My wife and I spent part of our Saturday afternoon hiking down to a waterfall in Colditz Cove State Natural Area that I had wanted to visit for some time.

Once I had found my composition there were only a few intermittent clouds in the sky. I had just a few moments of cloud cover to take the main shot of the falls. The cloud cover created beautifully soft light to make what I believe is a more pleasing image in this case.

Canon 5D MKIII | 16-35 f/2.8L III @ 30mm | f/16 | 1 second | ISO L(50) | Quantaray 82mm Circular Polarizer — Canon 5D MKIII | 16-35 f/2.8L III @ 30mm | f/16 | 1 second | ISO L(50) | Quantaray 82mm Circular Polarizer

With my wide shot of the entire 63' waterfall in the can it was time to hike down to the base of the falls for a few detail shots. The spray was intense and made it difficult to capture a clean shot. I would usually go a little longer on shutter duration to smooth out the water even more, but I found that the 4 second shutter I chose was pushing the limits before the front of the lens was completely coated with water. This is one of the primary reasons I stick to my weather sealed lenses when shooting this type of work. My best weather sealed glass is the 16-35 f/2.8L III and the 70-200 f/2.8L II IS (both of which were used in this trip). I also brought but did not use my 24-105 f/4L IS. That lens is not as well sealed as the ones that due to the construction of the lens where the barrel pushes out when zooming. Not used on this trip, but another fantastically sealed lens worthy of mention is my beloved 35 f/1.4L II.

Canon 5D MKIII | 16-35 f/2.8L III @ 24mm | f/16 | 4 seconds | ISO L(50) | Quantaray 82mm Circular Polarizer — Canon 5D MKIII | 16-35 f/2.8L III @ 24mm | f/16 | 4 seconds | ISO L(50) | Quantaray 82mm Circular Polarizer

I wanted one more shot of the falls before hiking back out and was going for something more abstract. I think that the higher volume of water through the falls makes for a superior wide shot, but can make detail shots more difficult. Too much water and not enough rock can make the shot lack contrast. Contrast not just in tonality, but also between the juxtaposition of smooth water and the sharp textures of the rocks underneath.

The greater working distance of the longer and more compressed focal length still did not help much with the spray coming off the falls, especially when the wind kicked up. I was able to push my exposure up to 5 seconds, but still had to wipe the polarizer down on the front of the lens after every shot.

Canon 5D MKIII | 70-200 f/2.8L IS II @ 102mm | f/16 | 5 seconds | ISO L(50) | B+W 77mm Circular Polarizer MRC — Canon 5D MKIII | 70-200 f/2.8L IS II @ 102mm | f/16 | 5 seconds | ISO L(50) | B+W 77mm Circular Polarizer MRC

Many thanks to my incredibly supportive and loving wife Emily. She means the world to me and I love it when she comes out on these hiking adventures! Thank you for stopping by and reading the blog today. Until next time, good luck and happy shooting.

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I decided on Saturday to escape the hustle and bustle of Nashville and do a day hike at the historic Harpeth River State Park. The specific area is called the Narrows of the Harpeth. I wasn't expecting much, especially since the park closes an hour before sunset making it impossible to do a shoot at magic hour. Nonetheless, it was a nice way to get out of the city for a few hours.

My first stop is a tunnel that was carved by hand in 1818 by workers of Montgomery Bell who was a local industrialist. This provided water to power an iron forge that he had nearby and was considered to be a significant feat of engineering for the time.

Canon 5D MKIII | 70-200 f/2.8L IS II @ 102mm | f/16 | 25 & 90 seconds | ISO L(50) | Hoya 77mm NDx400 HMC | B+W 77mm Circular Polarizer MRCMultiple lighting conditions with foreground and background focus stacked. — Canon 5D MKIII | 70-200 f/2.8L IS II @ 102mm | f/16 | 25 & 90 seconds | ISO L(50) | Hoya 77mm NDx400 HMC | B+W 77mm Circular Polarizer MRC
Multiple lighting conditions with foreground and background focus stacked.

It's unfortunate that so many people breaking the state park rules can take a peaceful day hike and turn it into an annoying day at the community pool. People littering, playing loud music, swimming where they were not supposed to be swimming, climbing all over things, drinking where they were not supposed to be drinking, dogs no on a leash, screaming children, etc. After about an hour of waiting out at the waterfall, I decided to pack it up and hike up to the top of the bluff for a view of the surrounding area.

Canon 5D MKIII | 16-35 f/2.8L III @ 25mm | f/16 | 1/4 second | ISO L(50) | Quantaray 82mm Circular Polarizer — Canon 5D MKIII | 16-35 f/2.8L III @ 25mm | f/16 | 1/4 second | ISO L(50) | Quantaray 82mm Circular Polarizer

Overall, I think the lighting is decent, but not particularly compelling. The sunrises would be ideal here, as it would be coming up in the top right of the frame according to my SunSeeker app. This was one of the only shots I was able to get before a small group of people hiked up and sat on the rock outcropping in the foreground until the park closed to chain smoke cigarettes and throw the butts off the bluff.

I spoke to a few local photographers that said the crowding by unruly folks has made it a frustrating endeavor for them to shoot here anymore. I wouldn't have thought people would hike up there and sit right in the shot at dawn, but apparently it happens. I still wouldn't mind giving it a go at some point, when I feel like waking up at 3:00am to get over to the Narrows of the Harpeth in time for that.