Early morning creates a tranquil atmosphere in the forests surrounding North Carolina’s Chattooga River.

This beautiful stretch of North Carolina’s Chattooga River is located just north of the crossing at Bull Pen Road. Though wild and untouched, but this stretch of the river isn’t all that remote. For that reason, this stretch of the river tends to be the most crowded. In fact, it is often the most crowded at dawn — a time when you are most hoping for solitude. But it’s not crowded in the way you might imagine, like loud hikers and people walking their dogs. It’s crowded with fly fishermen. To me, that almost adds to the peacefulness. A friendly nod or wave is all you will get, and all that is wanted in return. Along with the unspoken agreement that things should stay unspoken. There may be a good number of people of there, but when each and every one of them is searching for solitude, the tranquility isn’t affected.

Higher resolutions of this image are available (the maximum resolution for this image is 4405×4699). For usages that require a resolution higher than 3000px, or are otherwise beyond the standard terms and conditions, please email me directly at matt@matttilghman.com to discuss use-specific pricing.

For some of my photographs, I record and post the entire Photoshop editing process from start to finish. This is one of those photos, and you can see watch the recording here: “Peaceful Dawn at Chattooga River” editing procedure on Youtube.

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