May 21 - Alley Mill

On Saturday I floated a portion of the Jack's Fork River with the camera club. I took quite a few pictures on the river, but so far I haven't been pleased with any of them. It was a fun trip, and though it's been some 25 years since I've been in a canoe I didn't tip over once!

It was a cloudy morning on Sunday, and Alley Mill sounded like a good destination for the cloudy, wet and still conditions.

This is one of the "classic" views of the Mill. I always come back to this shot to try and improve things. This particular image is a blend of two images in order to optimize the effects of my polarizing filter.


There is an additional overflow to the right of the waterwheel. It wasn't flowing at all last year, but finally with the recent rains it's flowing again.


This is one of my favorite spots to photograph the Mill. I used a tilt-shift lens to create some interesting blurry effects.

May 13 - Hercules Glades Wilderness Area

I had the weekend to myself, so I spent most of the day in the wilderness. It was great to return - and well worth the visit! Though threatened with a forecast of clear blue skies, it turned out to be mostly cloudy all day long, which greatly assisted my photographic efforts.

There were hundreds upon hundreds of Columbines out today. These things are like really big kites on a string and getting them to stay still long enough to photograph is challenging.


I've taken a lot of photographs of this section of Long Creek. But while photographing this scene, I started to lose my balance. Knowing that there was a small bluff to my left, I put my arm out to catch myself. What I forgot was that the wall had a lot of shale sticking out and it was quite sharp! I had to effect a few repairs to my arm before I could continue shooting.


I was surprised to find this Yellow Lady Slipper. I've never seen them before - anywhere! So it was a real treat to see them today.


Back to the falls - I've taken many pictures of these falls. Today, I was interested in the swirling patterns in the lower right. It was a long exposure (about 15 seconds).


A little further up the creek is the nicest green pool full of water with lots of little water falls running into it.


I stopped on top of one of the glades on the way back to take a picture of the sunset. I stayed until there wasn't much light left in the sky. I was still an hour or so away from the car, so I strapped on my head-lamp and headed off into the night. It was a very nice day to be in the wilderness!!!!!!

May 9 - Busiek State Forest

I dropped by Busiek State Forest for a short hike and a few photos. With water finally in the creeks around here, I just had to stand in the middle of one for a while and soak it in (actually, I had waders, but it was still fun). There were a few flowers out, but they looked kind of waterlogged.

May 1 - Dogwoods and Commercial Street Bridge

It's been raining nicely the last few days (weeks?) and after one of the rains on Saturday, I wandered over to the Commercial Street pedestrian bridge - a familiar photo opportunity. The sky was very nice, and with everything wet it sure made things interesting.



On Monday, after another rain, I stepped out in front of my apartment and took a few pictures of the rain-covered dogwood. Everything's pretty green again, thankfully!