Thank you for all your kind words, above being one of my favorite spots to visit and photograph, it is in a region that provides a photographers dream. From mountains to wildlife to waterfalls, and many hiking trails.
Sitting in the cold, waiting for the right light in the early morning just as the sunrises. I had tried for this shot the night before but too many people were visiting. I got up like so many other photographers have done so many time in the middle of the night, get set up and wait. Perfect light and perfect weather, with a full water flow was the right ingredients for this shot. Thanks again for you comment.
Steph if this photo doesnt win this contest of 300 waterfalls then there is problems with the judges eyes. I wanted in this contest so bad I could taste it, but for some reason I didnt get in soon enough. Good luck
Here are the details of the photo shoot at Babcock State Park. I had a campsite at the park, went down to the Grist mill the night before to scout locations for my shot. There were a lot of people there looking around and enjoying the Grist Mill, the falls and the fall colors. I had worried for a number of weeks whether it would be worth my time to travel to the mill, due to the lack of rain in the state. Things were real dry. Luckily, 3 days before my planned trip we had a tropical system come through and dump rain all over the southeast US. Pack it up: everything was falling into place.
So I travel to West Virginia, set up camp, scouted location, wrote everything down in my book. Checked to see when the sun would rise, what time the moon would set. Checked out weather forecast for the next morning. Went back to camp and cleaned all my gear and charged my batteries. The forecast was for temperatures in upper 20's . The image was shot with a Nikon D90, Nikon 18-105 lens at 22 mm, F/20, ISO 200, Tiffen 3 stop ND Filter. 27 Seconds, Temp set to cloudy. I wrapped a hand warmer around my lens to prevent fogging. I set up gear at location at 4:45 am and set to infinity. Then it was just waiting till the early morning light was perfect. When I capture images of waterfalls, I capture at first light this prevents reflections on the falls or burnout of colors. I hope this helps. Enjoy and Happy Shooting......
First of all this is the most important type of contest to me, because it is voted by my fellow photographers. It is an award of my peers. Thank you so much for your vote. I am ecstatic over this honor. Thanks again !!!
Stephen, this shot is absolutely stunning. I can't imagine a more perfect capture. Was this shot with a zoom lens, or were you actually able to get this close to the mill? Just wondering :-)