Tamron USA State Park Series: Monte Sano State ParkCecil Holmes takes the Tamron SP 24-70mm VC lens to explore this rustic mountain sanctuary in the heart of Alabama. |
Article by Jenn Gidman Images by Cecil Holmes |
Monte Sano State Park in Huntsville, Alabama, is known as the park that "spans from the Stone Age to the Space Age." Anchoring the park is the mountain of Monte Sano itself (the name is Spanish for "mountain of health"). Starting in the 1820s, the historical town of Viduta, located on the mountainside, was home to the Hotel Monte Sano, a resort and sanatorium famous for its medicinal springs and crisp, cool mountain air. |
The hotel closed in the early 1900s, but the 2,400-acre state park continues to attract thousands of visitors annually looking for a restorative day in the mountains. The park boasts 14 miles of hiking and biking trails, as well as camping facilities for guests who want an overnight park experience. Explorers will have the chance to photograph the exotic natural flora (including wild roses and ginseng) and fauna - white-tailed deer, feral goats, and even rattlesnakes and copperheads all call Monte Sano home. |
Cecil Holmes, a local photographer who lives a few miles from the park, says that Monte Sano is small enough to be manageable even for just a one-day photographic excursion. "We're about three-and-a-half hours from the Smoky Mountains," he says. "Many of the parks here in Alabama are convenient that way. There's basically one road in and one road out to Monte Sano. The hiking and biking trails are probably your best bet to see the sights. You can drive on the main road, but you won't see a lot of the waterfalls, for example, unless you actually hike down some of the trails. They're not long, arduous hikes, either: Many are less than a mile." |
Some of those trails include the North Plateau Loop and South Plateau Loop, which provide breathtaking views of the Tennessee Valley, and the more challenging Mountain Mist and McKay Hollow trails. A new "outdoor interpretive classroom" takes visitors to 18 stops throughout the park (scheduled tours are available by calling the park directly). "I also like to photograph at the Japanese garden they have on-site," Cecil says. "I've always gotten beautiful images there." |
Visitors come to Monte Sano year-round (including Cecil, since he lives so close), but fall and spring provide the best photographic opportunities. "Fall is always a terrific time to visit Monte Sano because of all the brilliant colors," he explains. "That said, it may be a busier time of year, not only because of the foliage, but because a lot of people camp there during the autumn. Spring is also ideal because we tend to get a lot of rain then. The waterfalls are weather-dependent, so the more rain we get, the better the waterfalls will be. They tend to dry up in the summer, so you won't find as many then." |
When he visits Monte Sano, Cecil packs his DSLR, his Tamron SP 24-70mm VC lens ("I take that lens everywhere now!"), and the Tamron 90mm Macro lens. "I bring the 90mm just in case I stumble across something that would really lend itself to macro," he says. "Polarizing filters and variable neutral density filters are also in my bag no matter what. I also have a tripod pretty much everywhere I go, especially with all of the waterfalls they've got there. When I do have the occasion to take a handheld shot, I'll switch on the 24-70's Vibration Compensation (VC) feature to make sure I get sharper images." |
Cecil has photographed in the park at every time of day. "In terms of the ideal time to take pictures in Monte Sano, the answer to that is the answer to pretty much every other photographic question: It depends," he laughs. "But you do want to hit certain parts of Monte Sano at specific times to get the best pictures. One of the overlooks in the back of the park, for instance, is really only doable photographically around sunrise because you're facing east. You can photograph it at other times, but you're not going to get the same effect. After some sunrise shots like that, you might want to hit the waterfalls and trails: There's usually enough shade cover so that you can get really nice images until about 10 or 11 in the morning. Then plan on coming back in the late afternoon and evening for some sunset shots to cap it off." |
There are plenty of interesting photographic opportunities not far from Monte Sano State Park as well. Huntsville Botanical Garden offers shady woodlands, the 5-acre Central Corridor Gardens (which hosts colorful aquatic, perennial, and annual displays), and the largest seasonal butterfly house in the country. "I love going to the gardens, especially in the spring when the tulips are out," Cecil says. "There's a beautiful pond with water lilies I like to photograph." |
Perhaps the biggest draw besides Monte Sano, however, is the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, one of the most comprehensive rocket and space memorabilia museums in the world (hence the earlier Space Age reference). The facility houses the Spacedome theater, which shows IMAX movies, and an on-site observatory managed by the Von Braun Astronomical Society. "They've even got a space camp for the kids!" Cecil says. |
To see more of Cecil Holmes' work, go to www.cecilsphotos.com. Check out the Tamron USA website for more information on Tamron's State Park Series. |