Edge of Day

As I mentioned in my February month in review, I made a trip a few days ago to Petit Jean State Park.  No hike to the base of Cedar Falls this time; rather, my plan for this visit was to spend some time around Lake Bailey and its dam and then head over to Turtle Rocks.

I arrived that morning about 6:20 for the 6:40 sunrise and began making my way to the lake.  I noticed some clouds in the sky were beginning to take on some amazing color from the rapidly approaching dawn, and I began looking for a suitable composition.  The only thing I could see was the pier jutting into the lake, which I had photographed several times before with disappointing results.

The sun had just risen from above the far tree line, and I knew I had little time left and quickly framed the scene.  When I reviewed the file on my computer, I liked the feeling of quiet and tranquility, but I wasn’t so thrilled about the colors.  I decided to convert it to black and white and see what happened.  As soon as I made the conversion, I knew the image worked for me.  A few adjustments got me to this final image.  My only regret is that I could not get my gear set up quickly enough to include the three or four geese that were paddling along across the lake before they disappeared behind the pier. ☹️

I then made my way over to the dam and sat down for a few minutes to just see what caught my eye.  As I sat there enjoying the solitude, the sun began illuminating some trees higher up on the bank, and the trees were being reflected in the shaded rippling water in front of me creating fantastic abstractions.  I set up the camera and photographed the rippling golden reflections.

I spent about an hour and a half at Lake Bailey before packing up and heading on to Turtle Rocks.  The area gets its name from the unique rock structures that look just like turtle shells.  By this time, the sun was high in the sky creating very harsh lighting conditions.  I began to focus on details of the landscape – shapes, forms, patterns – in front of me.

As I walked around the area, I came across a boulder that, at first glance, I didn’t find particularly interesting.  But, as I walked around it, I found a part of it that looked like it had been folded several times, like a shirt or a bath towel.  As luck would have it, this small area was in the shade, so I didn’t have to worry about the harsh, mid-morning light.  Again, I got everything set up and got the picture.

By this time, I had been at Turtle Rocks for at least an hour and decided it was time to start heading home.  As I took one last look around, I noticed a small section of another boulder that had lichen of various colors – black, white, green, orange – growing on it.  Again, the section was in the shade making exposure relatively simple.

After this, I really did call it a day and went home to plan my next trip to. . .somewhere!