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String Theory – Elakala Falls No. 1, Shays Run, Blackwater River State Park, WV

 Blackwater Falls State Park, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Photography Trips, River, Robert H Clark Photography, Water, Waterfall Photography, Waterfalls, West Virginia, West Virginia Photography  1 Response »
Sep 152012
 

 

String Theory • Elakala Falls No. 1, Shay's Run, Blackwater Falls State Park, WV.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. To a physicist or a musician, the concept of String Theory, will probably have different meanings. To a physicist String Theory is a research framework that attempts to reconcile quantum mechanics and general relativity. To a musician it is the music and theory of all instruments with strings. For me the complexity of these ideas is staggering. Quantum mechanics is pretty heady stuff in its own right and one need only listen to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring to realize the beautiful complexity of his music. I would argue that in physics there is music and in music there is physics. In this image which I have lovingly named “String Theory” the concepts of physics and music have merged. Gravity, of course, plays a large role here, as does time, and perhaps the science of fluid dynamics. And I think we could throw in a little Chaos Theory for good measure. But there are also sound waves in physics and in music. A waterfall is all of these things and more. To watch the movements of the water, to trace the lines of the flows, is to witness the concepts of gravity and time. The music comes from the joyful sounds of water striking rock and splashing in the pools below. This is the complete orchestra. Standing quietly though, if you listen, you can hear the individual notes and melodies that make up the orchestra; Water upon rock; water upon water; the reverberation of notes that bounce within the stone walls; and then, more subtle, the dampened notes of water dripping on the green moss. If you stand long enough you can hear the notes trickle away, carried downstream to play again for anyone who will listen.

This is Elakala Falls No. 1. It receives that distinguished moniker since it is the first waterfall in a series of four fall along Shay’s Run in Blackwater River State Park, WV. I shot this image about two weeks ago with my WV shooting pal Mark Muse. The conditions were less than ideal and we were pelted all day by rain and generally unpleasant conditions. But despite the rain the concert was not cancelled. The river played on and the rain joined in for an improvisational set. During the intermissions we photographed, happy to be part of the show. Well, to be honest, only sometimes were we happy. We did not enjoy covering our cameras with plastic bags, or defogging our polarizing filters, or being soaked to the bone. But those things were just part of the process and if we slowed down, and allowed ourselves to listen, we could hear the music. Stop and listen. A simple concept that is hard to practice in a world hell bent to speed up. Places such as this are important to our well being, our heath, and our soul. Unplugging from the stream of bits and bytes and plugging in to the earths natural rhythms is calming and invigorating. Take some time to listen to the music. It is out there waiting for you.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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Elakala Falls No. 1, Shay’s Run, Blackwater Falls State Park, WV

 Blackwater Falls State Park, Heliopan Filters, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Nikon D3x, Photography Composition, Photography Trips, Photoshop Technique, River, Robert H Clark Photography, Water, Waterfall Photography, Waterfalls, West Virginia, West Virginia Photography  2 Responses »
Nov 202011
 

Elakala Falls No. 1, Shay's Run, Blackwater Falls State Park, WV.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. In my last post I presented an image from Elakala Falls No. 2, on Shay’s Run, in the Blackwater Falls State Park. Today I want to start at the beginning with Elakala No. 1. You might ask, as some have already done, why I did not start with this one. I am not sure really. Elakala No. 1 after all is the most iconic of the group of four waterfalls that tumble along Shay’s Run as it travels to meet the Blackwater River. But quite honestly Elakala No. 1 has been shot quite a bit and in truth I became enthralled with Elakala No. 2. It had such a thunderous power that kept me lingering and shooting for a long time.

You can’t argue about the beauty of Elakala No. 1 though. Where No. 2 was a pounding wall of water, No. 1 is a delicate veil of water linked by molecular glue. A study of this image will show a waterfall made up of smaller flows each one with its own series of cascades. The sound here is more symphonic. If you listen carefully, each cascade has its own sound, all part of the whole but with an individual voice. The amphitheater of rock is also quite interesting. It is a jumbled wall almost hand built in appearance, ancient, striated in layers, and painted with rich colorful hues. The walls are reminiscent of hand built farm walls I have seen throughout West Virginia. From above the sound of the waterfall is a rushing noise, a continuous sound of instruments warming up for the concert. Standing in the hall below the sound of water reverberates along the walls replaying the melody, each instrument clearly delineated.

