West Virginia Waterfalls

Grist Mill at Babcock State Park, WV

Dunloup Falls at Thurmond, WV

We photographed the iconic shot of the Grist Mill three times during our Fall Colors Photography Trip. The third time was the charm since the sky had clouded over and made the colors more saturated. There are tons of waterfalls in the New River Gorge area and we tried to hit as many as we could that were accessible. The trick with waterfalls is to get them when there isn't any direct sunlight on them. Early or late in the day seems to be the best time. This particular falls had some hot spots on the upper rocks and the trees. We waited a while for the sun to go down a little to get the best image.

Keeneys Creek



After a disappointing stop at Cathedral Falls due to the low water condition we got information from a local about Mill Creek Falls. We had to drive down a single lane, gravel road to get to the falls. If another vehicle approached one of them had to back up until there was a wider spot in the road. I am sure glad I wasn't driving. There was a larger falls with a steep descent to water level. The upper smaller falls were much easier to get to. I tried to use a long exposure to get the leaves to swirl.

Mill Creek Falls near Ansted

Mills Creek upper section

Thurmond Station

 

Cowboy Heritage Festival

The Cowboy Heritage Festival was held in Kissimmee, FL. We went mainly for the Ranch Rodeo but got there early enough to see what the festival had to offer. There were several displays of "Old Florida" with people dressed as they did years ago. There was a brisket competition, lots of musicians, whip cracking demonstrations and competitions. I tried to capture the essence of the event and people pictures. I find that at festivals people are more willing to have their photograph made. It was difficult taking photos during the rodeo due to the indoor arena lighting and obstacles in the way. I decided to just sit back and enjoy it.