Skunk-cabbage and an icy waterfall

I hadn't tripped the shutter on a real camera for several weeks, due to lots of more important things taking place, so getting out a bit last Monday was very photographically therapeutic. Time was short, so I ran over to two local spots. The first was Kiwanis Riverway Park, a postage stamp of a natural area but full of biodiversity. Kiwanis sits on the east bank of the Scioto River in Dublin, Ohio, and to me at least it is defined by the artesian springs that feed its wetlands. The boggy soil created by the springs is wonderful habitat for the first of our native spring wildflowers to bloom, the skunk-cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus. 

I was pleased but not surprised to find the skunkers lunging from the boggy mire, and a check of the more mature specimens revealed pollen adorning the tiny flowers. Full bloom, on February 11. I was especially pleased to be able to make photos of the plants in the snow. In this image, we can see evidence of the thermogenic nature of this odd arum. Skunk-cabbage generate heat as a byproduct of their growth, and self-warm enough to melt away the snow around the fleshy liver-dappled spathe - the fleshy hood that encloses the true flowers.

Spring has sprung.

As always, click the photo to enlarge

Only a few minutes from Kiwanis Park is one of central Ohio's most iconic waterfalls, Hayden Run Falls. So, over I dashed to try my hand at a landscape image. Abundant snowmelt and lingering ice formations cast the falls in an especially pleasing light, and I was glad that I made the short detour. If you've not seen this place, make a visit sometime, especially after rainfall has swollen the small feeder creek.

Sometimes when reviewing winter waterfall shots, I find that I don't particular like the colorized versions. That was the case here. The Columbus limestone has an orangish tinge in places, and the juxtaposition of mossy greens and various browns was a bit unpleasing to my eye. So I converted the image to black and white and was much more pleased with the end result. Ice, snow, and water often lens themselves well to B & W interpretation. I always shoot in color, though, even though I have the option of shooting in black and white with my cameras. Converting images to B & W is simple, and as I ALWAYS work off copies of original images, I will always have the original color versions should I ever want to use them.

Nature: Damming of Scioto spares two magnificent waterfalls

Indian Run Falls/Jim McCormac

Columbus Dispatch

December 4, 2016

NATURE
Jim McCormac

Columbus and the surrounding flatlands are not known for waterfalls. Yet some mini-Niagaras lurk in hidden spots.

In northwestern Franklin County, the Scioto River flows through a massive layer of Columbus limestone. The rock is so-named because the original core was extracted near the capital city.

Formed during the Devonian Period some 400 million years ago, Columbus limestone is a prominent geological feature in these parts. Massive quantities have been mined in the western part of Franklin County, and limestone cliffs are prominent in places along the Scioto River.

Before the construction of Griggs Dam (1905) and O’Shaughnessy Dam (1925) on the Scioto River, numerous limestone box canyons and their attendant streams flowed into the river. The pooling of the reservoirs submerged most of them, and their waterfalls.

Fortunately, a few falls survive, two of which are easily accessed showstoppers.

Hayden Falls was spared because it lies along the short section of the Scioto between the reservoirs and wasn’t inundated. The city of Columbus owns the falls, and access is from a parking lot on the south side of Hayden Run Road, just east of the Scioto River.

A wooden staircase descends to the depths of the narrow canyon, and a boardwalk leads to the 30-foot falls. This is a spectacular waterfall in a gorgeous setting — easily one of the top falls in Ohio.
Perhaps even better is nearby Indian Run Falls. The city of Dublin is owner and has provided easy access via a parking lot at 700 Shawan Falls Drive, near Rt. 161 and Frantz Road.

Trails provide access to Indian Run, and strategically sited observation decks offer commanding views of the falls. In the upper reaches of the park, Indian Run cascades over short limestone shelves.

Farther downstream, the creek funnels into a limestone chute and plummets into a steep-sided gorge. A short distance beyond, the waters plunge over a 20-foot drop — the falls pictured with this column.