The colors here are an intense, full-bodied, palette of tones. The water is a rich golden brown, affected by the concentration of natural dissolved organic acids such as tannins and lignins, which give the water the look of tea. Shay’s Run flows through a coniferous forest of pine, hemlock, and spruce. The brown needles shed by the trees degrade over time and mix with the run-off of organically rich plant and animal matter to give the water its brown color and a musty smell. The wetness supports vibrant green mosses and lichens. This is a place to delight the senses. Elakala No. 1 is also a place to reflect which is probably another reason why I did not start with this waterfall. Sometimes more powerful images surface to the top while the more sublime take a little longer to reveal their secrets. Slowly over the last few weeks this image has revealed its quiet secrets-the sounds, the smells, and the colors. A complete symphony I think.

Technical Details: The image was shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 17-35mm lens at 26mm. The image was exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 1 second. To slow the down the shutter speed and remove specular highlights I used a Heliopan Warming Polarizer.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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Elakala Waterfall No. 2 – Shay’s Run, Blackwater Falls State Park, WV

 Landscape, Landscape Photography, Moab Masters, Nikon D3x, Photography Trips, Robert H Clark Photography, Waterfall Photography, Waterfalls, West Virginia, West Virginia Photography, WV  1 Response »
Nov 152011
 

Elakala Waterfall No. 2, Shay's Run, Blackwaterfalls State Park, WV.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. For the time being I am going to continue to bring you more of the splendor of my “backyard”. In January I will be heading west to shoot in Death Valley with my buddies Alec Johnson and Travis Bechtel which promises to be a non-stop photographic extravaganza. The three amigos, laden with cameras, and bent on destroying our rental vehicle over miles and miles of beautiful desert landscape, promises to be great fun. But until then I am traversing into the West Virginia Highlands to explore the mountains, bogs, and rivers. Oh, and there are quite a few waterfalls which I am discovering for the first time. For many years I have concentrated on the western landscape to the near exclusion of the east coast. And though I do love the red rock country of the Grand Circle I have found a new love in the waterfall. And I am discovering that West Virginia has a whole lot of them.

Today’s image is Elakala Waterfall No. 2 located on Shay’s Run, which drains into the Blackwater River. There are four waterfalls on Shays Run which will give you some idea of the drop the river makes as it feeds into the Blackwater Canyon. Four waterfalls along a stream that runs through lush spruce forest and steep hillsides covered in rhododendrons and mountain laurel. Four waterfalls that cascade over moss and lichen covered boulders the size of small cars. Last week I made a foray to Shay’s Run to shoot the falls. I spent the day shooting Elakala No. 1 and No. 2. I did not have time to explore the other two waterfalls as they require quite a bit of effort to visit. There are no trails and the climb down can be treacherous. It is on my to do list and I promise to report back on this at some point. But in the meantime please enjoy No. 2. Simply a stunning waterfall. On the day I shot this image there was quite a bit of water flow and the sound was thunderous. I think this is one of the aspects that attracts me. Waterfalls delight the senses on many level. You can here their song played out as the water pours over the lip and spreads out over the boulders and pools below. As you move closer to the action the falls literally pulse with vibrations you can feel through the rocks at your feet. You can smell the deep woodland aroma; the pungent odors of lichen and moss bathed in the tannin rich waters. The wetness, lush growth, and cool dark canopies of spruce stand in stark contrast to the deserts I spend time exploring. Here on Shay’s Run I felt I was in a beautiful garden. Walls of massive, jumbled rocks seemed painted by an artist hand in rich hues of magentas, blues, greens, and oranges. Thick carpets of vibrant green moss lay between blue-grey boulders covered in lichen. Every color in nature was present and accounted for. And it was all for me. Not another soul joined me on this day. I think I will be spending more time at home this year. I have been gone far too long and have a little catching up to do.

Technical Details: This image was shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 17-35mm lens at 24mm. The image was exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 2.0 seconds. To allow a longer shutter speed and to remove specular highlights I used a Heliopan Warming Circular Polarizer.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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Douglas Falls on the North Fork of the Blackwater River – West Virginia

 Heliopan Filters, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Nikon D3x, Photography Trips, River, Robert H Clark Photography, Waterfalls, West Virginia, WV  4 Responses »
Oct 242011
 

Waterfall on the Blackwater River, West Virginia.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Over the weekend my shooting buddy Mark Muse and I made a quick shooting trip to the West Virginia highlands. In my most recent posts I have been discussing the concept of exploring your “backyard” for photography opportunities. Mark has shot quite extensively in the West Virginia and has on many occasions tried to drag me out to shoot there. Well I have been missing a lot it seems. In two days we managed to shoot along the Middle Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac, sunset at Dolly Sods Wilderness, sunrise in some amazing bogs on Canaan Mountain, and a couple of incredible waterfalls. And to think all this wealth of landscape is a mere two and a half to three hours from home. What have I been thinking.

