I’ve finally finished post-processing the rest of my photographs from October.
In late October I spent an extra weekend in the mountains of North Carolina after concluding a photography workshop in the Blue Ridge Mountains – where I took so many photos of foliage and waterfalls that it was months before I finally processed and posted my favorite photos.
Sunrise split by the London Shard.
I glanced at my watch as I strode out of the Tube station and through the drizzle into the emerging daylight. The time was one minute before sunrise – but would the clouds cooperate? I was heading once again for Primrose Hill, a popular site for viewing the sun rise over London’s cityscape, which I’d first visited on the winter solstice. This was my fifth visit in four weeks, and I was determined to capture a particular scene, a particular moment, that I’d forecasted one month ago. To get the shot, the sun would need to actually show up, and in rainy London that’s never certain. At home in the pre-dawn darkness, it was raining hard and the forecast was gloomy. I need to make a go/no-go decision 45 minutes before sunrise to reach to Primrose Hill on time. It’s always a gamble. Today I gambled and won.
I’ve finally finished post-processing my photographs from October.
Back in October I posted about an enjoyable week in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, with a photography instructor and a small group of other aspiring photographers, at the height of the fall-foliage season. The focus of our photo workshop, if you don’t mind the pun, was waterfalls – but we also took advantage of mountain overlooks to capture the foliage in the golden light of sunrise and sunset. I snapped a couple thousand photos in five days, and worked hard to improve my photography skills. I finally found time to select and process the photos, and I’m pleased to share the best fifteen in this photo gallery – it’s also viewable as a brief slideshow.
Hiking from sunrise to chai.
There’s one important feature about an unbroken streak: one is loathe to break it. So, despite my aching back (and bruised ego) left over from last week’s hike, I was determined to get out this weekend for my 16th consecutive weekend hike. The weather was promising for sunrise – cloudy, with periods of sun – so I headed back to Primrose Hill to see what I might find.
When I arrived, a bit after sunrise, the sun was hidden behind thick clouds – just as it had when I was last standing on this spot, on solstice. Today, unlike then, patience paid off… and the sun emerged, spilling “god rays” among London landmarks like The Shard.
I walked down the hill and past London Zoo into Regent Park – with a brief glance at Regent Canal as I crossed over the path of one of my December hikes. Along the pathway I joined a crowd of parents and children heading for the football pitches. Although the ground was frosted and the sun was struggling to eke its way through the clouds, the children were buzzing with excitement as they warmed up for Saturday matches.
At the heart of Regent’s Park is Queen Mary’s garden, enclosed by a perfectly circular roadway. A quite street with almost no traffic on this Saturday morning, the “inner circle” road was spinning with lycra-clad bicyclists. As I walked round this circle, I recognized the same group of speedy cyclists zipping past me every few minutes, as they lapped the circle again and again. I took the opportunity to practice panning shots, that is, panning my camera sideways to photograph a fast-moving subject so the subject is clear and sharp and the background is blurred. Much harder than it looks! I need more practice.
I walked a few more miles through the streets of London until I reached a favorite café, where I joined some computer-science colleagues over a chai and a croissant.
Hike stats:
Distance: about 7.5 miles total
I didn’t track the whole hike with GaiaGPS, so the map is incomplete. The distance estimate is from the Health app on my iPhone.
A lovely hike through Paris woodland.
As I sat over my tea and croissant in an unremarkable Paris boulangerie, looking out into the pre-dawn darkness, snow began to fall. Large, fluffy flakes quickly dusted the sidewalk. Traffic was light on this Saturday morning, although it was nearly 8am. Sunrise wasn’t due for nearly another hour, but I bundled up and headed out, across the street and into the Bois de Vincennes, a sprawling, forested park sometimes called the “lungs of Paris”. I was determined to continue my unbroken sequence of weekend hiking – today was my fifteenth consecutive weekend hike, now spanning five countries.
Favorite photos and videos.
Wow, 2025 was quite the year. With a dozen or more hikes in New Hampshire, and travels to Australia, England, Greenland, Iceland, New Zealand, Colorado, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and South Carolina, I had many opportunities for photography. Check out some of my favorite photos!
Winter solstice in London
Today is the winter solstice. (Technically, it is the December solstice, which in the northern hemisphere is the winter solstice.) I thought surely there would be many photographic opportunities for the solstice, in and around London. (Solstice is a big deal at Stonehenge, of course, but I envisioned massive crowds today and decided to wait.) So I asked ChatGPT for advice. It provided a remarkable response, listing a half-dozen locations suitable for sunrise, another half-dozen for sunset, and more; it listed specific times, provided information about transport to and from each site; it suggested camera settings; and it even built a busy day-long itinerary for a sequence of sites to visit. Although impressive, I decided to keep it simple and went to Primrose Hill for sunrise.
Three short outings in three days.
After spending a week in a photography workshop centered on the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, and a weekend in Cherokee North Carolina – gateway to the Smoky Mountains – I had the opportunity to spend another weekend near the Blue Ridge Mountains in South Carolina. Although our activities were focused on a family wedding – a Hallowedding hosted on Halloween on the shores of Lake Keowee, SC – I took the opportunity to visit some nearby summits and waterfalls.
Three days in Smoky Mountains National Park, and Cherokee NC.
After wrapping up a week-long photography workshop in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, I headed southwest for a solo weekend in the foothills of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Based in the town of Cherokee – in the heart of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation – I had more time to explore waterfalls, fall foliage, ridgetop overlooks, and beautiful hiking trails.
I have hundreds of photos to sift through; for now I’ll share just a few. Read on!
Continue reading “Smoky Mountains”A week in the Blue Ridge, photographing waterfalls at the peak of fall foliage.
I had the pleasure of spending a week in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, with five other aspiring photographers attending a Muench Photography Workshop led by the incomparable Talor Stone. We had gorgeous fall foliage, incredible waterfalls, and fantastic weather. It was pure joy to share a week with a group of other people thoroughly focused on photography, all happy to spend hours standing in the shallows below a waterfall exploring every angle, every exposure, refining our technique and learning new skills. Folks who are happy to rise every day before sunrise, driving up dark, windy roads and hiking to mountaintop outlooks to capture the special light at ‘blue hour’ before sunrise and ‘golden hour’ just after. My kind of people!
David Kotz 