Fogot to mention - fabulous adventure and fabulous photos. I am really jealous!
> -----Original Message----- > From: Rob Brigham > Sent: 03 November 2003 17:43 > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: RE: Dolly Sods Wilderness (long) > > > Mark, I just read an article on luminous which has finally > got me working sensibly with layers. I think it would be of > great benefit for you and any others with dark areas in > photos - extracts a surprising amount of detail! > > http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-seri > es/u-contr > ast-masking.shtml > > Another MUST READ for any DSLR users. > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Mark Roberts [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: 03 November 2003 14:30 > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subject: Dolly Sods Wilderness (long) > > > > > > A couple of weeks ago I went on a one-night camping trip to a > > place in West Virginia called the Dolly Sods Wilderness. For > > those who want to cut to the chase and skip the extended > > exposition, the photos are here - > > http://www.robertstech.com/dolly_s.htm > > > > It all began this past summer when I did the art show in > > Morgantown, WV. One of the shots that received a lot of > > favorable attention was of the top of Linville Peak on > > Grandfather Mountain shortly after dawn > > (http://www.robertstech.com/graphics/pages/7d101932.htm). > > Many of the people who liked it asked "is that Dolly Sods?" > > I'd never heard of the place and several extolled its > > virtues. One came back several times to recommend that I take > > a trip there to get some photos. > > > > Fast forward to mid-October when I found myself at home alone > > for the weekend. My S.O. had gone to a conference and I was > > left behind to entertain myself. Some time after lunch on > > Saturday I thought "why not check out that Dolly Sods place > > everyone told me about in Morgantown?" I located it (roughly) > > on a map, threw a tent, sleeping bag, small cooler of food > > and water and some camera gear in my car and set off around > 2:00 p.m. > > > > It ended up being almost a 4 hour drive to the Dolly Sods > > Wilderness, not including the final 9 miles of very rough, > > unpaved road to my eventual campsite. Some of the final back > > roads to this area aren't particularly well marked. At the > > entrance there is a map which shows the one road that passes > > through Dolly Sods, indicating a campground about 9 miles > > from the entrance. Upon arriving at the camp grounds, I found > > every camp site occupied so I proceeded down the road; the > > map had indicated that roadside camping was permissible > > farther on, but there were no signs in the area to show > > where. I eventually settled on a spot that had a ring of > > stones for a campfire and an obvious camp site, even though I > > was pretty sure I hadn't gone far enough to be in the area > > where "primitive" camping was allowed; it was getting dark > > and I had to get settled in quickly while I still had some > daylight. > > > > I should mention at this point that it was already completely > > "socked in" with clouds/fog. Dolly Sods itself is a plateau > > that rises about 2000 feet above the surrounding countryside > > (I have no idea how high that is, but West Virginia is fairly > > mountainous). The road had been climbing steadily for miles > > before I got to Dolly Sods and had kept on doing so all the > > way to the camp site. It's a place that had a very primitive > > atmosphere. The place I would most compare it to would be > > Dartmoor. Even though the two places are quite different in > > many respects, they have the same sort of mysterious "feel". > > They do share an abundance of bracken fern (or something > > similar)... and of course there was the fog. I would imagine > > that the hound of the Baskervilles would feel quite at home > > at Dolly Sods. > > > > I set up camp and settled in, expecting at any moment to be > > confronted by a ranger of some sort telling me I couldn't > > camp there, but darkness set in completely and I was left > > undisturbed to wonder if I had wasted my time coming all that > > way only to spend 12-14 hours in pea soup fog and not get > any photos. > > > > Some time around 3:00 a.m. I was awakened by bright light. My > > first thought was that I had indeed been found by someone who > > knew I wasn't allowed to be camping in that spot, but I > > quickly realized that the tent was to evenly illuminated for > > the light to be coming from any man-made source. It was, in > > fact, the moon. While I had slept the sky had cleared > > completely and an almost-full moon was casting a light strong > > enough to have woken me up and to give the landscape an ever > > more eerie appearance. Now I suddenly had a sunrise to look > > forward to! > > > > As sunrise was to come at around 7:15, I had planned to sleep > > in until 6:00 or so but I woke at 5:00 a.m. and knew I > > wouldn't be able to go back to sleep so I got up, packed the > > tent and sleeping bag into the car and hefted my LowePro > > Photo Trekker pack onto my back. It was still quite dark, > > despite the moon, and I had no idea where to go to get a good > > view at dawn. But I knew there was nothing interesting back > > in the direction from which I'd come so I set off ahead down > > the road. I recalled the park map indicating some kind of > > scenic viewing area somewhere ahead, but had little clue of > > how far away it might be. > > > > Less than a mile down the road I found a promising area. The > > road doubled back and began a series of switchbacks down a > > steep slope. At the top of this area were a lot of granite > > boulders and what promised to be a good view of the valley > > below, especially in the direction my compass indicated we'd > > be seeing the sun before too long. > > > > I set up the tripod and started shooting as soon as the > > horizon began to show light. The first shot > > (http://www.robertstech.com/graphics/pages/7d303014.htm) was > > about a 20-30 second exposure at f/4, using the A20/2.8. On > > the web, you can only really see a single point of light in > > the sky, but I named the shot "Stars Over Dolly Sods" because > > at full magnification you can see quite a few. And the > > resolving power of that lens is amazing: When you zoom in on > > the full-res image in Photoshop, you can see that the > > brightest "star" is actually a planet because you can tell > > what phase it's in! > > > > In the next shot > > (http://www.robertstech.com/graphics/pages/7d303020.htm) I > > used the FA*80-200/2.8 with a 2-stop split ND filter. By this > > time it was getting light enough to see my surroundings a bit > > and I discovered several other people with tripods in the > > area! It turns out that there had been a photo workshop there > > the day before but they'd been in fog all day so several of > > the participants decided to stay the night and hope for > > better weather. They definitely got it. > > > > After a few shots with the A20/2.8 I switched to the > > FA*24/2.0 because the extra stop of aperture made framing > > shots in the viewfinder so much easier. Shots 3 and 4 > > (http://www.robertstech.com/graphics/pages/7d303025.htm and > > http://www.robertstech.com/graphics/pages/7d303103.htm) are > > similar shots from the same vantage point but the second, > > besides being taken later when the sun was up, also benefited > > from fill flash (set 1.5 stops below ambient light). > > > http://www.robertstech.com/graphics/pages/7d303105.htm just > used the 2-stop split ND filter again and I went back to the > fill flash technique for > http://www.robertstech.com/graphics/pages/7d30> 3107.htm. > > It's > easy to get so wrapped up in one part of > the scene before you that you miss other photographic > opportunities nearby. One of my personal rules for any kind > of landscape shooting in great light is "stop and look at > what's *behind* you every once in a while!" > http://www.robertstech.com/graphics/pages/7d30> 3108.htm is > what was behind me. > > The final two shots > (http://www.robertstech.com/graphics/pages/7d302918.htm and > http://www.robertstech.com/graphics/pages/7d302926.htm) were > taken at the side of Interstate 79 on the drive home. > > Upon my return to Pittsburgh, further adventures awaited me: > The lab screwed up my first roll of film. The knowledgeable > folks of the PDML offered several possibilities, and I've > decided that worn out bleach fixer in the E6 processor is the > most likely candidate because it fits with the general M.O. > of this lab. They seem to economize a little too much and not > maintain their equipment/chemicals as much as one would > prefer. I always have a lot more dirt specks on my slides > when I have them processed there. Still, there's not much > choice around here. > > Photoshop allowed me to salvage a few shots from this first > roll. The rest came out fine and I almost had *too* many good > shots from which to choose. I'm definitely going to have to > go back to this place to shoot some more, though (perhaps > with an *ist-D next time so I won't have to worry about > processing problems). > > Hope the length of this post hasn't been too inconvenient (you *were* > warned!) - now back to your regularly scheduled programming. :) > > -- > Mark Roberts > Photography and writing > www.robertstech.com > > >
