Wahconah Falls

This weekend I returned to the Berkshires to bring my wife’s resupply for the section hike she’s doing of the AT. The meet point was right nar Wahconah Fallls, so once she was set I headed out there to see what I could get. I have mixed feelings right now about photographing waterfalls. I have a very difficult time finding shots. The dynamics of the water are so interesting that they draw my eye, but then there’s so much going on, with the rocks and the forest adding so much color and shape, and the light filtering through the trees to make patterns on the ground and light up the water, that it can be too much. It results in a photo that’s barely comprehensible.

But on the way home I stopped at a train bridge that has grabbed my attention from beside the road a few times. I see people pulled over there. It turns out it’s a local fishing hole. So I stopped and went exploring. The trail leads down to the river’s edge where the train bridge crosses. The trees and brush open up and the bride appears. I thought it was a lovely moment of revealing.

I took a picture like this in Stow not long ago. This one is in Maynard. Now I’m learning some of what mist does in the camera. Last time I was in a circumstance like this I couldn’t get the shot I wanted because I couldn’t get close enough. I wanted a lonely tree shrouded in mist, but the area was fenced in and my 18 – 135mm lens didn’t have enough reach. Now I have the 100 – 400mm, and so I was able to get this. It’s not an interesting tree, but as a proof of concept, it’s fine. I’m also not sure why, but the dehazing filter in LIght Room made the tree look to me like it was badly composited into the shot. I’m not sure what is going on there.