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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The last of the Fall Color at Stone Mountain...

For the second time in as many days, I went to Stone Mountain State Park in North Carolina.  The fading fall color brings a bit of sadness to my eyes. All of this vibrant color is now dwindling to nothing more than brown sticks reaching for the sky... I guess we just need to enjoy it while it lasts and prepare for winter!

Looking up at a backlit red leaf

Just off the trail near the summit of Stone Mountain.  Rain and flowing water leave thier mark down the mountain.

A view from the homestead

A group of buzzards swooping around and acting like the juveniles that they are

Looking up at Buzzards above Stone Mountain

Dark Hallow Falls (Shenandoah National Park)

Dark Hallow Falls is one of the more popular places to go in Shenandoah National Park, and for good reason.  The waterfall is beautiful.  Multiple cascades flow over moss covered stone, through a forest full of changing leaves.

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:)

The middle tier of Dark Hallow falls.  Shot with the Sigma 50mm 1.4.

A wider perspective of the middle tier. Shot with the Canon 24mm 2.8.

Top tier of the falls, shot with the Canon 24mm 2.8 using a graduated ND filter.

A closer, yet still wide perspective of the top tier of the falls.

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)  :)

Comers Creek Falls

An hour drive and a twenty minute walk is about all it takes to get to here from Piper's Gap, VA.  I took the dog on this little trek not expecting to stay long since the sun was unobstructed as I left the house.

Once I got there, a layer of clouds slowly started to move in, allowing me to shoot the falls with a little more control.  A canopy of trees and a cloudless day can mean some nasty shadows, shadows that render photos worthless in my book.

Here are the images from yesterday's 'dog walk'.
The color in Virginia is only getting better... so stay tuned:)

The noise of this falls is best portrayed in this images(it has a bit of a roar)

If you look REALLY closely you can see little Margot the Yorkie on the bank

The clouds really started rolling in as I left

Moab, UT

While planning this little trip to Moab, Utah, I really wanted to stay away from backpacking.  Mainly because of the heat, and the fact that there is pretty much no water on many of the hikes(which means you are packing a lot of water, along with your camera/camping gear).

We ended up deciding on a rafting trip to consume most of our time there.  This looked like a totally awesome way to stay cool and hydrated, while being much less expensive than renting a jeep.  We were set.

The night before the trip, I stayed up waaaaay too late getting ready/watching TV/eating Twizzlers.  Once I was mostly packed, I decided to get a quick nap in before heading to the airport. 
I live in a small town, so the airport is about 110 miles away, which means it would be wise for me to leave my house 4hrs before my flight leaves(keeping the 2hr at the airport rule).  I set my alarm for 2 a.m.(6am flight). 

I slept like a baby....  and then I woke up, with no alarm blaring, I checked the time.... 3:15am.  Oh Shit.  I raced to the shower to rinse off the night, grabbed my bag and headed out the door.  I was traveling 95-100mph at times, racing down the interstate towards Charlotte. 

Based on the fact that there are pictures further down in this post, I made it to the airport.  But without my tripod(I know, serious photographer offense) or a jacket.  So I phoned my buddy about a hundred times(forgetting that they were two hours behind me in mountain time) to see if he could bring a spare.

He complained about being woken up but did inform me that he would be bringing a tripod for me.  It was a Kodak, suitable for a point and shoot, maybe a mirror-less camera, but not near enough support for a Canon 5d Mark ii with a 16-35 2.8 L ii mounted to it:)  Oh well...

My buddies picked me up in downtown Denver.  I paid $22 dollars to get shuttled there so I could pick up a lens cap for my macro lens(which I later found out wasn't working properly... I'll spare you that story)

Once the guys picked me up, we were off.  5hrs to Moab. 

Once we got there, we checked in to the raft rental place, got a hotel room, and headed for Arches National Park to catch the sunset and take some starry night shots.

My buddies had never been here before, so watching them get excited was totally awesome.  It was great to share this experience. 




Delicate Arch with just a touch of lightpainting from the left






Not bad for 25,000 ISO

 

Hanging out at Delicate Arch :)



At 1am, we were out.  Of to catch a quick bit of sleep, then it was rafting time!




A frog mills about on the trail back from Delicate Arch(Shot with Droid Charge, lit by maglight)

 

Most of the rafting days kind of blurred into one.  We were low on food(because we didn't bring enough) we ran out of sunblock(I love my base tan), and the days dragged on and on... just like they should.

All in all, it was a flat-water paradise...



Campsite - Day 1




Day Two - Carving deeper into the Labyrinth Canyon

After packing up from night #2, we followed the river around a HUGE bend called Bowtie Bend.  Shortly after this bend, there is a place in the rock that has eroded down where you can scramble up the rocks and get to place where you can see two sections of the river...




Enrique and Mike making the climb.. This kinda gives a sense of how huge this place is..




The open portion of the canyon in the upper right is my destination here...




Same river, great view.







Campsite - Day 3(final night) The Distortion on the 16-35 L ii is very apparent here.



A view of the Sunrise from just in front of the tent.

  The final day of rafting was a short one, which ended with a Do-nut Burger from Milt's, a nice drive to Dead Horse Point, and of photograph of the rainy scene...



Dead Tree at Dead Horse Point, overlooking the Green River



The last day, we grabbed a sunrise at Dead Horse Point, drove through the Colorado National Monument, and ate dinner at the Tilted Kilt in Denver... 

Sunrise over Dead Horse Point



Colorado National Monument




An overlook at the Colorado Monument

 

 Thanks for looking, I cannot wait for the next time I get to head back to the western half for another adventure:)



 - Michael Speed 

 

Services used by Michael + friends

16-35mm 2.8 L ii Rental - LensRentals.com
Raft Rental - Canyon Voyages Adventure Company
Shuttle to and from - Coyote Shuttle

Post Raft Do-nut Burgers - Milt's Stop and Eat