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Spring is the time to see the waterfalls of the highlands around Canaan Valley. On Sunday morning, after an evening of steady rain, I grabbed my gear and tiptoed across Red Run with my camera hung on one shoulder and my trusty photo backpack of gear. A short ten minute hike up the Pointy Knob Trail found the creek wet and wonderful--you know, originally that was going to be the state motto before they came up with wild and wonderful, but they changed their mind because they thought the prurient connotations of "wet and wonderful" would turn away tourists. Well this little creek was "Open for Business." ("Open for Business" is the newest motto of West Virginia. Several groups are trying to get it changed back to Wild and Wonderful.)
This shot was taken in four rows of nine images for a total of thirty-nine images. The resulting image is 143 megapixels. What you are seeing here is a crop of that image. As I write this, it is printing 24" x 48". This image is huge. If you didn't already, click on the image above to see one that is a bit larger. In the fully printed version, you can see each tiny follicle of green moss on the rocks.
I don't generally talk about photographic equipment here, but this was shot with my new favorite lens. I have been carrying my Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8 L for about three months. This lens is a tank. It weighs almost two pounds. I have never seen a lens so sharp and colorful. I loathe to remove this lens from my camera
I shot the image with a polarizer to reduce glare off the Rhododendron leaves. I have concluded that using a polarizer with the shiny leaves of Rhododendron and Mountain Laurel is essential to preserving the deep green colors of the image. As a result, I generally need to use a tripod because of the loss of light. That's okay, because when I shoot panoramics, I generally use a spherical ballhead mounted on a tripod anyway.
Whew! I photo-geeked-out there pretty good. Sorry for the diatribe. While the sun never showed itself on Sunday, the photos that resulted from an overcast day were excellent. This time of year is better than you might think for photography in the highlands. Although most trees are still bare, with only the smallest buds showing, the evergreen Rhododendrons are deep green and lush. So this time of year shows them off to their fullest without having to compete. On Sunday, everything was damp and saturated with color. The even lighting made textures leap out at you.
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