Flaming Geyser State Park

The park gets its names from two methane seeps; the methane is deep underground and was first unearthed during exploration for coal. One seep burns ("flaming geyser") and another is underwater and produces bubbles ("bubbling geyser"). Although I didn't take any pictures of them, I did end up visiting the two geysers out of curiosity. The "flaming geyser" is a few inches high and only faintly visible. The "bubbling geyser" is also very small and, although the gray chemical deposits it leaves are interesting, releases quite a stench. It was interesting, to be sure, to see them and read about where the gas comes from and how coal exploration helped provide the gas a pathway to the surface. They weren't, however, an overriding photographic destination.

But I had other goals in mind. The park sits on the Green River, with numerous trails through nice forest with periodic river access.

We'll start with a couple of images overlooking the Green River through some characteristically mossy branches. In this case, I was particularly attracted to the chance to set the mossy branches in the foreground against other mossy branches on the opposite side of the river, all the while including the river in the composition. In both of these images, I used f/18 to keep everything in focus - any loss of detail would have obscured the mossy branches in the background and thus deprived this image of its context, which in this case was part of the interest.

The treat at the end of the trail is a view up the steep walls of the Green River Gorge. One thing that caught my eye was a mossy tree - a maple, I believe - growing from a little ledge on the canyon wall. I was attracted to the contrast between the green gnarly branches and the stark reddish-brown cliffs. I  photographed this scene at a variety of focal lengths; what you see below is the closest. Farther focal lengths minimized the tree too much and lacked a clear subject.

There are some wetlands in the park, too, and while the trails generally keep their distance, you can catch a few glimpses. The lichen-covered trees on the edges of the marshes and ponds caught my eye; I wanted to set them against the numerous cattails. Below is my best composition. I used f/32 to keep everything in focus; any background blur would have reduced the lichen-covered branches to a formless blob. Not okay!

The next image gives a sense of what the forest was like. I thought the split in the foreground trunk was interesting, as was the general lushness and mossiness of the scene.

Finally, an image of Christy Creek. This waterway, which flows into the Green River, spreads out and flows around some little islands of trees as it approaches the river. I had a tough time making an image that captured this; my best result is below. I included the cedar branch to add a bit of depth. I used f/20 to keep everything in focus. My shutter speed was 1.6 seconds. (I had to use ISO 500 to get this speed; at ISO 200, which is my camera's default setting, the shutter speed was actually too long, creating a smoother blur than I wanted).

At this point, you've probably noticed the glare on the cedar branches and are asking, "Well, why didn't you use your polarizing filter?" I did, but I couldn't use it at its full intensity - to do so would have cut out too much of the water's reflection, eliminating any sense of the water's motion at the bottom right of the frame. I needed to dial it back a bit, at the cost of a bit of glare on leaves and branches.

This may or may not end up being my last post of 2013. If so, thanks for putting up with me this year, and happy new year!