Shootin' with Rabbits

Union County, Georgia — The Rabbit, The Wolf, and the Eagle

Most of you who have followed this journey know where I'm from. I talk about it pretty often. For those who don't, I'm from a little town called Blairsville, GA in the Appalachian Mountains. To be more specific, I live in the most beautiful lil' valley in the world! Choestoe Valley is nestled in the southern end of Union County. Choestoe is a loose translation of Rabbit in the native Cherokee language. This area has been known as the "Land of the Dancing Rabbits” for many generations! It is home to Blood Mountain, Vogel State Park, Helton Creek Falls, Hog Pen Gap, and of course the historic Sunrise Grocery! I had to get Sunrise Grocery in there somewhere! So over the years I’ve taken a lot of photos from this area.

Cow Pasture Wall Art — Where Wolves Dance with Rabbits

We will start with Sunrise Grocery. Sunrise Grocery has been in my family for over 40 years and I've been lucky enough to run it for 27 years now. Throughout the year Sunrise will come alive and look pretty good. I've gotten one in the spring that I really like, and of course, the fall is when it really shines! 2024 marks our 100 year anniversary.

Sunrise Grocery and River Cabins — Sunrise in the Fall

Vogel State Park is another iconic location. One of my biggest feathers in my cap is a photo that I have displayed in the Atlanta Airport on a 8 foot by 24 foot mural. I've also done one called "Remembering Vogel" which is an image I did to stop a moment in time. They are putting in a new office towards the lake which will be beautiful once it's finished. This image is just to remember it how it used to be. I still have some prints left since it is a limited print.

The one that stands above all the rest is Blood Mountain. I've been to the top many times, and it never gets old. The views along the trails are breath taking; it doesn’t matter what side you come up from. I love the Neel Gap side because of the large rock outcroppings along the way. I still have a few compositions in the bag, but I'm waiting on the right conditions. I do have several images from there that I really like! Probably my favorite is "Sunset on Blood"!

Helton Creek is one of the prettiest falls in the North Georgia Mountains! I've studied many compositions up there. I've been there so many times I usually try to get something different than most of the ones you see like the image "Uniquely Helton". There are a couple things at Helton Creek that are like finger prints. One is the old tree that has been at the bottom of the falls. The other is slope on the bottom right part of the rock face. So with that in mind, I placed both in the image without revealing the whole falls.

Another spot is Hog Pen Gap which is on the southern end of the border. One of my favorite images of all-time I got from up there. It's called "A.T. Magic. I went up there to shoot some of the old gnarly trees in the fog when I was treated to a light show! The sun started to break through the fog with all these God rays! The composition I found was actually pretty solid. The subject really is the white blaze on the tree. I love the 2 large trees on either side of the trail which disappears into the distance. Then to balance out the image, there's all this beautiful foliage and other trees on the right side of the photo with the sun bursting through! The other one I love from there is "Lordamercy"! It's named after Lordamercy Cove which is my favorite story from this area! It got it's name from the steep descent down into the valley when it was the main wagon road into the area. They would cut timber at the top and drag them down behind the wagon so it didn't fly off the mountain. It was such an ordeal the locals would say the could hear the women screaming "Lordamercy" while making the trip down the mountain!

There are many more spots and hidden gems that hide here in the valley. Here are a few more images from my little spot of earth. I hope you enjoy and I will add a link to each image in case you want one for your wall! Thanks for joining me!