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By Jay, on May 3rd, 2012% 
The Raleigh, North Carolina area is a peneplain. The area has been devoid of any mountain building events for quite some time so the land surface has very low relief. As a result, outcrops of exposed metamorphic bedrock across the Piedmont physiographic province are few and far between. Additionally, bedrock may be covered by a literal veneer of dense soil and/or saprolite which conceals the bedrock below by mere inches.
But fear not! I am a trained geologist and have become adept at finding these obscure bedrock outcrops. So for reference, and in case anyone wants to go and visit, lets start with a map that I cobbed together.
Site Location of Bedrock Outcrop along US-401 South, Raleigh, North Carolina – photo by J. Sents, 2012
I used the Wake County iMAPS GIS [Beta] for the base layers used to create the map above. The location presents itself as an unpaved, unmarked parking lot. Along the southern edge of the lot, a stand of trees and bushes conceals the exposed bedrock. So a few days after the initial identification of this site, I made first contact with my camera and compass.
Bedrock Outcrop Photograph facing South – photo . . . → Read More: Raleigh Bedrock Outcrop
By Jay, on November 29th, 2011% Well, I say quick, but not entirely. It took me 3 hours to hike up to this location. Then I saw this scene. I thought it looked pretty cool but knew it was going to be difficult to develop unless I went black & white.
The location shall remain unnamed for now. I’ll give you a hint though: I’ve been here before and posted some other photos from this place. It’s a long story that I hope to have cleared up in due time.
Enjoy this Day After Thanksgiving photograph:
The day after Thanksgiving – I think WordPress nerfed the image quality a little – photo by J. Sents, 2011
By Jay, on July 17th, 2011% I had never heard of Conquina Rocks until I took an impromptu visit to the Outer Banks of North Carolina last week. These rocks are very important to the community of Kure Beach. Kure is pronounced “Keer-Eee”. I’m going to delve into Coquina Rocks a little more as well as some other coastal processes sometime this week… hopefully. There’s a lot going on but with any luck, this rather cool photograph will suffice for now.
By Jay, on April 14th, 2011% 
Want to take better digital photographs of rocks, cars, cities, people, nature, or just about anything? Well if you read some of the articles I do, you’d better have about $30,000 handy, because you’ll need about that much to cover the costs for all the cameras, equipment, and gear I often see for suggestions. That doesn’t help a lot of us that wish they could take better photographs but can really only invest—in terms of money AND time—to the level of a point-n-shoot digital camera.
If you don’t care to capture better photographs and are content with blurry, low-quality party pics, then I suggest you support my sponsors and then close this browser for I just saved you a few minutes of valuable time. If you do seek improvement then stick around and read on. I’m going to provide you with my Five Basic Tips for Better Point-n-Shoot Photography that I believe will dramatically improve the quality and composition of your photographs in a relatively short amount of time and effort on your part. So let’s get started from the bottom up…
#5 – Know Your Camera
You have to know the ins and outs of your camera so well . . . → Read More: Five Basic Tips for Better Point-n-Shoot Photography
By Jay, on December 21st, 2010% Well I have this photograph. I just pulled one of the later ones out of the stack of about 400 total. There will be more once I have some time to sift through them all. What I’ll probably do is take the best 2 or 3 and toss them on Flickr where this one is:
Total Sagittarius – Raleigh, North Carolina
Enjoy. It was a little hazy out there in the bitter cold but I think I managed. There still hasn’t been the need for frostbite amputation of the fingers yet. This guy was on a Canon 400D with a Tamron AF70-200mm Di [f/2.8 - ISO100 - 70-200mm:188mm for 2.0 seconds].
By Jay, on July 5th, 2010% I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable Independence Day weekend. The fireworks, fun games, and grilling are all fun; however we should always remember what the date means. The spirited entrepreneurs of the 13 Colonies cast aside a currency system that incurred debt and taxation without limits. They defied a King and governing body which applied laws but rarely followed them. And they took up arms for the ultimate goal of controlling their own individual lives, communities, and destinies. They won and a nation was born.
I’ve been getting a lot of questions from folks with private wells who are not hydrogeology types. They are curious about various aspects of groundwater, wells, and pumps. So I’m going to try and post up some useful knowledge for them. This week will be a bit of crunch all around though due to the holiday weekend, some business closings, and other obligations.
July 3, 2010 Raleigh Fireworks – photo by J. Sents
By Jay, on June 2nd, 2010% So let it begin. Let me tell you something about central North Carolina. Outcrops are as scarce as hens teeth. But you can find them. You can find them if you look hard enough, and sometimes, when not looking at all. They certainly like to hide in plain sight.
Figure 1. Facing west along Crabtree Creek toward Old Lassiter Mill Dam – photo by J. Sents
Not to worry though. I am a trained geologist, so I’ll lead you through it all painlessly. Let’s start with Lassiter Mill Dam. Now, I’m probably going to make this a series of posts that start from the “Big Picture”, and then we can zoom into the all gory details. I figure since this forum is all about having some fun while learning something, it would just be easier on the eyes and brain. Let’s get it going.
The site of the Old Lassiter Mill is located about 3.5 miles north of downtown Raleigh, North Carolina as a crow flies. All that remains of the old grist and saw mill complex is a dam and mill race—a structure used to redirect and concentrate water flow toward a water wheel. The dam is built . . . → Read More: Nutbush Creek Fault near Lassiter Mill Dam
By Jay, on May 30th, 2010% Thanks to those that have served in the Armed Forces. You and your families’ sacrifices to America are appreciated. I hope you all have a wonderful day tomorrow.
As for me, I’m going to try and get out tomorrow and do a little local geology. It just rained pretty heavy here at the end of last week, so now that the stream levels have fallen back to normal flow there is a place north of Raleigh that I’d like to go to and take some photographs of some sand and gravel deposits.
UPDATE: I did get up to Lassiter Mill and found some good stuff; however, I’ve got some weather coming and may have to suspend computer activities until the lightning storm passes.
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