Headwaters of the Pigeon River

Captured in one of the highest elevation tributaries of the Pigeon River, the aptly named Yellowstone Prong is littered with beautiful yellow and golden stones. The strong afternoon light and deep shadows accentuate the golden, and even brass-like, appearance of the water washed stones. For this image I’ve used a shutter speed just fast enough to define the ripples of the water but slow enough to show a touch of its movement. Interestingly, viewers comment on this image more than any in the series about seeing animal faces among the ripples. Do you see the lion, gorilla, panda, wolf, monkey, hyena, bat eared fox? Others? What do you see?

Combining my love for abstract forms and my boyhood passion for fishing with my father, I’ve adopted a mission of visiting and capturing the abstract beauty of the “Headwaters” of all the major rivers in Southern Appalachia. This is one of the flagship images of that Headwaters Series.