White Oak Canyon Fall Color - Shenandoah National Park

 Fall is such an incredible time of year.  It's a wonderful time of year for photogs and non-photogs alike to enjoy the cool mornings, warm days, and some really intense color in the trees.

Shenandoah National Park has just about as much fall color as a camera sensor could handle.  Sometimes too much...  Now, I realize that this is probably not true, but I do feel as if camera sensors don't always do justice to the scene. Yet, other times, a camera sensor brings out more than the human would have seen anyways, so finding the balance can be tricky.  For example, if I tried to make the colors as vivid in the below photo as they were in real life, I would have some very funky, over-saturated images. 

But maybe it's a good thing that cameras only tell part of the story.  If we were able to fully satisfy our thirst for wilderness with a photograph, there might not be any desire to actually be IN the wilderness!

Oh well, until then I guess we as photographers(and many more successfully than I) will have to keep attempting to recreate the beautiful, colorful 3d world into a 2d format that is very unforgiving of your mistakes.

Both images below were shot with the same focal length(17mm), using much different perspectives.
Both images were shot at waterfalls in Shenandoah National Park,  about 18 hours apart.
At this time of year, the waterfalls in the area aren't exactly roaring:)  They more or less trickle down the rocks in tiny streams, dreaming of a day when they can be big and strong again!
 Because of this, the focus really isn't on the falls themselves, they merely play a part in the photograph.

In the top photo, the waterfall takes part in a colorful, yet stark scene of fall color, grey hemlocks, and bald rocks.
In the below photo, the fall color takes the stage in the form of a beautiful reflection.  And the only part of the falls that's visible is simply a shallow pool at the bottom.  
In both photos I used a Kenko Zeta CPL.  I like the Zeta line of polarizers because they are multicoated, reducing flare, and don't detract from your image like a cheap filter will.  They also are affordably priced at around $160(some polarizers can be well over $200).
In the top image I used the polarizer to remove the reflection from the water around the fall, adding to the contrast of the scene with the waterfall 'popping' out a touch from the dark rocks.
In the below image I used it to enhance the reflection of the trees.  This brought out not only the fall color, but rich blues from the sky as well.

 

Prepare For Luck (I'm Turning over a New... Moon)

Luck favors the prepared.  At least that's what most people take from Louis Pasteur's quote "In the fields of observation, chance only favors the prepared mind".

But sometimes, it's luck that makes you prepared in the first place.  Like this particular evening.

I was in Shenandoah National Park for the second time in less than a month.  I came here a few weeks ago with the gf, and loved it so much I knew I had to return for more fall color photography.

Upon my arrival, I had a two small hikes planned, and then figured I would catch the sunset from one of the park's 75 lookouts.  Easy... right?

Well, it's hard to plan photography sometimes, because we photographers are constantly finding different things to photograph.  A mile long walk through nice looking moss and leaves can take hours, and that's all before we get the our intended destination.
So there I was on the last hike of the night, heading for White Oak Canyon Falls.  A nice waterfall in a canyon full of fall color.  My award winning guidebook(which cost me $2 at the Big Meadow Visitor Center) said the hike round trip was 4.6 miles.

Off I went, I was about a half-mile into the trail, at about 4:45pm when I crossed an intersection with another trail where a man was sitting.  I nodded 'hi' and kept moving, until he shouted "Hey, you going all the way to the falls?

"Yes" I said,

"You gotta light?  You gonna be coming back in pitch black!"
In my head I knew that I would have to walk about .5 miles per hour for me to take that long, since civil twilight provides a little bit of light after sunset.

"Really?" I said, "My book said it's only 4.6 miles round trip"

Shaking his head he said "no, more like 4 miles one way"

"ok, well I guess I will just give it a shot!"  I smarted back to him as I walked away...

As I was leaving I could hear the man's wife mentioning to him that the trail was in fact, only 2.3 miles one way.

As a continued down the trail, I kept thinking to myself "man that guy was a Dbag, just because it takes him 2hrs to walk 2 miles doesn't mean it's gonna take me that long"

But for some reason, this interaction with this man made me hurry.  I kept looking up at the sky reassuring myself that I had plenty of time.  But my reassurances were short lived, I started to run.

And run I did!  I ran pretty much all the way to the falls, cutting out a TON of walking time.  Just before I got to the falls, I checked the sun calculator on my phone, and found out that the sunset was MUCH sooner than I expected.  For some reason I thought it was to be around 7pm, when it was closer to 6:30pm.

I took a look at the waterfall when I got there, snapped a photo or two, then made my way back.  I wasn't really concerned about the sunset, just getting out before pitch black, like the guy said earlier.

As you know, since I am typing this, I survived the dark abyss of the White Oak Canyon Trail.  I got in the car and made my way back towards Big Meadow.  As I passed the first overlook, what I saw was the tail end of an incredible sunset over the Shenandoah Mountains.  The layers of mountains and rich color were quite the sight to see.

And then I remembered a blog post I had read earlier in the week from a photographer mentioning that a very, very young moon(super skinny crescent) would be visible just after sunset.  I looked around for it but couldn't see anything, so I got back into the car and started eating an incredibly delicious turkey sandwich made with Earth Grains 100% Whole Wheat Bread.  The texture of the bread and the taste of the Miracle Whip and thinly sliced turkey were truly amazing... but then, I saw it, the moon.  It was behind a layer of clouds and falling fast.

I raced out of the car and started firing away, and just like that.... it was gone.

I then thought back to the man who told me to hurry, and how lazy I thought he was.  I'm glad that the part of me that controls my legs actually listened to him and ran the first half of the trail.  Otherwise, not only would I have been walking out of White Oak Canyon in the dark, I would have missed this awesome sliver of a moon.  I most likely would have been mauled by a pack of juvenile black bears as well.  :)

A young crescent moon sets over Shenandoah National Park

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!

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)  :)

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.