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Astronomy, Photography & Marsh Creek SP

During the past several CCPaPhoto meetups, one of the more common questions has been –

Where is it legal for Astronomy and Photography types allowed to group during the night?

I finally sent an email to “PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources” asking…

A couple of days later, I got the following back –

“The park manager said that basically any approved parking lot can be used at night – the Dorlan Mill lot, the west side lot, or the Chalfant Rd. lot. Just make sure that no one is parking on the grass, or blocking a gate!”

which is great news, especially with the Summer months coming up!

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Chester County Downingtown HDR Lakes Marsh Creek State Park Photo Journal Photography Tone Mapping Water Weather

Spring – Day 5 Snow

Woke up this morning, and there was 2-3 inches of snow on the ground…

The 5th Day of Spring… Go figure…

Got the kids on the bus and headed to the Marsh Creek Lake Dam area for maybe the last snow of the season.

In the woods, I was getting bombarded by snow, as it fell from the trees.

When I finally reached the Dam plateau, the snow was coming down hard, and it was nearly impossible to keep the front of the lens clean, so most of the shoots are looking south, with the wind at my back.

After about an hour of wondering around, I headed home…

I am so ready to get some real colors!

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Announcements Awards Blogging Featured Long Exposure Photo Journal Photography Water

LPM Manfrotto Competition Winner Theme Water

Fall Water Rocks
Fall Water Rocks

Wow!

I just got the following email! –

“Hello Andrew

Congratulations, the picture you submitted for our February competition with theme ‘Water’ has won the first prize. [snip…]

http://landscapephotographymagazine.com/2013/lpm-manfrotto-competition-winner-theme-water/

Paul”

and from the main website:

“We loved Andrew’s image for many reasons. The composition was slightly complicated and yet, extremely pleasing and well designed to keep your eyes staring at it for a while. It contained beautifully vivid colours and gorgeous reflections. The exposure was very well controlled and so was the shutter speed. All in all, a superb image and well worth to win our February competition.”

I am SO honored to have been chosen the Winner with so many other awesome entries!

For what it is worth, I bought my current tripod, a Bogen (#3020), when I was about 18, which was over 30+ years ago, so I greatly look forward to trying out something more modern!

Thank you to the folks at landscapephotographymagazine.com and Manfrotto for this!

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Black & White Chester County Downingtown Drawdown HDR Lakes Long Exposure Marsh Creek State Park Nature Photo Essay Photo Journal Tone Mapping Water Weather

South of the Boat Ramp (Day 5)

I parked in nearly in the same spot as I did some ten days ago, when I was exploring the northern side of the boating launch on that foggy morning.

Today, there is more activity and the temperature is finally starting to reflect that it is late December…

While gathering my gear, I saw several people walking, some dogs running, and once I was ready, I headed toward south-east, along the shoreline.

Swimming Hole 01
Swimming Hole 01

As I walk in the sand, I know, just to my right, there is a very well-worn path that I have walked countless times before, but today, it is difficult to even recognize the “beach” where I have been many times before.

Looking at Rental Complex (North-East)
Looking at Rental Complex (North-East)

It was one of my easier walks to the end of the blunted point, that almost points due south, where I was once again greeted with more wood pilings (Woodhenge) sticking out of the lake’s bed.

In the mouth of the Cove
In the mouth of the Cove

From there, I started into the cove, and I knew from previous walks along the dirt path, off to might right, that I was entering a heavy vegetation area, but once again, walking the shoreline made it look so different, and I did not expect it to drop off so quickly.

Deep in the Cove Looking East
Deep in the Cove Looking East

Finally, I reached the end of the cove, or at least as I was far as I was willing to go.

I was not having to have another mud adventure!

Empty Ramp
Empty Ramp

Walking back, I took this final capture, knowing I had to get back to the real world, and do some holiday shopping.

