505 - Hurst Falls
The time has come for me to talk about the elephant in the room. Where’s Haley?
Unfortunately, about two months ago we made a decision to end our relationship. It was a tough realization on both sides, but it was truly for the better.
It was a wild three years (I feel like I’m emerging from a strange dream,) and we had more crazy experiences together than I can count. I’ll always remember that nine month trip down into the depths of Central America- something in me changed after that trip. But at the end of the day, we just weren’t right for each other. And there’s nothing you can do to fix that.
On the positive side, I’ve spent the past couple months working on building myself up to be a better person. I’m in the best shape than I’ve ever been, I finally got myself out of debt from the trip, and things are looking up. I’m at a point in my life where I’m truly free, and I can do whatever the fuck I want. It’s a dizzying level of liberation.
With that being said, let’s cut to some photography, shall we?
Today’s adventure was at Hurst Falls, about 30 minutes east of Lexington, Kentucky. After last week’s shit show of an adventure, I figured I’d do something a bit more user friendly. Hurst Falls was at a small, local park. It was raining the entire time, and believe me, there’s nothing better to shoot in the rain than a waterfall.
The thing about this waterfall was that it was very “built up.” By that I mean it was designed to be observed by hundreds of people a year, and it had a pretty tight fence surrounding it which meant limited room for creative compositions. There was essentially no visible foreground anywhere, at all.
These types of places are something I normally try to avoid shooting, and you can usually tell what to expect by browsing the Google Images of the place. But at a certain point if there’s no options around or you’re at a famous place, you don’t have much of a choice.
I started looking to the leaves for cues, and found a few that looked 3D enough to pop. Here’s the shot I got:
“Behind the Leaves”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8
[ISO 50 ~ 17mm ~ f/20 ~ .8s]
(Want a Print? Get it here.)
Now that was actually a fairly difficult shot to get, technically speaking. To keep both the leaves in focus AND the waterfall, it required a focus stack of 4 images. Couple that with the fact that the wind was blowing the leaves around, it made for a true editing challenge.
But I pulled through. I had to manually focus stack it with layer masks to ensure everything was tight. In addition, I warped the leaf a bit to give it a more “S” curve. Adding these curves via the warp tool can give your photos a better sense of style and flow. But you gotta be subtle.
From there I moved onto another waterfall that was short and sweet. Check this baby out:
“Sly Falls”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8
[ISO 80 ~ 18mm ~ f/18 ~ 1/3s]
(Want a Print? Get it here.)
Again, notice that “S” flow throughout the image. Starting with the rock in the left corner, moving to the current, and up the waterfall. I didn’t have to do any warping to achieve that in this image, it was all in the composition.
I swear leaves look way more vibrant in the rain. And I have no idea why.
At this point, I decided to take a walk down one of the trails of the park. I went about a mile in, and got a few plant abstract that I enjoyed:
“Into the Weeds”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Zeiss 24-70mm f/4
[ISO 500 ~ 18mm ~ f/10 ~ 1/40s]
(Want a Print? Get it here.)
“Yellow Bar”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Zeiss 24-70mm f/4
[ISO 500 ~ 18mm ~ f/9 ~ 1/10s]
(Want a Print? Get it here.)
I love looking for outliers. Any colors, shapes, or designs that stand out against the grain.
By this point I was so wet that even water was seeping through my raincoat. I’d been standing in pure rain for about an hour and a half now. A notion I’m getting very used to in the South during the summer… (Not a bad thing, it feels amazing.)
I decided to head back. My work here was done.
I’m sure you’re wondering what my next steps are now that I’m single. Well, at this point my goal is to keep traveling wherever the road takes me. Keep shooting and exploring. Meet new people, make friends, and dive into the local culture of new cities.
I’m excited to see where this new era of my life will take me.
I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.
Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.
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