A couple pics from my B-day trip to Ricketts Glen, Pa.

[Brian Hale]

We just got back from a week long vacation to Ricketts Glen and thought i'd share a few pics. It's a really pretty place and the State Park folks keep the place clean and the trails well maintained. Since LOML and i both enjoy hiking and i'm a bit of a nature photographer, the waterfalls trail, which has 20+ falls in less than 7 miles, held a certain attraction.

BTW, the road to the campground is a 2.5 mile long 18% grade Way Cool!

Thanks for looking and i welcome your comments/criticism

Brian

[Jerry Clark]

Great pictures Brian-- Are those from a 35mm-- digital-- almost like a 4x5 view camera as the scene is sharp front to back-- great dept of field. The small aperture -- slow shutter speed really softens the water and make it look silky. Beautiful place!

[Randy Moore]

Absolutely beautiful and darn good photography.


Randy

[Jim Becker]

Outstanding photos, Brian!! I can see what you mean about this being a beautiful place to spend time, both with the family and with the camera!! I really love what your shutter speed did giving you such crisp shots but with the feeling that water is definitely moving...

[Von Bickley]

Brian,
Great photos.... Thanks for letting us see them.

[Frankie Hunt]

and i'm a bit of a nature photographer

It shows!

Nice photos! Pleasing composition, nice technical work.

You can tell the photographers from the hikers. The photographers are carrying a tripod.

What camera and lens(es) did you use?

Frankie

[Gary White]

All I can say is Wow!!!

[Todd Burch]

Hey Brian, you're getting pretty good at scanning those postcards!!!

Seriously, those are awsome pictures. Looks like not your average bear's camera. Do tell....

Todd

[Vaughn McMillan]

Outstanding photos, Brian! Looks like a great place to see in person, and your pictures really get that point across. I'm also curious to hear what kind of rig you hauled up the trail to get these shots.

- Vaughn

[Dan Forman]

Don't come over top this neighborhood very often, sure glad I did tonight. What a gorgeous spot, and excellent photography. Thanks for sharing these.

Dan

[Brian Hale]

Thanks! You folks make it hard to be humble

Hey Brian, you're getting pretty good at scanning those postcards!!!
Todd

ROFLMAO! I'm going to take that as a compliment!!

The weather was perfect for hiking, upper 60's with low humidity and not a cloud in the sky. Unfortunately, all the bright sun made it difficult for photography. A cloudy or overcast day would provide more even light and make longer exposures possible but I got by by stacking filters except for a few blown out highlights i'll fix in Photoshop when time allows.

I shot with a Canon D60 digital body, Sigma 15-30 EX f3.4-4.5 DG, Canon 28-136 IS USM f3.5-5.6, Moose warm circular polarizer, B&W 81A, Tiffen enhancing filter and a couple Sunpak CG-Gray 1 stop ND filters. Tripod is a Gitzo 1325 Mk2 carbon fiber with a Kirk BH-2 ball head. I also used a Canon 550EX Speedlight (flash) with a better beamer on a remote flash cord so I could get some light into the darkest shadows. Most exposures were at f18-f22 at approximately 10 seconds. I also carried a Canon 100-400 L IS f4.5-5.6 which didn't get used and a Canon Powershot G3 for those grab shots.
<O
To get a shutter speed that long I stacked the polarizer with one or both ND filters and occasionally added either the 81A or enhancing filter. All the shots were in Aperture Priority mode, ISO 100, auto white balance and manual focus. Just under 3.5gb of images.


Here's a shot of the trail maker board. There are 22 named falls on the 2 main trails(white dots) and another 15 or so smaller falls that aren't maned.

Thanks again for the kind words!

Brian

[John Miliunas]

Beautiful looking area and you obviously know your way around the dCam!!! Great work, Brian and do NOT be humble! You got the touch, my friend! Anyone can "snap" a shot, but for stuff like that is a true artist at work!