Not only are the limestone waterfalls and gorges of northwestern Franklin County visually stunning, they are botanically significant.

In 1834, pioneer botanist John Leonard Riddell stumbled across an unfamiliar lily somewhere near the previously described falls (he was inexact in recording the specifics). Riddell had discovered the diminutive snow trillium, which still persists in this area.

Eight years later, in spring of 1842, William Starling Sullivant, the botanist son of Lucas Sullivant — the man who founded Franklinton — was exploring the Scioto River’s box canyons.

He found a showy white-flowered mustard growing on ledges of the limestone cliff faces. Flummoxed by its identity, he eventually realized he had found a new species and named it Arabis patens, the spreading rock cress. Small numbers of this state-endangered plant still hang on in local gorges.

Naturalist Jim McCormac writes a column for The Dispatch on the first, third and fifth Sundays of the month. He also writes about nature at www.jimmccormac.blogspot.com.

Frozen falls and frozen birds

Yesterday was bitterly cold in central Ohio. The day began about 7 F, and warmed into the low teens. Yet winter and subfreezing temperatures brings its own charms, and frozen Hayden Run Falls is one of them. I figured it would have been transformed into a cascade of ice, and sure enough that was the case.

A closer view of the Hayden Falls ice sculpture. I wrote about this place late last fall, and shared some images of the falls when the water is freely flowing. Just CLICK HERE for that.

Below the falls, towards its confluence with the Scioto River, Hayden Run was mostly unfrozen. This pair of Mallards rested and foraged in the stream. Although it still seems - and is! - wintry, spring is very much in the air. The daylight lengthens and stretches the days, and ducks are entering courtship mode. This drake was quite attentive to the hen, and tailgated her constantly as she swam about.

Nearby Kiwanis Park produced lots of birds, as it nearly always does. Being a sucker for charismatic chickadees, I can seldom resist imaging them if the opportunity arises. This is a Carolina Chickadee, which is common over the southern three-quarters of Ohio. North of their range lies that of the Black-capped Chickadee.

Scads of American Robins were evident on this day. While we've had many all winter, it seems that their ranks have been bolstered by new arrivals in the last week or so. This bird was feather-fluffed to truly rotund dimensions as it did its best to stave off the biting cold. He - it is a male - and his comrades were feasting on the fruit of the nasty invasive nonnative European highbush cranberry, Viburnum opulus var. opulus. The robins and other frugivorous birds are vectors for the spread of these weedy invasives, unfortunately.

I've said this before and I'll say it again - the American Robin is one of our showiest birds, bar none. Were it a major rarity, everyone would go ape at the sight of one. But it's easy to get jaded to the commonplace and ignore birds like robins. Thus, when I espied this extremely cooperative chap, I resolved to do my best photographic portraiture work and really try to bring out his handsomeness.

The image was made with the tripod-mounted Canon 5D Mark III and 500mm f/4 II. A 1.4x teleconverter allowed me to reach in even closer. Single point focus was shifted to the upper left of the grid and placed squarely on the bird's eye. Settings were f/8, 1/640, ISO 800, and +1/3rd exposure compensation.

A trip to the tail waters of Hoover Dam revealed many fowl cavorting in the icy waters. My favorite, perhaps, was this flashy drake American Wigeon. Or in hunter parlance, the "baldpate".

I've long been partial to these kleptoparasitic dabblers. It isn't uncommon to see thieving wigeon out in deep water associating with diving ducks such as scaup, Redheads, or Ring-necked Ducks. When one of the divers returns to the surface with a billfull of succulent plant matter, the wigeon attempt to snatch it away. That's one way to get at food that lies in the depths beyond one's reach.

One more wigeon photo, just because. It was 7 or 8 F when I took this image, with a gusty breeze cooking across the water. The tough wigeon seemed utterly unfazed. I wasn't, though, and resorted to hand warmers in the gloves, and noticed that my camera's controls were getting a bit sluggish after an hour or so in the elements.

