Summer Blooms and Vistas in Shenandoah National Park (by Joseph Rossbach)
I just finished leading a photo workshop on June 6 – 9, 2008 in Shenandoah National Park. Shenandoah is a prolific park back here in the Mid Atlantic with the famous Skyline Drive snaking its way for 100 miles on the crest of the northern Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. The focus of the workshop was to put my students in some of the best locations to record sunsets/sunrises, waterfalls, wildflowers and wildlife while helping them to make the best possible images. Big Meadows Lodge served as our base camp and allowed us easy acces to some of the most striking overlooks and wildlife viewing in the park. Every morning we would wake well before dawn and head out on location in hopes of the “Magic Light”. afternoons were spent in the classroom and afternoons we were back in the field until well after sunset. Here are a few photographs and stories from the workshop.
Hawksbill Summit Sunset: After our meet and greet on the first day we headed out to the trailhead for Hawksbill Summit for sunset. It was hot and humid when we left Big Meadows and the skys looked menacing. We hit the trailhead and began the steep hike yet short hike to the summit of the mountain. Upon arriving, I urged the group to get thier gear set up as soon as possible and be ready for the light to break. Like so often the case, the warm rich light only lasted for a few minutes before being obscured by haze and storm clouds on the horizon. I choose a low angle perspective and wide angle lens to incorporate the rocks and mountains in the composition. The use of a circular polarizer darkened the sky and added a boost of color to the sunset clouds anda 2 stop graduated ND filter was used to balance the brighter sky with the darker foreground. All in all, I only had but around 45 seconds to compose, meter and shoot before leaving the camera to help the rest of the group.
Big Meadows: Big Meadows offers some amazing opprotunities to photograph wildlife, macro subjects and scenics. It is right of the roadside near mile marker 55 on Skyline Drive, you can’t miss it. early morning and late afternoon are the best times to photograph wildlife and early morning about a half an hour after sunrise is best for macro work due to the calm atmosphere and chance of dew. Our group hit Big meadows on a few occasions over the course of the workshop and we were even able to photograph new born fawns with their mothers. The images above illistrate the many different images one can make in this section of the park. Please remember to keep a safe and respectable distance when shooting deer, bears and any other wildlife in Big Meadows and the park in general.
Mill Prong and Camp Hoover: A 4 mile round trip hike leads visitors into a beautiful and lush mountain stream that runs past camp Hoover and eventually into the RapidianRiver. This is a great area to visit on an overcast or rainy afternoon. It was around four thirty in the afternoon and it was raining when I lead the group down the trail to Mill Prong. Everything was wet and the light was soft, perfect for shooting waterfalls and stream scenics. Mill Prong is a very small, yet lush and scenic stream and we all had a field day shooting small cascades, waterfalls, stream scenics and abstracts. The use of a polarizing fiter was essential in removing glare from the wet vegitation and rocks. All in all, we spent nearly two hours in this location before hitting the trail and heading off to Hazel Mountain Overlook for sunset.
Hazelton Overlook:On the 2nd to last day of the workshop i lead the group to the Hazelton Overllok for a chance to catch some amazing light at sunrise. The Hazelton Overlook is a great place to shoot for its almost endless mountain views andinteresting foreground selections. On this particular morning we were blessed with lots of fog in the valleys and a sky filled with reds, pinks and purples at first light.
Keep in mind, I will be leading a workshop in Shenadoah through Mountain Trail Photo Workshops in June of 09.
Joseph Rossbach
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