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Shenandoah River

Nov 032011
 

Potoma Waterfall, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, WV.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. As most of you know I have been on a self imposed exploration of my regional backyard. I have cut back some of my trans-continental travel and taken the opportunity to visit some incredible local locations with one of my shooting pals Mark Muse. Today’s post is a real jewel and is located a mere 10 minutes from my office. Just downriver from where the Shenandoah and the Potomac join a small stream that drains from the mountains around Loudon Heights empties into the Potomac. But before it does the stream drops over a knife edge of stone and splinters into multiple cascades. On this day the falls were swollen with water from rains and snowmelt. The flow of water twists and turns through an obstacle course of large boulders before finally joining the Potomac River. Sometimes it just pays to stay at home.

Technical Details: I shot the falls in the early evening. The sun was already dropping low in the sky and the dense canopy of trees obscured most of the sunlight and gave me a beautiful even light for shooting. At this time even an ISO of 100 I could get 1/4 to 1/2 of second exposures which was plenty to give the water a frozen look. But I wanted a little more “flow” to the water and cut out some small specular highlights on the wet rocks so I used a Heliopan Warming Circular Polarizer which gave me an additional 3 stops. So my exposure data was ISO 100 at f11 for 4 seconds. Nikon D3x with a Nikkor 17-35 at 20mm.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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Oct 202011
 

Twilight on the Shenandoah, Harpers Ferry, WV. Image shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 24mm PC lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 30 seconds.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. We have had quite a variety in the weather department over the last few weeks. Though fall has officially arrived the color in the leaves has been somewhat uninspiring due to wet conditions, warm afternoons, and wind. All this has combined to keep the trees on life support so to speak and has negated any possible color intensity. What we need now is a good hard frost to really kick start the leaves. But I am afraid this year may well be one to forget. What little color we have is fairly dull. But not to worry because there is still fantastic color in the skies especially around twilight.

Several days ago I found myself out along the river at twilight. The air was crisp and clear. The river flowed fast, swollen with recent rain, while overhead cirrus wisps drifted on high winds. I love the blue light at this time of the evening. The day is gone and night is approaching but the skies luminosity still casts a light over the landscape. The river flowed silently except where it dropped over unseen rocks below the surface. There the water gurgled, a lively musical serenade to break the evenings stillness. Out beyond the floating gardens of rushes and reeds a great blue heron preened its feathers. More than once the great bird looked my way, checking on me, and perhaps wondering why I was there. As the light fell he took flight heading up river towards the gap. His day was done. And as I tripped the shutter for the last time so was mine.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

 

 

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Oct 092011
 

Bridge and Fog, Shenandoah River. Shot with a Sony a900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 45mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 1-1/2 minutes.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Today’s is image is brought to courtesy of our recent influx of beautiful fall weather. The cool mornings and warm afternoons typically generate some fantastic fog along our rivers in the early morning. In a recent conversation with Alec Johnson we were both lamenting that our current workloads and obligations were preventing both of us from getting out and shooting. So I want to make a point about this conversation. Getting out and shooting for the two of us usually involves anywhere but home. For Alec it is the North Shore of Lake Superior and for me it usually revolves around some slot canyon or grand vista in the American West. The fact is that the act of photography, the mental and physical immersion we both have for this medium, is important to our sanity and well being. It seems like a lot of baggage to place on our choice of art but it is true. Both of us, in our own pursuit of photography, find peace and well-being. Much like yoga the process is one of contemplative and deliberate practice and within this we find a release of our demons.

With the arrival of the fog came a revelation. I travel so much and most of my shooting has indeed been in the far reaches of the country. But I live in an incredible place with a veritable playground full of photographic opportunities. What am I waiting for? Nothing was preventing me from shooting, but me. That’s right, me. I am coming clean here. It is so easy to put up the road blocks and complain about our situations. Our conversation and the influx of of fog gave me a new sense of clarity. Yes, I want to shoot out west but when I can’t be there I have great places at home to practice my craft. In the immortal words of Steven Stills, “if you can’t be with the one you love, love the one your with”. The river is so close and I can make the time without negating my other obligations. It is a good thing and I am glad I woke up to the possibilities. So “Chak” , if you read this far, this one’s for you.

