Van Slider Photography Blog

Arnout “Sonny” Hyde, Jr. Dedication

van slider — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 02:43:29 +0000

On Saturday, June 18th, I was pleased to attend the dedication of a plaque honoring the late Arnout “Sonny” Hyde, Jr., West Virginia’s most renowned photographer and long-time editor of Wonderful West Virginia. The plaque is located at the Pendleton Point Overlook in Blackwater Falls State Park, one of Sonny’s favorite places. Mr. Hyde was an inspiration and mentor to many photographers including myself and my good friends; Steve Shaluta, Roger Spencer, Bryan Lemasters, and Clayton Spangler.

Fire Pinks and Lady’s Slippers

van slider — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 03:10:59 +0000

Below are some shots I took during mid-May. The red flowers are fire pinks and Iusually find them on banks along country roads. The pink lady slippers were growing in a clean woods with little undergrowth. The photographs of the fire pinks were taken with a telephoto lens and a wide aperture which allowed me to render the backgrounds out of focus in order to draw attention to the flowers.

Wonderful West Virginia June 2011

van slider — Wed, 25 May 2011 03:33:41 +0000

I received my June 2011 issue of Wonderful West Virginia Friday and was pleased to find one of my photographs on the cover and three more featured in the magazine’s gallery section.

Jack and an Unknown Companion

van slider — Tue, 24 May 2011 03:25:52 +0000

Although I haven’t been able to get away so far this spring on a photo trip, I have taken a couple of walks in the woods in the local area. Two of the images below show a jack-in-the-pulpit that was among many that I found on a nearby hillside. The three large leaves in the horizontal image are part of the jack-in-the-pulpit. The other photo is of an as-of-now unbeknownst-to-me wildflower. If anyone knows what it is, let me know. I was actually photographing it when I turned away and noticed the hillside was covered with jacks.

Mesa Arch

van slider — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 05:19:22 +0000

I haven’t had a chance to shoot any new scenics for a few weeks, so I spent a while last night looking through some shots I took at Canyonlands NP in Utah in June 2008. Barbara and I were staying in Moab and I got up shortly after 4AM (the sun comes up early on June 16th and I had a drive of just less than an hour to make) and went in search of Mesa Arch in the hope of photographing it at sunrise. The arch is famous for the reddish glow on its underside at sunrise which is caused by sunlight reflecting off the cliff wall below the arch. If one were to walk under the arch, he or she would not be heard from again as it’s a very long way down! It was fairly cloudy when I arrived at arch after a short hike from the road and I was concerned the anticipated glow would be a no-show. I was joined shortly after my arrival by a photographer from Indiana. We had a pleasant conversation as we waited for the glow, but it didn’t occur when we expected it. After a while, the other fellow gave up and left. Fortunately, I stuck around for a few more minutes and good things began to happen. Included below is a shot of the arch as one approaches on the trail. There is also a panoramic picture of the glowing arch which is a composite of four images I took with the equivalent of a 19mm lens. I used Panorama Maker software that Barbara got me for Christmas to stitch the images and it did a great job. Images shot with an ultra-wide angle lens can be difficult to stitch into a panorama. I used a telephoto lens to photograph the rock formation known as Washer Woman (see if you can pick her out). Using a telephoto lens compresses a scene. In this instance it makes the La Sal Mountains and other features in the background appear closer to Washer Woman.

Snowy Farm

van slider — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 04:53:41 +0000

Driving from Fort Ashby, WV to Morgantown to shoot the WVU-USF basketball game I was hoping to capture a few good photographs, but the weather was not cooperating. As I drove I-68 the skies were overcast with occasional snow squalls. Fortunately, as I entered West Virginia the overcast gave way to bright sunshine, blue skies and puffy white clouds. I took the Bruceton Mills exit and hurriedly searched for a subject. My time was limited, but I managed to take several shots in 45 minutes. When photographing a scene in which snow is prevalent it is usually necessary to set your camera to overexpose the scene by approximately one stop to avoid the snow appearing gray rather than white. The panorama photo below is a composite of six vertical images.

Wonderful West Virginia – January 2011 Issue

van slider — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 18:00:21 +0000

The January 2011 issue of Wonderful West Virginia is now available and I am pleased to have several of my photographs included on the cover and inside the magazine. The cover photo shows Middle Island Creek and was taken at Little in Tyler County. A few days before Christmas 2009 we had a beautiful snowfall which stuck to the trees for several days which is unusual for our area. I tried to capitalize on that opportunity. Inside the magazine several photos (see below) are included in the Gallery and elsewhere. It’s important to avoid overexposing snow and losing detail in the image. Conversely, the white of the snow can fool a camera’s meter into underexposing the scene and rendering the snow dull and grayish. Setting your camera to overexpose the scene by one stop is a good starting point in most instances. Digital cameras have made it easier for photographers as you can read the histogram after taking a picture to determine if your exposure is correct.Click to view slideshow.

Fleeting Autumn

van slider — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 21:49:22 +0000

Once the colors of autumn peak they seem to disappear rapidly. In recent years I have made an effort to continue to search for images until the last leaf falls. Obviously, most of those images have a muted palette, but occasionally one can find some late changing leaves offering good color. The images in the gallery below were taken at the end of October and beginning of November. I have been drawn to sycamore trees and their maze of limbs in my late-autumn efforts and some examples are included below.

October Day on Otter Creek

van slider — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 03:47:07 +0000

Barbara and I took a weekend trip to Tucker County on October 16th and 17th to do some hiking and enjoy the fall colors. Our first stop late Saturday morning was the Otter Creek Wilderness outside Parsons, WV. We crossed the bridge over the Dry Fork and started our hike up Otter Creek. We enjoyed our lunch along the steam at the spot shown in the third picture of the gallery.

After more hiking in Canaan Valley, we enjoyed a good meal at Blackwater Lodge and good music (The Farewell Drifters) at the Purple Fiddle (it’s different and it’s fun) in Thomas. It was a beautiful day, but very windy at times, which made photography a challenge. The wind combined with the bright sunshine make long exposures resulting in blurred water difficult. One alternative is to photograph reflections. The strong wind blowing the water can give a pleasing water-color painting look to reflections as shown in a few of the pictures that follow.

Coopers Rock State Forest

van slider — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 01:54:46 +0000

After shooting the WVU-Syracuse game last Saturday afternoon I decided to drive up to Coopers Rock State Forest east of Morgantown to check out the foliage (and forget the game). This has been one of the poorest autumns for color in many years in West Virginia, so any I could find would be welcomed. The color in the forest wasn’t great, but was as good or better than other places I had been this fall. I spent a couple of hours at the lookout and walking trails in the forest. Despite the some wind I was able to shoot several images that I like of which some are shown below.