The Great Dismal Swamp

The Great Dismal Swamp is a pretty impressive area.  I am surprised there weren't more people there since it is in such close proximity to some really big cities.  I actually didn't see another person in the swamp or lake once I got on the kayak(there were some people milling about the boat ramp area).

The Dismal Swamp is near Chesapeake VA, and it straddles the VA/NC border.  It's about a 6hr drive from Galax if you count the time it took for me to go to Riner and pick up the kayak that a friend foolishly let me borrow.

I got a bit of a late start on the drive due to lunch with the gf and some friends.  So I didn't arrive at the boat ramp until about 7:30pm.  This made it pretty much impossible to get to the campsite before dark, as it's about a 3 mile kayak trip.

Getting dark in the Feeder Ditch

The good thing about the campsite, is that it is located near the lock that keeps the lake level high.  There are some services there including flush-able toilets, power outlets, tables, and a little house where I think a ranger can stay or something.  The REALLY good thing about the campsite was the lights!  It got dark well before I made it to camp, but as I got closer I could start to see fluorescent lights, guiding me there(the Feeder Ditch through the swamp is a straight shot, just loooooooooong)

 The lock consists of a spillway and a cable boat transporter thing.  Basically, you put your boat on it, press a button and it takes your boat up the and over the hill to the other side of the lock.

Due to peet soil or something like that, the water here is brown like tea:)

I slept in that brown building:)

Put your boat on here...

...press a button and it will take your boat over here..

I took this on the way out, since when I started it was too dark to see the sign.

Once I got to the camp, I found out that the sit-on-top kayak I borrowed uses holes in the floor of the rear compartment as ballast.  This normally wouldn't be a big deal but my sleeping bag was at the bottom and therefor soaked:)  Luckily when I picked up the kayak I stole a tarp is well.  So instead of pitching a tent I slept on the floor of one of the screened in picnic table areas(the tarp would be a bit too big of a sleeping back for a two-man tent).

Now to the good part...

I have had some pretty incredible areas all to myself in the past.  I have blazed a trail in fresh snow to Mystic Lake in Montana.  I've sat and watched the stars turn over a moonlit Devil Canyon without being disturbed. I've enjoyed hours in the Stillwater Canyon without seeing a soul.... But for some reason, waking up at 4:30am from a tarp, hopping in a kayak onto what looks like a sheet of glass, and paddling out of the swamp and into Lake Drummond where huge monoliths rise up out of the water, where the sound of the kayak's wake, frogs, and birds are all that you hear(I was up before the planes started flying overhead)... this was one of the most incredible experiences in my life, even if it only lasted for a short time.

It's hard to see in this photo, but the far tree was chock full o' birds

Vibrant green on the edge of Lake Drummond

The southern Edge of Lake Drummond has a different look.   I used a CPL, an ND filter and a Singh-Ray reverse grad to manage an 8 second exposure to capture this scene.

A warbler(I think)

Turtles were EVERYWHERE!

One thing I learned on this trip, is that it is very hard to setup compositions on a kayak.  What would normally be easy to change on dry land is more difficult when working over the side of a boat.  I used 3/4" wooden dowels rammed up into the bottom of my tripod legs to give me the height needed(the lake is about 4-6ft deep).

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One Red Morning

An awesomely red morning on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The sun produces an awesome glow just before sunrise, and is a wonder red orb low in the sky just after.  Then the color goes away and I head in to work:) 

Pilot Mountain Pre-dawn



 

Happy Sunday, thanks for looking. :)

Morning in Shenandoah National Park

All in all we had a great time during our visit to Shenandoah.  The Blue Ridge Parkway becomes Skyline Drive at the start of the park.  The road takes you up onto the crest of the mountains and leads you to many different lookouts.

During this trip, we never made it out of the south district of the park(the park is crazy long).  Therefore I will be returning to the park in the near future to capture images from the other districts, and to take in the peaking fall color:)



Thanks for looking....

The first sunrise we got to see, shot with a Canon 70-200 2.8L and a graduated ND filter.

A not-so-terrible looking HDR shot with the Canon 24mm 2.8

Layers of hill/mountains.

A roadside spike!

