One of my photographs will appear on the cover of a new book by Philip Gerard about the Cape Fear River. The book will not be available until March, but you can check out the description and reviews and pre-order a copy on the UNC Press web site.
The cover photograph was made from the Lee County side of the Avents Ferry Bridge over the Cape Fear River. I wanted to make a wild landscape without any signs of human development. I also wanted to shoot from a bridge rather than the bank or a boat for a high vantage point to help the river appear to recede into the distance. Rather than spending a day driving to all the bridge crossings to scout locations, I used street view in Google Earth. In just a few minutes I was able to scout all the bridge crossings and identify the best location to make the image.
This is the same location viewed in Google Earth Street View in midday light.
I posted another image on the web site from the same morning back in September. The low bank of fog and calm water picked up the pink pastel color in the predawn sky.
Cape Fear River. Click to see a larger version.
Great work David! The colors are beautiful and really tell a magical story for me. I was curious to know if you talked about this shot with books author or publisher or did you bring the vision to them?
Hi Chris, it was sort of a mix. UNC Press contacted me, described the book, and asked if I had any images that might work on the cover. I had some to submit but did not feel any of them captured the scope of the book so I shot this scene with this book in mind. Then I submitted all the images and it just so happens UNC Press chose this image.
By the way, I just took a look at your web site and you have some great HDR images. I particularly liked the new waterspout and the new coquina rock sunrise.
Nice shot… I’m looking forward to this book being published as I’ve long thought about doing a book on the Cape Fear.