Tech Notes

  • Canon XTi  ISO100  f16-f22 with a ND 3.0 filter
  • HDR Capture with 3-4 captures between 15-120 seconds (raw)
  • HDR Processing – Lightroom 4.3 > Photoshop CS5 > HDR Efex Pro 2 > Viveza 2
  • B&W Processing – Photoshop CS5 > Lightroom 4.3

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Categories
Blogging Chester County Downingtown Drawdown Fog HDR Marsh Creek State Park Photo Essay Photo Journal Photography Tone Mapping Water Weather

Foggy Morning at the Boat Launch (Day 4)

We woke up to a very foggy morning that had engulfed our area during the night.

With nothing pressing on my agenda, I got my kids off to school, packed my car with my photo gear, and headed off to try to capture some of this elusive weather.

Morning Fog near Boat Launch
Morning Fog near Boat Launch

Not knowing how long the fog would last, time was of the essence, but I also knew that I had to be careful on a day like today.

In the back of my head, I heard my inner voice, my wife and a recent conversation with Joe all going off, so I drove down to the mega-sporting goods store in Downingtown, looking for orange apparel, only to find a very limited inventory, and in only youth sizes.

Do I drive over to Exton? Or just head on out, being extremely careful?

MCSP Boat Launch
MCSP Boat Launch

Personally, I think I looked more like a bear, carrying a tripod, but that is another conversation…

I left the store, I jumped into my car, and headed north on Creek Rd, towards the boat launch area of Marsh Creek State Park.

As I drove along road, I could see areas of fog along the Brandywine that were beginning to thin out, and I begun to wonder if this day was going to be a bust of a trip, but I continued on.

Root Squid 01
Root Squid 01

When I turned on to N. Reeds Rd., and was looking over the horse pasture, and on to the lake, there was nothing but grey-white fog, and I knew I was going to have some fun!

I parked at the main lot at the bottom of the hill, where normally, the bumper of your car to the water is may be 40 feet, but now because of the drawdown and gradual slope to the ‘underwater’ terrain, the nearest lake water is easily over 100 feet away!

As I get out of the car, and I am packing my photography vest, getting ready for my walk, I can easily overhear three guys yelling between themselves about what to do about a boat.

I could not make it all out, but what I could, sounded was rather comical, and they where definitely making the best of it.

Root Squid 02
Root Squid 02

It is hard not to be amazed at this new landscape the 8 foot drawdown has revealed, and with the shallow slope of the southern launch area, the water seemed miles away.

The fog had receded a little bit, and condensed a little into a light mist, which would accumulate into water droplets when it hits such things as your lens.

Note – I just read a story earlier in the week how harmful acids in your breath can actually damage your camera lens.

It was not until I rounded the corner of the barbecuing point, did I realized why those three gentlemen had been so excited in their earlier conversations.

The launch ramp where normally one would back their boat down into the water, was now a mixture of sand, mud and rocks, and the water was well over 100 feet away.

No easy task, and the risk of getting your vehicle stuck was rather high.

Root Squid 03
Root Squid 03

The three gentlemen had used their truck to move their boat to the grassy area next to the launch.

From there, they dragged their boat over firmer sand and mud, and finally into the water!

Talk about dedicated fishers!

I continued north of the launch area, and rounded another small little point, where I saw a series of beautiful old tree stumps that had weathered over many years of being underwater, and now the roots look more like the tentacles of an squid.

As I continued to walk along the shoreline, I was greeted with forrest present-day fossils of shapes that were once living trees.

After some time of collecting more images, I finally reached the Chalfant Rd entrance to the park and proceeded along the coastline a little bit more, until I reached a very peculiar outcropping of rocks, that just made me stop.

Bent rock formation
Bent rock formation

It was very apparent that there was a layer structure to the rocks, but there also seems to be indication that the rock has bent. How?

This does not make sense, but it will be a good conversation with my wife later on tonight.

I turned around, and started back to the car, knowing that I had allot of image processing that I needed to start on…

Update

2012-Dec-17 – In doing my normal daily reading, I ran across these following links of interest at they relate to the Marsh Creek Lake/State Park water drawdown:

This Gordon’s Supply Company page, that shows the 2010 drawdown, as well as some historic images from the 1970s!

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