Editor’s Note: Since this Gallery was posted, Beth Young has a new book out. Headwaters, A Journey on Alabama Rivers, published by the University of Alabama Press, featuring her photography and text by John C. Hall is available on Amazon.

To view the entire Gallery, click on the image below.

Click on the image at right to see a collection of remarkable river photographs  by Birmingham-based environmental photographer Beth Maynor Young. Beth’s photographs are included in many  private and corporate collections across the country, and one look at the images here will explain the reasons why. The photographer’s short descriptions of the photos, sometimes including information on the time of day the pictures were taken or the logistics of transporting photography equipment into difficult-to-navigate natural areas, add another dimension to the images.

The pictures here are organized into three groups. The first is the Chattooga River: images of the Wild and Scenic River that forms the border between Georgia and South Carolina. Beth describes it as a powerful river with a personality all its own and one with which people from all around the world have a personal relationship. The second group contains images of Tallulah Gorge. In the third group are rivers in Beth’s “Waters of the South” series, a collection of some of her most popular and timeless photographs, including Georgia’s Flint and Tallapoosa rivers as well as waterways in Florida, Alabama and Mississippi. The total of 27 images take you on an inspiring river voyage from sunrise on the Chattooga to a full moon on Mississippi’s Gulf Island National Seashore.

After viewing these photographs, it will be a comfort to know that you can own them yourself (or give them to friends) in the form of inexpensive sets of note cards. (Inexpensive meaning really inexpensive, like in the price range of $10 to $14 for a set of 6 cards that come in a custom-designed wrapper with information about the rivers and links to various sources of information). This Kingfisher Editions note card collection places some of the photographer’s work in the public market place for the first time. A wide variety of note card sets are available – not limited to just the images you see here. Fine art prints of some of Beth’s photographs are also available. Learn more about Beth Maynor Young and browse through her collection of note cards and prints on her Cahaba River Publishing website.

Remember that by using the Flickr connection in the BG Gallery, you can send individual images from the Beth Young’s Rivers - or the entire set - to friends.

Other Links

• Read more about the Flint River
• See a map showing all of the bridges and dams on the Flint River
• See a map showing just the dams on the Flint River
• Read more about the Tallapoosa River
• Read more about Cumberland Island
• Take a whitewater rafting trip on the Chattooga River with Southeastern Expeditions,  Wildwater Limited, or Nantahala Outdoor Center

Photos of the upper Tallulah River and Tallulah River Gorge. To view the complete album of 10 photos, CLICK ON THE IMAGE.

View the photo gallery in conjunction with Suzanne Welander’s 10.7-mile Tallulah River Paddling Guide in two sections, the Coleman River Confluence to Plum Orchard Road (4.7 miles) and Tiger Creek Confluence to Tallulah Falls Lake (6 miles).

The Tallulah River is both a small stream of outstanding beauty and a dramatic whitewater run that pushes the limits of navigability. The headwaters are unbelievably clear, attracting avid anglers and occasional paddlers interested in technical Class II-III runs amid moss-covered boulders. At the other end of the river is the celebrated Tallulah Gorge, home to read-and-run whitewater from Class IV+ to Class V. In between these two extremes are four dams and very little navigable river.

 By MICHAEL MOODY

Roger Thomas and Michael Moody spent Wednesday, August 19th, on the South Fork Broad River taking photographs and recording GPS coordinates for an interactive map of Suzanne Welander’s canoeing guide to the stream. Here are the photographic results of their day’s work. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO SEE THE ENTIRE GALLERY. Read Suzanne Welander’s South Fork Broad River paddling guide and view the INTERACTIVE MAP that includes these photographs along with the latitude and longitude coordinates.

Ogeechee-Canoochee Riverkeeper Program Director Dianna Wedincamp organized a mid-summer paddling trip on the Ogeechee. Here are photos of OCR members on the trip, including first-time paddler Anna Thibeau, who blogged about her expereince, “Seriously, I had not expected to get wet above the knees. I had even styled my hair and put make up on carefully before we left home. The drenching was wonderful!”

Read Anna’s complete blog about her first-ever paddling experience.

First Paddle

By Anna Thibeau

You know those beautiful Impressionistic paintings with couples in row boats? The lady is in a diaphanous gown with a large brimmed hat and the man has on a striped jacket, white pants and a straw hat?  I guess that is what I had in mind when our friend Dianna Wedincamp invited us to join Riverkeeper’s paddle down the Ogeechee River. This being the beginning of the 21st century, bathing suits, bermudas and baseball caps make up a plausible modern version of this idyllic situation.

On the Saturday of our adventure, we set the alarm early so we could be out of the house by 8:00 AM, and after an uneventful trip, arrived at Morgan’s Bridge at the appointed 9:30 AM. The canoes belonging to Riverkeeper were already in the water, and Dianna’s husband Jimmy were keeping guard over them. Other people on the paddle trip were to-ing and fro-ing in cars. I suspected they were doing something useful, but wasn’t quite sure exactly what. (more…)