Having just been to Blackwater Falls State Park a week prior and not getting anything good due to rain I doubted I would go back anytime soon. Blackwater is about 3 1/2 hours from my home in Timonium, Maryland. However, I found myself only an hour from Blackwater with about 2 hours of daylight left. I pointed the car towards the park and drove.
Upon arrival I had about 1 hour of daylight left. My first stop was Elakala Falls. After getting some nice shots down in the gorge I climbed out and raced back to the car. I then drove to the other side of the park to the Blackwater Falls parking. Normally I hate going where I am supposed to go, in this case a well built boardwalk leading to the falls. However, many signs made it clear that on the boardwalk I had to stay. This limited the creativity of the shot that I could get. Lucky for me I was there near the peak of the autumn colors so I could creatively compose to capture color. At this point the light was fading fast allowing for a nice long shutter speed. I took a few shots and then scurried back up the 214 stairs back to the parking lot, arriving just before complete darkness. Then for the 3 1/2 hour drive home...
When processing I had to work the balance between getting a bright crisp image and not blowing out the highlights in the falls. I also paid special attention to bringing out the color in the foreground leaves. I love the way the oranges and greens contrast with the crisp white water of the falls. I am quite pleased with how this end up coming out. It was completely worth the drive and blew the other photoshoot of the day out of the water!
