Story Behind Image

Overcast Twilight on Neabsco Creek Boardwalk /  by Todd Henson

Neabsco Creek Twilight

On the final morning of 2021 I joined my father as he opened the Neabsco Creek boardwalk. We arrived at the parking lot while it was still dark and by the time we’d walked to the boardwalk entrance there was just a slight hint of color beginning to show in the sky. I don’t often get out this early, not being much of a morning person, so I tried to take advantage of the opportunity and set up my tripod to capture some images as we walked to open the other gates.

It was a completely overcast morning, so I had no expectation of any pre-sunrise fireworks lighting up the sky with brilliant colors. And yet, even completely overcast you can still see some of those lovely blues of the twilight hours.

For the first image, seen at the top of the post, I set up the tripod and pointed the camera towards the marina and the trestle bridge in the distance. I liked how the lights of the marina were making the fog glow. As I was setting up we could hear the sounds of an approaching train, so I was fortunate to capture that in the exposure. Granted, this was a long exposure (5 seconds) so the train was nothing but a light blur, both because of it moving during the exposure and because of the light mist that slightly obscured anything at a distance.

As I mentioned, I rarely get out before sunrise, which is unfortunate as it’s a great time for photography. The light changes very quickly and provides a range of colors not typically seen. Before sunrise there are virtually no shadows so you can create some soft and delicate images. Just after sunrise you get some incredible lighting on subjects because of the extreme angle of the light, often straight on at the subject.

In this case the longer exposure allowed me to capture some of the blue so common at this time, which is why twilight is often called the blue hour, though it typically lasts far less than an hour. I really should make an effort to get out more at this time, but with work it can be a challenge. Thankfully I had December 31st off, so took advantage of the opportunity.

Eleven minutes later we’d walked a bit further down the boardwalk when I decided to turn around and photograph the way we’d come, still facing the marina and trestle bridge. I zoomed out a bit to take in more of the scene. I liked the look of the boardwalk with the wet planks reflecting the blues from the sky, and curving over to the left, with the marina over to the right.

Boardwalk Blues

The light changes quickly this time of morning, and it wasn’t much longer before it took on a more typical overcast grey. But I was happy to have created at least a few interesting images under the light of early morning twilight.

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South Fork Quantico Creek, October 2021 /  by Todd Henson

South Fork Quantico Creek (Downstream), October 2021

The Story

Last year I visited the South Fork of Quantico Creek in Prince William Forest Park towards the end of October when most of the leaves were yellow, orange or brown. This year I decided to visit the same location at the beginning of October when almost all the leaves were still green, though a small number had changed color and fallen to the ground and water below.

I had actually left work early and visited this location a couple days prior. At that time I noticed the greenery on the floor of the creek, mostly concentrated where the flow was strongest as it went over rocks. The water level was very low and perhaps that’s why I could see this greenery when I hadn’t in the past. So I returned a couple days later with my camera and tripod and set about looking for compositions that would capture the green below the surface of the creek.

In the end I created two photographs I’m pleased with. One is facing downstream, similar to the photograph last year, though from a slightly different position and perspective. The lower water level also alters the scene a bit, as does the color of the leaves. Here the green of the trees works well with the green below the surface, and the yellow and orange leaves on the rocks and in the water are an added bonus.

I had on my waterproof (or at least water resistant) boots which let me wade into the shallower water. I did have to be careful to find spots with enough sand or small rocks to give me a decent footing. These creeks usually flow over areas of shale-like rock and it can become extremely slippery, and I’ve fallen before so I’m trying not to fall again (thankfully I didn’t fall this time around).

South Fork Quantico Creek (Upstream), October 2021

Technical Trivia

If you’re at all curious about the technical aspects of these photographs, they are actually very similar to those of last year’s image. I was shooting with my 16-35 mm lens at 16mm. I was using my Singh-Ray LB Warming Circular Polarizing filter on the lens to control reflections on both the water and the leaves, with the nice side effect of saturating the colors just a bit and slowing the shutter speed.