Technical Details: Today’s image was shot in the early morning and was conceived as a long exposure black and white. I wanted two things in the vision of this image. I wanted to soften the details and capture the beautiful soft light created by the fog. This required a long exposure to achieve. So out came my Lee Big Stopper. 10-stops of neutral density gave me a shutter speed at f11 of nearly two minutes. So during the exposure time the river softens and becomes “ice” like and the drifting fog softens the details rendering the image almost high-key. Just exactly what I was looking to do. In processing I kept the image light soft and put most of the detail into the first bridge pier. This in effect stabilizes the composition and provides a nice contrast.

Get out and shoot. Time is wasting away.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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Sep 122011
 

Morning Fog, Shenandoah River, Harpers Ferry, WV. Shot with a Sony a900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 35mm. Image exposed at ISO 200 hand held at f11 for 1/60th of a second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. The drive in to work this morning was simply beautiful. Low lying fog in the cornfields gave way to a blue sky full of wispy, cirrus clouds. I grabbed my camera before leaving the house this morning in the hopes of something special along the river. Often in the early days of fall we will get an inversion that will hold the fog low and floating just above the river.  Sometimes the fog envelopes Loudon Heights and the Virginia mountains on the other side of the river. And sometimes you get the view that greeted me when I got to the office this morning. A long band of fog hung low, drifting parallel to the line of the river. Above the cirrus wisps gained form and structure as the high winds moved them over the mountains. This view, from the patio of our office, greets me everyday I come to work. Every morning I walk to the edge and take in the view, tracing the course of the river until it turns the corner and disappears from sight. This view, like life in general, can be plain and ordinary. But when you least expect it the view, like life, can be full of surprises. Today the river gave me a surprise gift. And the funny thing is I knew it before I even got in the car. Some days are like that. Days when you are so in tune every fiber of your being vibrates and resonates with the world around you. The kind of day when everything just seems to go your way. Magic really.

Thanks for stopping by today. Walk in peace.

Bob

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Jan 122011
 

Winter Light, Shenandoah River, Harpers Ferry, WV. Shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 20mm lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f13 for 1 second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. If today’s image looks cold then you would be correct. The temperature was 23 degrees with a strong, gusty wind of 10 to 15 miles per hour. The wind chill was in the single digits. We had about two inches of snow last night which put a new coat of the white fluffy stuff over the rocks and ice along the edge of the Shenandoah River.

The river is my view from my office and a constant companion. From my window I can watch the trees leaf out in April as migrant song birds arrive from the South. In the summer my view of the river is somewhat obscured by a luscious and green canopy of hardwoods. If I look down I can just make out the sinuous ribbon of the Appalachian Trail that passes below my window. In the fall Loudon Heights glows red and orange as the mountains prepare for the coming winter. When winter arrives, and the trees have shed their leaves, the river is once again revealed to me.

Today I just needed to get out of the office. Clouds strayed overhead most of the day and towards the late afternoon the wind began to blow, sending spindrift past my window. Sheets of ice had formed along the rivers edge and were covered in the new snow. By four it appeared as if there might be a little sunlight breaking through so I grabbed the camera and hiked across the bridge over the river. Down below the river ran cold in colorful shades of green and blue. Just below the Appalachian Trail the rivers edge is marked by steep rock and large slabs of stone that jut out into the water. Most of the rock is encircled by ice. The wind is really blowing and the clouds seem to speed by overhead. The setting sun lit the clouds and sent a beautiful warm red light across the ice. The warm light however did not do much to warm me up except in spirit. It was just downright cold. My fingers and toes went numb but I stayed to watch the last light of day fade. I was only here for about an hour but it was enough to melt the struggles of my day and let it wash away down the river.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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