Tomorrow is supposed to bring a high of 37 F. Spring is rapidly approaching, and with it the wild yo-yo weather of late winter and early spring in the Midwest.

Falling waters, revisited

Today is something akin to a national holiday in these parts - the annual Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Michigan Wolverines football game. This matchup has taken place since 1897, interruptedly, and annually since 1918. It's huge; easily the most important game of the year for these schools. I wouldn't miss it if at all possible.

Since it was a noon game, there was little time for any sort of full blown excursion. But my trigger finger was itching, and I really wanted to shoot something. Fortunately, a light rain had fallen more or less steadily all night and into the morning. The precipitation made for prime conditions for the photos that follow.

By the way, OSU easily walloped the team from up north, 42-13.

Back on October 29, I made a visit to a local hotspot and one of Ohio's most beautiful waterfalls, the Hayden Run Falls. I wrote about that, with photos, HERE. That trip came on the heels of a torrential gulley washer, and the falls were raging. The above photo is one that I made that day. I couldn't keep the camera trained on the falls for more than a shot or two, due to the prolific mist of atomized water drifting onto the lens. There is such a thing as TOO much water when shooting waterfalls, at least sometimes.

Hayden Falls, as it looked this morning at first light. The volume of water cascading over the 25 foot cliff is heavy, but much less than in the previous photo. Just about aesthetically perfect, to my eye. Where the heavy flow looks cool, it lacks details and resembles a dense watery curtain. Today's lesser flow produced nuanced details. The limestone cliff face appears opaquely in the backdrop, and individual flumes of water separate from one another. Many cascades are produced where torrents hit small ledges and atomize. Perfect.

Also, by getting there at first light, two good conditions were met. One, the completely overcast sky made for perfectly even lighting, and allowed for the use of very slow shutter speeds. Sunny conditions are not good for waterfall photography. The resultant dappling of light and shade creates uneven conditions, and bright light makes it harder or impossible to use a desired VERY slow shutter speed. Two, by going early on a misty morning, there are no other people present. This place, understandably, has a magnetic lure and rare is the time there are not visitors standing on that platform ogling the falls.

Small wonder that nearly everyone who picks up a camera wants to make waterfall shots. They are beautiful highlights of the landscape. In its most base form, shooting a waterfall photo is simple. Just point your camera at it and snap away. You'll probably get something OK; maybe even something your friends will ooh and aah over.

To really try and capture the artistry of a gorgeous waterfall requires a bit more effort. A tripod is essential due to the slow shutter speeds that should be used. Having the camera stationary on a tripod also helps immensely in composing the image. For this shot, I wanted the falls to the left in the image, and much of the cliff face and the rocky grotto showing on the right. The huge limestone slabs in the foreground create interest, and I made sure to include as much of those as possible. I absolutely detest the invasive nonnative Amur honeysuckle, Lonicera maackii, but there was no way to keep it out of the shot short of major post-editing Photoshop work (and I am a post-editing minimalist). So, I used its still green foliage to provide some colorful punctuation to the left, and above, the falls (really had little choice).

I made these images with my Canon 5D Mark III, and it has a cool device helpful for composition - an electronic level that can be shown on the back screen. It lets you know when the field of view is perfectly flat. An inexpensive remote shutter release plugged into the camera allows for tripping the shutter without touching the camera and possible introducing some shake. So, when all looks good just stand back and pull the trigger. This shot was made with the amazing Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art lens. Settings were f/16, ISO 100, 4 second exposure. The very long exposure softens the falling water, and creates the interesting plumes of whitewater trailing away from the base of the falls in the pool below.

