Previously from Shenandoah National Park and Shenandoah Valley: The Lonely Tree, The Skyline Drive View in Autumn, The Details or the Wide and Grand?, Trouble with Color.

Dark Hollow Falls PoolShenandoah National Park, Virginia Today, I'm taking you on a little bit of time travel. You can think of it as traveling back in time since these photographs were taken during the 2013 autumn season in Shenandoah National Park. Or you can think of if as traveling several months forward and get excited about the season of color and start plotting plans for where to see them this year.

No, I do not want to rush the seasons at all. I enjoyed the winter season in Western New York but it was long this year. Spring has been great and the temperatures are finally starting to give signs of summer possibly coming too. So no, fall does not have to come yet, I am perfectly fine with the summer greens!

Hiking the Dark Hollow Falls trail was a great experience, even though it does get more traffic than other areas. If you want fewer people, arrive early. Even with lots of people on the main trail there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy the hike through the woods along the creek and get some people free views and photographs. The creek zigzags through the woods with many areas nicely filled with rocks and with several smaller cascades along the way. I really enjoyed the scenery and spent quite a bit of time at each spot looking for different angles and for details to include or exclude.

The main waterfall was a nice cherry on top of an already beautiful hike. Even there, various angles offered many different ways to present the waterfall. In my waterfall photography, I have become more and more likely to throw the waterfalls into the background and use the foreground to provide context, a sense of place, a sense of uniqueness. Then, to go along, I usually try to find some interesting close ups picking the most interesting features that catch my eye.

In the photo below, I really liked how the tree and waterfall mirrored each other in their shape and how the ferns added a splash of green into the fallen autumn leaves.

Dark Hollow FallsShenandoah National Park, Virginia

Dark Hollow Falls, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Spring and early summer are usually the best waterfalling seasons since water is still mostly plentiful (at least here on the US East Coast). So whether you like waterfalls or just need another reason to go out and enjoy the outdoors, head out-there and have fun!

Equipment Used:

Nikon D600, Nikon 24-85mm Nikkor Lens, Hoya 72mm NXT Circular Polarizing Slim Frame Glass Filter, Think Tank Speed Demon Waist Pack, SanDisk Extreme 32GB SD Cards, Nikon Capture NX2.

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