Wispy, Nikon D300, ISO 200, Tokina 11-16 mm at 11mm, f/8.0, 1/4s, monopod stabilization.
For work I had to spend a few days mostly locked up in a conference room in the Wintergreen conference center in Virginia. This is a ski area in winter and as apparently is common on the east coast has its base on top of the mountain instead of at the foot as we see around here and in Europe. This place is very far away from anything (we drove 3 hours from Dulles having had really bad experiences with the Charlottesville airport, which itself is still over an hour away from this place anyway). The National Park that appears close on the map, Shenandoah, is still an hour away if you want to do a little hike there. So when I had a few minutes off (skipping lunch mostly) I spent most of the time hiking around the extensive trail system around the mountain usually taking a fellow conference goer. The front desk had a free hiking trail map that I can heartily recommend if you ever have to spend some time there. The trails are quite nice even if they are close to civilization everywhere you go. You simply don't notice because of the very dense foliage. I took lots of images as I took my camera and a monopod with me. The monopod works well for waterfalls as long as you simply press the shutter multiple times and hope one will be OK. Below I'll show some more waterfall images. I took a lot of dense foliage shots as they really intrigued me. You don't really see that around here. I'll post those later. There are a few already in
the growing flickr set.
Green, Nikon D300, ISO 200, Tokina 11-16 mm at 13mm, f/8.0, 1/6s, monopod stabilization.
This place was buzzing with mosquitos as you might imagine.
Looking right through you, Nikon D300, ISO 200, Tokina 11-16 mm at 13mm, f/8.0, 1/15s, monopod stabilization.
Basically a vertical of the previous image. Somehow reminds me of Tolkien.
Stony Creek falls. I forgot the actual name of this place but it is not named on the topo.
Nikon D300, ISO 200, Tokina 11-16 mm at 11mm, f/16.0, 0.6s, monopod stabilization. Using a 3 stop ND.
Vertical compo on the same falls
Nikon D300, ISO 200, Nikon 18-55 mm at 20mm, f/22.0, 1/4s, monopod stabilization. Using a 3 stop ND.
The blog author at the falls. This image was taken by Oleg Prezhdo who joined me on this hike. I am using the monopod as a hiking stick here and I should have taken all the stuff (lenses and filters) out of my pant pockets since they look way too big nowadays.
Nikon D300, ISO 200, Nikon 18-55 mm at 18mm, f/4.5, 1/80s
Context, Nikon D300, ISO 200, Tokina 11-16 mm at 16mm, f/11.0, 0.6s, monopod stabilization.
The same waterfall as shown in the top image.
Wetness, Nikon D300, ISO 200, Tokina 11-16 mm at 14mm, f/8.0, 0.4s, monopod stabilization.
Staircase, Nikon D300, ISO 200, Tokina 11-16 mm at 13mm, f/11, 0.5s, monopod stabilization.
Turtle, Nikon D300, ISO 200, Tokina 11-16 mm at 11mm, f/2.8, 1/20s
I found this beautiful little turtle, right next to one of these waterfalls.
If you go to the large on black version, you'll see his little eye peering out at what must have been a gigantic front lens element from his perspective.
