Stone Mountain State Park

April 18, 2015 • Leave a Comment

I've had a chance to play with my new Nikon D750 and the Nikkor 20mm 1.8G and have to say I REALLY enjoy the performance of this combo! Earlier this week I took the new kit to Stone Mountain State Park.

When stopped down, this lens performs really well all the way to the extreme corners. And for a super fast, super wide angle, that is saying something!

On to the good stuff... On the way to Stone Mountain, I cruised by this pretty church that had its trees in full bloom.

At the entrance to Stone Mountain(and pretty much everywhere else), there are some really nice low hanging Flowering Dogwoods. I shot a few images here before heading up the mountain. Blooming DogwoodsBlooming Dogwoods

Blooming DogwoodsBlooming Dogwoods

Blooming DogwoodsBlooming Dogwoods Blooming DogwoodsBlooming Dogwoods

When I first got up on the rock face, the clouds, while pretty cool to look at, didn't do much for the photos. Then, just as I was trying to figure out the live-view on the D750, my bagged rolled over and my lens hood rolled out and down the mountain! I had literally JUST taken delivery on the 20mm 1.8 and before I knew it I was without a lens hood! I tried to shimmy down and get it, but it stopped on a REALLY steep and slick part of the rock face. I may try to return and retrieve it on a drier day, but for now, the mountain keeps the lens hood.

The next few images are from the top of Stone Mountain as I made my way through the upper portion of the loop trail.

From up at this vantage point, you can really see the green starting to come in at the lower elevations.

I did get a nice shot of some cool clouds on top. But cool clouds like this usually mean rain, and when it rains, I always wish I had a lens hood!

Once I got down to the base of the mountain, I spotted a patch of nice blooms, as well as some ferns getting ready to uncurl. These blooms were REALLY small. The close focus capabilities of the 20mm 1.8G really came in handy!

When I was shooting some trail-side ferns, the only person I saw that day came cruising by...

I was pleased to see all the nice blooms at the homestead near the base of Stone Mountain. You can see the towering Stone Mountain to the upper right of the below image. I moved in for some close up stuff of the trees at the homestead...

I think one of my favorite things about this lens is the shallow depth ability at 20mm. It really is a game changer. While I haven't maximized the potential of the lens, here are a few examples...

Once I got to the parking lot, I was as happy as I could be... I finished and ended my hike with seeing only a park worker.

I grabbed a few more photos of the dogwoods and various blooms as I made my way out of the park.

When I got to this spot by the parks entrance, I wasn't sure where to focus the 50mm 1.8G, so I just shot two...

At this time the rain was starting to come down and I had to get back to the wife. Thanks for looking!

Keywords: blue ridge parkway, flowering dogwood, historic north carolina, nikon 20mm 1.8G sample images, nikon D750, north carolina, springtime, stone mountain state park

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