For the downstream image I used an aperture of f/11 at ISO 100 with a shutter speed of 1 second, which smoothed out the water and blurred the underwater greenery as it was swaying back and forth quite a bit.

Upstream there was more light falling on the rocks and some of the trees, which made capturing a decent exposure slightly more challenging. I decided to create multiple images at different exposures, which I’d later blend together in software.

I had originally wanted to capture some detail in the underwater greenery, which would have required faster shutter speeds, but in the end I preferred the look of these longer exposures.

For post-processing I imported the photographs into Adobe Lightroom and went through my typical processing steps, which entail adjustments to exposure, highlights, shadows, white points, black points, and various other settings. I also did a lot of localized dodging and burning to lighten and darken different areas.

As mentioned above, the upstream scene had a higher dynamic range due to more light hitting the rocks and trees, so I’d shot multiple images at different exposures and merged those together into a single high dynamic range (HDR) image. I processed the HDR in a very natural way, working to keep details in the lighter and darker areas.

Thoughts

My overall goal for both images was to bring attention to the greens and the little bit of autumn color but also keep the scene looking as natural and real as possible. I wanted you to feel that early autumnal anticipation, to hear the rhythmic sounds of the water flowing over the rocks, to feel the light breeze against your face and breath in that wonderful scent of the forest, and perhaps to feel the cool water on your feet as it quickly flows downstream. I love this section of creek, and I’m hoping you can feel that when you view these photographs.

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A Scintillating Spider Web /  by Todd Henson

A scintillating spider web

Light is everything in photography. Without it we wouldn’t have photography. So I watch for changing light and how this affects the scene in front of me. And sometimes I’m amazed by what light and nature create.

My father and I were hiking the Oak Ridge Trail in Prince William Forest Park one morning. As is often the case on these hikes, I wasn’t looking for anything specific to photograph, but instead remaining open to anything we stumbled across. I often travel with just a single lens which limits what I’m able to capture, but that sort of constraint can sometimes be a good thing (as is the lower weight and bulk of my pack!). On this morning I was carrying my 105mm macro lens, so naturally I was drawn to smaller subjects.

One thing that’s hard to overlook during early morning hikes are all the various spider webs (sometimes crossing right over the trail, so watch out!). It really is amazing just how many spiders are out there. We saw so many webs, each different, and from a wide variety of spider species.

Then we rounded a corner and noticed how the light was hitting this one special web, creating such beautiful scintillations, colors and shapes just twinkling and sparkling. It was like looking through one of those old kaleidoscopic tubes, twisting it and watching the colors and shapes swirling and changing.

I quickly pulled up my camera and tried to capture some of this incredible sight. I was hand-holding and it was early enough that this part of the forest was still fairly shaded. Thankfully there wasn’t a lot of wind, so the spider and its web weren’t moving too much, but I still needed to raise the ISO to between 1000 - 1600 to give me a shutter speed of between 1/80 to 1/320 of a second. I have a bit of a shake to my arms so it wasn’t a perfect situation and using a tripod would have been better, but sometimes there’s more benefit to the flexibility of not using a tripod.

Spider glow

A couple minutes later the scene had completely changed, all because of the shifting light. I continued photographing the same spider, which I believe to be a filmy dome spider. This time, though, the light was enough to light up just the spider, letting all else fade to black, the web almost invisible, the spider appearing to glow. It makes for a very different image, doesn’t it?

Clinging to the web

About a minute and a half later, and from a slightly different perspective, I created this final image. This time we can see the web, but with a very different look than the first image. In this one it’s far more simple, a multitude of little threads. I liked how you can see where the spider’s legs touch the web and how they sometimes pull on it just a little. Notice how different the spider looks in this light, too. You get a more detailed view of it, helping with identification.

Any light can be good light for photography. You just need to be open to the possibilities and willing to experiment. Always be aware of the light around you. It can shift and change in so many ways as the sun travels across the sky, clouds move in and out, trees sway back and forth. Spend some time in one location and notice how the light can change and how this affects the scene.

It’s a beautiful world out there!

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