Sort of unrelated back story....
I went to the Mesa Verde Arch in Canyonlands National Park late last fall. I was not the first to arrive at the parking lot, but the first to the arch, well before sunrise. There is a bush very near the arch that I hid in front of so that other people/photographers could also enjoy the sunrise from behind me. It was a wonderful experience full of shutter clicks and the occasional 'that's beautiful' comment from a wife to a husband. But other than that, it was quiet. We all showed respect for one another to maximize the enjoyment for everyone that was there....
This day at the waterfall was a bit different. Maybe people are just more polite out west, but here in Shenandoah I got a bad taste in my mouth regarding the average tourist.
A photographer doesn't show up to a landmark and yell and laugh with his friends, he doesn't let his kids run wild all over the place, he is there to document, and enjoy. He(hopefully) has others in mind as he does his thing.
This waterfall was full of loud people, laughing and yelling, kids running all over the place, people stopping for long periods of time to take photos from the trail that also included other people trying to get by. It was.... crazy... to say the least.
Even as bothered as I was by this, when climbing the different levels of the falls I still naturally tried to stay out of other people's way, as much as I wanted to stand up on the middle tier and shoot right in the center of it, ruining everyone's photographs. But alas... I resisted these temptations, and resisting temptation is definitely not my forte:)
I will make my next trip to the falls more enjoyable by showing up super early in the morning. If there are any people there at that time, they are more likely to have the same values as me regarding the enjoyment of nature:)
I write this to encourage you to soak in nature the way it was supposed to be soaked in. Listen to the sounds of the falling water, watch the occasional leaf be spun around in a whirlpool, feel the same wind that moves the trees so dramatically. Just take it in, and share:)
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| The middle tier of Dark Hallow falls. Shot with the Sigma 50mm 1.4. |
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| A wider perspective of the middle tier. Shot with the Canon 24mm 2.8. |
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| Top tier of the falls, shot with the Canon 24mm 2.8 using a graduated ND filter. |
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| A closer, yet still wide perspective of the top tier of the falls. |