Fall Color on the Jone's Run Trail (Shenandoah National Park)

This was going to be a post about an awesome waterfall in the South District of Shenandoah National Park.  Jones Run Falls, to be exact.  It didn't quite work out that way... 

I must be honest with you.  While I enjoy the journey, I am a 'destination' kind of guy.  Most of my pleasure comes from reaching/photographing my destination.  As for the journey?  That's just gravy(but not my fave)

Well today was a little different.  The gf and me were en route to Jones Run Falls, when we noticed two hikers looking up into the woods.  What they were looking at turned out to be a yearling black bear.  I attempted to mount the zoom lens, but by the time all of that took place, the bear was a long ways away through a dense forest... but still fun to see no doubt(turns out that the journey can be fun afterall!)

The trails in Shenandoah are carpeted with yellow and red leaves right now, and the color is only getting more intense.  Below are a few images of the leaves that have fallen in the right spot:)


All  images below(with the exception of the final image) are shot with the Sigma 50mm 1.4 through a Helioplan Circular Polarizer.  The final image was shot with the Canon 70-200 2.8 L.

 Are you prepared for the following image?  Can you ever truly be prepared for a raging waterfall such as the one you are about to see?  I present to you, in all its glory..... JONES RUN FALLS!!!!!!!!!!




Ok so maybe it isn't that awesome:(




Vines creeping up a tree.



Backlit Leaves....

Thanks for looking... I will have one more post on Shenandoah(until the next time I go later this month)  :)

A Sunrise Hello, A Harvest Moon Goodbye... (Shenandoah National Park)

 Summer can't last forever, at least not in this part of the hemisphere.  The end of summer brings a welcome change in most people's eyes.  The temps cool down to crisp mornings and only slightly warm days, and a bloom that seems to start in March finally comes to an end, but fortunately it doesn't just end. 

Before winter, we get to experience an incredible transition.   We get to see mountain after mountain painted with bright yellow, orange, and red.  Combine this with the already beautiful blue haze of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and you have yourself one colorful sight to see for sure.

The peak colors are happening in different areas very soon.  During our hikes(photos to come) we saw some great forest color, both up high and carpeting the forest floor. 

I would like to encourage you to get out, take a drive(even better, walk) through nature and soak it all in.  Soon enough, it will all be gone, and we will be waiting for green again. 

Below are two images from our last morning in the park.  We got up REALLY early to catch the moonrise, only to find out that I had the iphone app set to the wrong day, giving us an hour at an overlook to sleep in the car. 

After a quick predawn nap, we headed for an overlook that was closed to cars... Ivy Creek I think. The sunrise was incredibly colorful, even for a cloudless morning.

As soon as the sun came up(this was one of the last images I took) we headed for a different overlook facing the other direction.  We drove past an opening in the road and, instead of driving to the overlook, parked the car on the shoulder and set up there.  The harvest moon only comes once a year, and I felt it was very important to capture it.  There is nothing extra spectacular about a harvest moon that isn't just as spectacular every other full moon, it's simply the first full moon after the beginning of fall:)

Enjoy... and get outside!  If you need a hiking partner... you've got one in me!

A sunrise captured by the Sigma 50mm set to f16(the smallest aperture) for the sunstar effect.

The fading harvest moon captured by a Canon 70-200 2.8 L.

Wilson Creek (Grayson Highlands State Park)

There is something about this place...  something totally awesome.   I even feel like a more awesome person when I come here.  I can leave this place and tell people 'I went to the highlands today' and they immediately know that I had a way more badass time then they did.  

Here is a quick double check on what a awesomely awesome park should have, and whether or not Grayson Highlands State Park has what it takes....

EPIC views of the Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee(yes you can see that far) mountains?  Check.

WILD animals, most notably, horses?  Check.

WELL MAINTAINED trails for horses, bikers, and hikers?  Check.

OFF THE CHAIN cascades and waterfalls?  Oh Hell Yes.(our focus for this post)

A classic Virginia view:)

Not too bad of detail for a Pentax k20d + 16-45

As soon as the sun breaks, you are racing it up the creek, trying to get your shots before the rays come in.

Endless cascades on Wilson Creek

Big cascades, watch your step here:)

I'll give you one guess as to how many aperture blades my Sears 135mm has:)  They are painfully straight, as you can see in the bokeh.