Behind The Shot: Autumn’s Arrival

The view of the Blackwater Canyon from Lindy Point Overlook is one to behold, especially at sunset. The endless ranges of the Allegheny Mountains are visible towards the southwest and sparse views of the Blackwater River in the gorge a thousand feet below. It’s one of the most famous views in all of West Virginia.

I moved to northern Virginia from India a couple of years ago. At that time I had only recently started shooting landscapes with a serious passion. Before that, I mostly shot wildlife with a special interest in birds. India is one of the most bio-diverse regions in the world, and the choice was easy to make. But I wanted to spend more time chasing light than chasing animals, so I started traveling to different locations just to shoot landscapes.

When I browsed through the various Internet forums in search of spots to take photographs close to northern Virginia, the Blackwater Falls State Park came up on multiple lists. I saw shots from various locations around the park and noticed that a lot of them were taken at sunset from Lindy Point Overlook. I made my first trip there in the summer of this year. I thought the hike up to the high vista would be a tough one, but it turned out that the trail was only about a quarter of a mile and fairly easy. I also realized then that the location could yield some nice shots in the fall.

On my second trip during the fall (I made four in the season), the trees had just started to turn with more color at higher altitudes. There were some clouds in the sky, so I decided to shoot the sunset at Lindy Point. Apparently, about a dozen other photographers had the same idea. The environment was cheerful with everyone sharing tripod space in a small area, and I got to meet a popular photographer as well! I made three bracketed exposures for this image, but ended up using only two—one for the canyon and another for the sky.

Equipment and Settings: Sony A7RII, Carl Zeiss 24-70mm ƒ/4 @ 29mm, ISO 100, ƒ/16 (sky exposure: 1/20 sec., canyon exposure: 1/3 sec.)

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