Posted by Mike Hall on February 25, 2009 at 11:02 PM
I'm sure most of you have been inside the cave at Lost Valley near Ponca. If not, you need to! At the end of the trail is this 30ft indoor waterfall. Tim Earnst inspired my wife and I to "paint" at night. This was one of our first attempts to use a spotlight and long exposure. She framed the shot, made the settings and I painted. Teamwork. She will eventually get on this forum.
Notes: You will have to crawl in some spots and gear protection is a must. I kept my gearbag inside my small backpack for protection. You will get dirty, if not muddy. Preset for long exposure and other settings before you enter the cave. Keep your lense and body covered as much as possible due to spray generated by the waterfall. Keep several lense wipes handy.
Paint: 2 million candle power(no diffusion) panned from top to bottom every few feet.
Nikon D200 10mm@F11 15 seconds ISO200
Mike Hall
Conway, AR
direct link http://lh4.ggpht.com/_Mhj-0qDYfG0/SaYHATBw-HI/AAAAAAAAGYs/iDV29og38Xg/s512/MMH_0179small.jpg
Posted by Wayne Rhodus on February 26, 2009 at 7:04 AM
Mike, pretty cool shot! I've made it to the entrance of this cave but didn't feel compelled to subject my poor old knees to the crawl in. But now that I see what's in there, if I ever make it back, I may just change my mind!
The fall & cave are amazing. I really enjoy seeing what erosion has done to the surrounding rock. The only thing I would mention is the shot is rotated CW. You may want to make a CCW adjustment to straighten the falls.
Great job with the light painting and bringing this cave & fall to light!
Posted by Aaron Szabo on February 26, 2009 at 5:49 PM
This is very interesting. This is one situation where a super-wide is a must. A wife or associate is a handy thing in a dark cave. Thanks for sharing!
Posted by Larry Daniel on February 27, 2009 at 5:09 PM
Extremely well done. And you can bet that I will NOT be venturing there. Too damp, too dark, too old.
Discussion
3 repliesNotes: You will have to crawl in some spots and gear protection is a must. I kept my gearbag inside my small backpack for protection. You will get dirty, if not muddy. Preset for long exposure and other settings before you enter the cave. Keep your lense and body covered as much as possible due to spray generated by the waterfall. Keep several lense wipes handy.
Paint: 2 million candle power(no diffusion) panned from top to bottom every few feet.
Nikon D200 10mm@F11 15 seconds ISO200
Mike Hall
Conway, AR
direct link http://lh4.ggpht.com/_Mhj-0qDYfG0/SaYHATBw-HI/AAAAAAAAGYs/iDV29og38Xg/s512/MMH_0179small.jpg
The fall & cave are amazing. I really enjoy seeing what erosion has done to the surrounding rock. The only thing I would mention is the shot is rotated CW. You may want to make a CCW adjustment to straighten the falls.
Great job with the light painting and bringing this cave & fall to light!