Photo: Big Hill Pond State Park in Tennessee
Recently, we decided to go some place that we had not been before, and we ended up at Big Hill Pond State Park in Tennessee. All we really knew about it before we decided to go was that we had seen the name on signs along the highway, but that was about it. As it turns out, we loved it.
In this photo above, you can see just one of the many beautiful views that we saw while we were there. We walked several miles on several of the trails, in total almost 7 miles of walking. And that did not scratch the surface of all of the trails that they have there at the park.
One trail in particular led us across this wooden boardwalk across the lake, and the view looking back at where we came from was really cool. As you can see, the water was incredibly smooth, due to the fact that only boats that you paddle or boats with trolling motors are all that are allowed on the lake. That made for some great reflections in the water, which made for some nice photo opportunities. Of course, regular visitors to the Burnsland site know of my fondness for wooden boardwalks, so I was happy to find this one at Big Hill Pond.
Interestingly, this body of water is not Big Hill Pond, for which the park is named. This is Travis McNatt Lake, named for one of the people responsible for the creation of the park in the early 1970s. We did not actually visit the pond for which the park is named, because none of the trails that we walked took us there. There are trails that go to the pond, but those are even longer than the ones that we walked on during this visit. Which of course gives us a good reason to go back, right?
Perhaps because the park is far from any of the main highways, we did not see all that many people there. We saw a few other people walking the trails, and a few at the tent campground, and a few fishing in the lake in the photo above (although you cannot see them in the photo), but that was about it. It is always fun to go someplace and experience nature without lots and lots of people around. I don’t mind people, but I don’t mind being away from them sometimes, too. I know that many of the National Parks have crowding problems sometimes, but sometimes state parks are almost deserted.
As you might guess, I took lots and lots of photos of the views that we saw at Big Hill Pond State Park, so watch for more of them over time. And while you wait, here is one more photo, this time one of us as we were crossing the boardwalk in the above photo:
Nothing like some squinty eyes due to there being lots of sun on a cloudless day. A perfect day to visit a park like this.
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without favoritism and hypocrisy. - James 3:17
About the photo:
The first photo above was to me a perfect subject for the fisheye lens, as it allowed me to capture much of the water and the land around the boardwalk. It also made the land in the distance look a little more island-like than it actually is, but that is okay, too.
There was not much processing required for this photo. Everything was beautiful naturally, so I just left it all like it was for the most part, with only some slight lowering of the highlights and bringing up the shadows, among a few other touches.
Photo: A single Raw exposure, processed in Photoshop. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10
Lens: Rokinon 7.5mm f/3.5 Fisheye Lens
Date: October 13, 2017
Location: Big Hill Pond State Park, Pocahontas, Tennessee
