Alpha Falls Detail

Gallery: LandscapePosted October 6, 20052,295 views20 comments

I took this photo for 2 reasons - the first, being the amazing algae growing on these rocks. When I came on the scene, I felt like I'd stepped into Hawaii, as I've never seen anything like it in Pennsylvania before, or anywhere since. Second, I was intrigued by the dual flow of the water. This is the base of the falls, and it hits a large, sloped rock right on its edge. Most of it goes down the front, the remaining volume slipping behind, looping around, and flowing down another rock into the pool. This was taken at McConnell's Mill State Park, PA.

Comments welcomed and appreciated.

Comments

20 comments

Comment posted by Michael E. Gordon on October 6, 2005 at 11:25 AM

A very cool photograph, Greg. That algae is positively neon!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 90 Posts, 2482 Comments

Comment posted by David Patrino on October 6, 2005 at 11:33 AM

Nicely seen.

Registered on November 18, 2003, 51 Posts, 89 Comments

Comment posted by Nathan Buck on October 6, 2005 at 12:05 PM

Very cool comp Greg. The SS that you chose adds some real intrigue and atmosphere to the shot. Well seen.

Nathan

Edit: I love the streaks in the upper center of the image.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1101 Posts, 13589 Comments

Comment posted by Guy Tal on October 6, 2005 at 12:05 PM

I love those greens and the water patterns almost look like lightning bolts. I like it.

Guy

Registered on November 1, 2003, 566 Posts, 15507 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Rasmussen on October 6, 2005 at 12:09 PM

Those greens are pretty amazing! Interesting image with them and the 'glowing' white water. Nicely seen.

Brian

Registered on July 26, 2005, 121 Posts, 1884 Comments

Comment posted by Erik Stensland on October 6, 2005 at 12:18 PM

Terrific shot! The algae is amazing as well as the way the water goes both to the left and right. It is very unique and well taken!

Registered on September 27, 2004, 121 Posts, 718 Comments

Comment posted by Jeffrey Sipress on October 6, 2005 at 12:18 PM

This is a very interesting image. So much going on here, color, motion, depth. Beautiful!

Registered on February 17, 2004, 236 Posts, 1197 Comments

Comment posted by Greg Walker on October 6, 2005 at 1:04 PM

If anyone's interested, here's a small shot of the falls as a whole, to put this one in context. The rock in the foreground is the one about midway up on the right - the original posting is shot from the side.

Greg

Registered on November 19, 2003, 63 Posts, 782 Comments

Comment posted by Jesse Speer on October 6, 2005 at 2:05 PM

I always like to look at the image for awhile, before viewing comments. Took me awhile to figure this out! Very interesting composition. Really cool. Love the water streaming in from the top. Killer color. Yeah, I've never seen anything like it either.

Registered on September 18, 2004, 19 Posts, 339 Comments

Comment posted by Tom Wilson on October 6, 2005 at 2:32 PM

Really disorienting, makes you look to figure it out. I love the greens.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 573 Posts, 2211 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Helms on October 6, 2005 at 2:50 PM

Greg,

I love it ! Well seen and well composed. The fg rock really adds to this one.The colors may be a little over saturated,maybe. I like it though as is.

Thanks for sharing

Registered on November 28, 2003, 37 Posts, 1005 Comments

Comment posted by Laurie Darcey on October 6, 2005 at 3:49 PM

I think you did a great job capturing the beauty of the falls with this photo - the colors are amazing, the exposure is right on. The only comment I would have is that since it is a detail, it is a bit confusing composition-wise. The first thing I did when I looked at it was turned my head sideways.

After I read your write-up, it made more sense. That's the nature of detail images, I suppose. One suggestion might be to couple the detail image within a set of shots of the falls - A nice version of the whole falls image you posted above might anchor the detail image and give it more context. Just a thought ;)

Nice work!

Registered on October 6, 2005, 6 Posts, 231 Comments

Comment posted by Cory Freeman on October 6, 2005 at 5:24 PM

Very interesting composition! The water flowing over on each side looks to be coming from within the rocks themselves !!

Registered on December 16, 2003, 107 Posts, 1341 Comments

Comment posted by LG Price on October 6, 2005 at 7:43 PM

I think this is my favorite waterfall photo I've seen on NPN.

Registered on March 9, 2005, 160 Posts, 1500 Comments

Comment posted by Duane Rosenkranz on October 6, 2005 at 10:06 PM

Very interesting and unusual shot, never seen one quite like it. And I do like.

Duane Rosenkranz

Registered on October 13, 2004, 280 Posts, 2661 Comments

Comment posted by Neil Losin on October 6, 2005 at 11:03 PM

Hi Greg,

Great shot. This is not your run-of-the-mill long-exposure waterfall image. You've taken a completely different approach to this one and the results are just beautiful.

Good shooting,
Neil Losin

Registered on September 16, 2005, 145 Posts, 3524 Comments

Comment posted by Julia Flanagan on October 7, 2005 at 5:08 PM

Before reading your comments I saw the shot and thought, "Oh cool the continental divide!" and "Wow, the luminosity of the water and rocks is something else!" So, I think that confirms that you suceeded in conveying exactly what you wanted to and in a very beautiful way. Veru well seen!

Julie

Registered on November 13, 2003, 59 Posts, 986 Comments

Comment posted by Christian Kiely on October 7, 2005 at 9:37 PM

Very interesting shot... not that common to see a horizontal element on a fall instead of a vertical.

Registered on January 20, 2005, 311 Posts, 628 Comments

Comment posted by F Timothy Kingst on October 8, 2005 at 12:14 AM

Wow, that's amazing. Usually I have something a little more to say but right now I'm speachless. Unforgetable image.