Remember when instagram used to be about photos and less about algorithms and trends? Yeah… me too. And honestly, the shift towards video still gives me the creative dopamine I need to keep going, but there is still no greater rush than when you snap one so good that you know it’s going to make you proud. See, (and don’t start with me JP…) I’m a “photographer” that doesn’t know what ISO or f-stop to use. I don’t know how to use photoshop (just Lightroom) and do very light edits. What I do have is a vision for what I want to see, expensive equipment, and being at the right place at the right time. And I’m okay with that. That being said, these are some of my favorite photos I’ve taken of nature in Western North Carolina and remind me that you don’t always have to know what you’re doing to be good at something. ;-) 1- Black Balsam Knob 2- Crabtree Falls (currently closed) 3- Linn Cove Viaduct Blue Ridge Parkway 4&5- Rough Ridge 6- Skinny Dip Falls BEFORE Tropical Storm Fred (it no longer looks like this) 7- Soco Falls (currently closed while a new trail is being built) 8- Dill Falls 9- Courthouse Falls 10- Wisemans View 11- Cullasaja Falls 12- Dry Falls 13- Max Patch 14- Upper Catawba Falls 15- Toxaway Falls 16-17 & lead image- Roan Mountain - @nctripping