Notes from the field: West Virginia Spring

Notes from the filed this week features a new image from West Virginia. I have been shooting the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virgina for over twelve years now and the area never disappoints, especially in the spring. The mountains around Canaan Valley abound with tons of waterfalls and countless cascades and in the spring the forest and streams are reborn with fresh green foliage and rushing waters. The image above is a new take from a familiar location deep in the hollow of Shays Run that plummets into Blackwater Canyon. In fact, my image Looking Down Falls shot from very close to this location on the stream was featured as the cover shot from the 2010 October issue of OP.

Getting down to this location on Shays Run was not a walk in the park. It required off trail bushwhacking down a steep and wet gorge, sliding over car sized boulders into waist deep pools of freezing water and hanging on to Rhododendron Bushes to keep from sliding down muddy hillsides. It was worth every once of energy and discomfort!!

More to come so stay tuned!

Tech details: Nikon D700, 14-24mm, raw capture at ISO 100, 4 seconds @ F14