With its requirement for self-sufficiency, there is often as much art in orchestrating the equipment, as in the image itself. It is not a far cry from what was undertaken by wilderness photographers of the late 1800s like William Henry Jackson, who explored the American West with glass plates and monstrous cameras strapped to the sides of mules. I read once that he melted snow to process his work out in the field. The melted snow of yesterday is the rationed power of today. The fragile glass plates are the laptop.
Technology replaces the mule still full of power, but stubborn and unreliable.
And the camera is, well, still the camera. Although Tennessee recognizes Virgin Falls Pocket Wilderness as a state natural area, a local paper company, Bowater, actually owns the area. They generously allow public access to their extraordinary land. Nestled in the heart of Tennessee's highland rim, only 100 miles east of Nashville, the lush canopy of Virgin Falls echoes with the wild sounds. Below, the earth conceals the mysteries of numerous sunless caves.