To me, the left side of the falls was the most visually interesting. So, I clipped on another great landscape lens, the Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8. This focal range is superb for a great diversity of shots, and is a must for the camera kit. The Canon version is significantly more expensive, and I can't imagine it is much if any better than the Tamron. I've gotten many keepers out of this lens. Shooting this perspective was a natural for a vertical orientation. The lens was zoomed ever so slightly to 79mm, and the settings were f/11, 0.8 seconds, and ISO 100.

Framing was dictated by a few factors. One, I couldn't get back any further or the handrail of the boardwalk would appear (It's prominently posted not to leave the boardwalk. Better compositions could be made if one did, but abide by the rules). I wanted to pull in tight on the left side of the falls to carve out as much of that blasted honeysuckle shrub as possible. And I wanted that cool looking mini cascade of water fluming over the cliff at the top right of the image to be in the frame. Voila! The effect is of a junior Niagara Falls right here in urban Columbus, Ohio.

Falling water

Here in Central Ohio, fall is well advanced. The trees are a bit past peak color, although many sugar maples and other of the arboreal torches of autumn are still showstoppers. Today brought a heavy rain, likely the aftermath of Hurricane Patricia, and as I watched the precipitation from my office window this afternoon, Hayden Run Falls popped to mind.

I don't know about you, but I all too often ignore the little honey holes right in my backyard. When field opportunities present themselves, it usually means travel to some far-flung place. There are plenty of sweet little spots close at hand, though, and I'm guilty of all too often ignoring them. Hayden Run and its falls, which is only about ten minutes from where I live, is one such place.

I knew the rain would fuel the falls that caps the end of this lovely little limestone box canyon, so after work I hustled home, grabbed some camera gear, and headed out to do some waterfall-ing.

Just off the parking lot, which is just off very busy Hayden Run Road, is an interesting boardwalk that begins with a steep staircase that descends into the gorge. As soon as I hit the planks, I could hear the water from the falls. This shot, by the way, was made with my little Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens, which - as far as lenses go - is quite inexpensive and extremely compact. I don't use it very often, but it can make people look like models, and render landscapes in very sharp relief. This was shot with the Canon 5D Mark III, set at f/11, 1/2 second, ISO 50.

The falls were quite Niagaraesque today. Hayden Run is not a large stream and does not drain a huge area, thus its water dries up fairly quickly. If you want to shoot the falls in their full majesty, it's best to go on the heels of a good rain.

I don't do a lot of waterfall shots, or landscapes in general, at least when compared to all of the flora and fauna that I shoot. So, an hour in the depths of Hayden Run Gorge would be good instruction. Perhaps not always, but probably mostly, waterfalls photograph best when the camera settings are dialed in to produce a soft silky look to the water. That's the look I wanted to fool around with, and experiment with different settings and techniques.

A SLOW shutter speed is essential to producing the silky look of the water. That means two tools should be brought into play: 1) a tripod, and 2) remote shutter release. The first is actually essential. Shutter speeds should be so slow that there's no way you'll successfully handhold the camera without your shot looking as if it were taken during the peak of an earthquake. The remote shutter release is just an inexpensive cord with a button on its end. Plug it into the camera and the button becomes the shutter. Once the camera is all set up for the shot, you can trigger it without having to touch the rig and possibly induce some camera shake at the beginning of the exposure.

This image was made with the Canon 5D Mark III and Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 lens set at 70mm focal length. Settings: f/18, 1 second exposure, ISO 50 in Aperture Priority Mode.

The falls are 35 feet high, and when in deluge mode generate an incredible mist as the water smashes into the creek below and temporarily atomizes. I could only point my lens at the falls long enough to make a few images at best, before I'd have to turn the rig around and wipe down the lens.

This shot was made with the aforementioned 5D III, this time bolted to the Canon 16-35mm f/4L lens set to 20mm. Settings were f/16, 1/5 second, ISO 100, -1/3rd exposure compensation. Compare the look of the water to the previous image, which was made with a shutter speed five times slower, and the image before that which was at a shutter speed about 2.5 times slower..