, sharper version, which is particularly helpful when accessing the blog from a mobile device. To view a full gallery of images from my shoot at Lake Wheeler, follow the link in this sentence.

The late summer foliage is beginning to make its color transition as evidence by these photos of the lake. The shot below was taken from the end point of a very lengthy pier near the boat launch ramps. So I'm "on" the water, looking back toward the shore.  

I liked the tree's role in framing this couple sitting on a bench along the shore (above). The only motored boat I saw on the water when I was there was this one (below). 

Above is a pedestrian walk leading to a modest overlook along the shore. Below is the paved trail back to the park that one sees while leaving the above overlook.

Above: About 60 yards down the same shore from the couple pictured above were these two geese. The one on the left is keeping an eye on the couple.  

 Above: Another natural framing composition. 

Above: If you've been following Photo Potpourri for a while or checking out full galleries of my shoots via links I drop into my posts, you've noticed how much lately I've been exploring the composition concept of shooting through meshed foregrounds like this for artistic effect. I don't contend that it's a great idea or even suggest that it ought to be done more often or on a regular basis. I just like exploring it ... and seeing what I get from it. 

If there was a real "find" at Lake Wheeler Park, it was Simpkins Pond, the wooded area surrounding it and the creeks intersecting the woods near the eastern portion of the park. Two views of a creek are shown above and below. 

An a smaller, interior body of water, I saw Simpkins Pond in "still waters" mode, as exhibited by the views shown above and below. 

The park has playground (above) and picnic facilities and a sand volleyball court (below) in an open meadow along the access drive (second below). 

Next up: Lake Benson Park