Today’s shot is just a teaser. This is a shot of Douglas Falls, an incredible 35-foot waterfall, on the North Fork of the Blackwater River. After shooting sunrise on Canaan Mountain we stopped at Hypno Coffee to warm up and also stopped in to the Friends of Blackwater Canyon for some information. We got directions to a couple of falls out along one of the forks that feed the Blackwater River. The road took us out along an abandoned railroad bed left over from early coal mining operations. Industrial remnants remained including coke ovens buried into wooded hillsides. At the end of the road we found this incredible waterfall. Plunging over 30 feet the sound of the waterfall was deafening. Spray and mist rose from the collision of rock and water filling the air with a cool vapor. Downstream the water tumbled over boulders stained red from iron, the result of coal mining operations. I will be posting more images from this trip in the coming weeks as soon as I have the chance to go through them. So stay tuned.

Technical Information: The image was shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 17-35mm lens at 25mm. The images was exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 8 seconds. To reduce specular highlights I used a Heliopan Circular Warming Polarizer.

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Glen Avon Falls No. 5-Beaver River, North Shore of Lake Superior

 Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Lightroom Workflow, Black and White, HDR Photography, Lake Superior, Lake Superior Photography, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Minnesota, Nikon D3x, North Shore of Lake Superior, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Photoshop Technique, Robert H Clark Photography, Singh-Ray Filters, Split Neutral Density Filters  No Responses »
Sep 252011
 

Glen Avon Falls No. 5, Beaver River, North Shore of Lake Superior. Shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 28-70mm lens at 35mm. See article for exposure details.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I am continuing to pour through images from the Lake Superior Workshop and keep finding hidden gems in some of my second tier selects. And though I know some of you may be getting tired of waterfalls I had to post this new image I processed over the weekend (But here is warning. I have some neat shots of two waterfalls from Crater Lake but I promise to hold off on those for at least a few posts). In any event today’s image was not included in my first edits for processing. One reason for this was it was a single capture scouting shot. At the time I must not have liked something in the composition and did not make a complete bracketed set. But on a second pass the shot really jumped at out at me. Which brings up the idea of karmic capture. During scout shots I will often make many captures in a row, often in an unconscious way, looking for compositional interest. At the time I obviously saw something in this collection of rocks and water to interest me but maybe not enough to stop and fully explore the options. But karma and serendipity often work together especially in this image.

I talk a great deal in my posts about the concept of leading lines and I don’t think it will take much description for you to see these in the photograph. But there is also shape repetition, shape intersections, and strong diagonal movement coupled with a way for the viewer to enter the image and move around. There is also some interesting “rule of third” stuff going on here but this gets so beaten to death that I won’t go into it. The point I am trying to make here is that for me, while I am in this self-critique moment, this image works on so many levels. It has a beautiful line of movement and simple forms but also strong, complex compositional elements as well. I also shot it straight into the sun which makes for very dramatic light. But that dramatic light comes at a price, namely a contrast range that is difficult for the camera sensor to deal with.

Technical Details: Even though I was in a scout shot mode I was still on tripod with the camera. Most of the time I will shoot scout images off tripod but I had just finished a bracket off to my left and simply turned the camera right and aimed into the sun. I still had on my 4-Stop Sign-Ray Neutral Density filter (to increase exposure time for water motion). I made one exposure at f22 for 1/4 of a second. I stopped down to f22 to create the starburst effect with the sun. I was in Evaluative Metering Mode with a WB of 5500K. Before the shot I added +1 Exposure Compensation using the button on the Nikon.  This gave me the needed exposure to capture shadow details. I made the shot and moved on. Why I did not shoot a bracket is anyone’s guess. But the histogram was nicely placed with only clipping within the sky and sun which was to be expected. To process the shot I made two RAW conversions; one for the 3/4 to mid-tone values and a second to recover details in the trees above the river. So basically a “light” and a “dark” file that I blended in Photoshop. After merging the two files I used a series of Multiply Blend and Lighten Blend modes along with curves to finish the image.

Thanks for stopping by today. I promise to have a “non” waterfall shot next time. In fact the next one will be other-wordly.

Bob

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