It's been killing me waiting a week to share these as I entered one in the album cover challenge, but here are some of my shots from last weekend (all are from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia). On Saturday I started on the White Oak Canyon trail, a nice hike past multitudes of waterfalls. The weather was pleasant and the trail was fairly crowded. At the end of my hike, I came across a black bear.
After taking an hour or so to find Luray where I was staying the night, I decided to call it a day and start early next morning.
Unfortunately, the weather was not ideal on Sunday. I woke up at 4 am and drove onto Skyline Drive to hike up Hawksbill Mountain. Thinking I'd get there early to catch the sunrise, I was dismayed to find that a thick fog was prevailing everywhere I looked. I set out on Hawksbill anyways, hoping to see something, but unfortunately all I could see from the tallest point in the park was cloud.
(sorry, no pictures of clouds = )
Since I couldn't get too many shots from Skyline Drive I decided to spend the rest of the day hiking to take in some more waterfall shots and hopefully some wildlife.
I had seen some great black and white shots of the Dark Hollow Falls, so I decided to try my hand there. The falls are located less than a mile from the start of the trail. Below are some pictures from the hike.
(one of my two favorites of the weekend - also the same shot as my album cover submission)
After filling up my tank and getting some food, I wasn't sure where else to go. I checked out a giftshop and bought some postcards to try to get some ideas. This led me to the Doyle's River trail. I opted for the 8-mile hike which would take me onto the Jones River and Appalacian trails before completing the loop. I came across several deer on these trails, as well as some beautiful waterfalls.
(The second of my two favorites)
After the 8 mile trail, I was out of food and water and was pretty tired, so that concluded my Shenandoah experience. I'd really recommend the park. Having never been hiking before, I found it very refreshing. The park and trails were beautiful. Well, if you've read this far, I appreciate it = ) Comments and suggestions are welcome!
Thanks
Great Shots Maverick, you really captured them all very well, my fav is the one with the deer. I need to put Shenandoah on my list for places to see, very beautiful.
Coincidentally I've been listening to 'A Walk in the Woods' by Bill Bryson, and he's just got to the Shenandoah NP - so thank you for illustrating the book so well for me :)
The velvia action is a touch too hot for my tases, though. Have you ever used the levels and curves functions in PS? They can give you much the same results, except they allow for much more control.
Lovely shots Ben, I particularly like the misty feel of "Velvia".
I like when people do this as it`s a good way to see parts of the world that we`re unlikely to get the chance to visit (speaking personally).
I would like to do a similar thing on a round trip of Scotland to show the differences from Highlands to Lowlands and east coast to west, but that may have to wait until I upgrade my camera and develop my skills a little.
I've used them, but after seeing Pedro's thread on the velvia action, I had to give it a shot = ) I agree that it does saturate them quite a bit, but I like the effect in the two shots posted. I'll try 'em toned down though. Thanks
Originally posted by mcmurma:
Great shots, Mav.
The velvia action is a touch too hot for my tases, though. Have you ever used the levels and curves functions in PS? They can give you much the same results, except they allow for much more control.
I especially like the waterfall shots. Everything looks so lush and green. Beautiful compositions and colors. I hope you had a long lens for the bear pic. o:
70-300 G, but I got pretty close to him - didn't even see him til I was about 50-100 feet away
Thanks
Originally posted by Olympian:
Beautiful shots, Mav
I especially like the waterfall shots. Everything looks so lush and green. Beautiful compositions and colors. I hope you had a long lens for the bear pic. o:
70-300 G, but I got pretty close to him - didn't even see him til I was about 50-100 feet away
Thanks
Originally posted by Olympian:
Beautiful shots, Mav
I especially like the waterfall shots. Everything looks so lush and green. Beautiful compositions and colors. I hope you had a long lens for the bear pic. o:
Cheers....Martin
Could you smell him? LOL
The only reason I ask is because I was in the woods the other day and I swear I could smell something musky. And sure enough, I stood around for about 5 minutes and a small herd of deer came through. I hear that bears have a pretty strong smell. I always wonder if I'm going to smell one first and hopefully not just run into it.
