All images © 2007-2013 Aaron Meyers
The best photographers that I know are also great planners, researchers, and weathermen. Every once in a while, though, things can be lucky. This was one of those mornings. My old roommate and her husband had come to visit and he had just purchased a D800 and some professional lenses. He wanted to get out and shoot the bridge. While the women slept we woke up early and drove to the city. I wasn’t even sure if I would take my camera out because the weather forecast didn’t look good. I feared we might even get rained on. I’ve spent way too many mornings at Hawk Hill for it to be the first place I want to stop. At this point I want to find some new spots but Jason had never been to Hawk Hill and we didn’t wake up early enough to make it to one of the other spots. As the sun began to get close to the horizon we were treated to a wonderful surprise: the sky lit up with stunning pinks and oranges! There was a brief burn that was followed by smooth pastels. Knowing the color wouldn’t last long I snapped off a panorama as fast as I could. We kept shooting until the clouds thickened and the color disappeared. Perhaps Jason was my good-luck charm? Now if only Jason had realized he was shooting at ISO1600 the entire time :( Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED: 80mm, f/10, 13 sec, ISO 320 7 shots stitched with Autopano Giga
If there is one kind of photography that pushed me over the edge a number of years ago and convinced me to buy a dSLR it was waterfall photography. I remember when my friend stopped at my apartment and showed me some photos of waterfalls he had taken in Yosemite with his Canon Rebel. I was sold. Ever since then I’ve always held a special place in my heart for waterfalls. When you can combine lush green mossy scenes with waterfalls they become even more spectacular. I’ve always loved looking at photos of the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon but visiting with my own two eyes is more difficult than say, a drive somewhere local. When Willie made me aware of our own mossy falls I knew I had to visit! Although it hadn’t rained in a week and the water level started to die out, Sammi and I were surely in for a good morning when we found our way to this waterfall. Thanks to some locals pointing out “WATERFALL ->” with some big giant arrows etched in the dirt, we made our way down this *steep* ravine and over to the falls. I loved the way the moss, the fallen tree branches, and the 2-pronged waterfall all come together here. I made sure to walk slightly down-stream to capture some of the motion from the river but not too far that the waterfall became teeny tiny. After enjoying the morning at the waterfall we hiked back up and spent the rest of the day eating yummy food and tasting delicious wine. We couldn’t have asked for a better Sunday! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 ED-IF AF-S: 17mm, f/11, 0.6 sec, ISO 200
