Behind the Buck Dam - New River Trail State Park

May 30, 2014 • Leave a Comment

You can support me and this website by purchasing prints. Just click on any photo to be taken to the gallery.

You can also support me by purchasing the gear I used during this little adventure via the following links:

Induro Alloy 8M Tripod AT-413

Giottos MH1000-652 Large Ball Head

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L IS USM

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM

77mm Zeta C-PL Wideband ZR-Coated

B+W 77mm ND 10 Stop Filter

Now to the Good Stuff...

The photo above was taken with a stacked polarizer and B+W 10 Stop filter. It is a two minute exposure metered +1 EV to the clouds. It really 'maxes out' the dynamic range of the 5d Mark ii's sensor. There was a TON of color noise in the shadows. I used Lightroom 5 and Nik Dfine 2 to process much of it out, but it never really goes away completely(especially since I don't use in-camera noise reduction).

This was taken at the end of an awesome day on the New River Trail.

My day started early, I drove out to Buck Dam to photograph the rocks and reflections during sunrise.

After a peaceful sunrise, I went upriver from Buck dam and checked out the marshy, flat water. On the way up there, I spotted a snapper turtle laying some eggs.

Snapping TurtleSnapping Turtle Can't say I've seen this before...

After seeing this, I felt like giving the turtle a little privacy... so off I went to shoot the trees on the New River... Below, a Redwinged Blackbird sits on top of a tree in some fog.

On my way back, I spotted the Snapping Turtle making her way down the trail.

And then a staring contest I was born to lose...(they don't blink)

After that, I was heading home for some breakfast and to fill my Camelbak bladder for a little riding. I went to the low bridge parking area near fries and rode in to Buck Dam. It's a great ride along the New River. After shooting some clouds and tadpoles near buck dam, I spotted a Royal Catchfly(I think) in some ferns and made it back to the car just before some serious rain.

I wanted more reflections, but the shallow water and brown rocks really hindered it.

As you walk around, you startle hundreds of tadpoles in the area. Some of them look as if they are about to lose their tales and become adults(er whatever they turn in to)

After getting home and saying hi to the wife, I took off AGAIN for Buck Dam for sunset. It was a nice one!

Thanks for looking:)

Keywords: buck dam, new river trail state park, reflections, rocks, sunrise, sunset, virginia, virginia State Parks

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