Red Rock Wilderness Overlook Park

The rains ruined a perfectly good proposed Saturday outing out to Shenandoah.  The compromise?  A quick Sunday morning hike to the Potomac at Red Rock Wilderness Overlook Park, a part of NOVA Parks.  Judging from the NOVA Parks cover photo, I need to go back because I don’t have to be on the river’s edge.  There seems to be an overlook (right?).

I’ve been going through a phase where I don’t like any of my photography.  I trucked everything out to Mason Neck State Park, and was not really in love with any of my pictures.  I was distracted by all the toys I brought and spent more time getting technically correct photos.  I felt like I was just chasing the pretty light and not having a nice composition.  A few weeks ago I went out to Sky Meadows State Park and just brought the 35mm and a small bag.  It was so refreshing, and I want to go back.  My gear load this trip was a little heavier: 6D, 35mm, 70-200, polarizer, and tripod.

The deer continue to be incredibly friendly in northern Virginia, and I still have seen deer during every single excursion outside, whether it’s walking on the W&OD Trail or going out to a state park.  This morning I saw two does and two fawns with their spots.  Underneath the trees was incredibly dark, like ISO 3200 f/4 1/200 and we’re still two stops underexposed dark.  I probably could have pushed up to ISO 6400 just fine.  The deer were very cooperative; they allowed me to change lenses trailside to take their picture.

After I left the deer there was a very short hike to the edge of a muddy river canyon, but I’m not sure if canyon is the right word.  With all the rain yesterday, it was slick going down.  The light continues to be beautiful filtering through the leaves.  There were a few little streams running into the Potomac.

This shot ended up being an HDR I merged together, as the single exposures were not quite cutting it.  This was towards the end of the nice light.  Soon after the clouds rolled in and decided being in a river canyon during the rain wasn’t a great idea.

There were lots of birds in the forest on the way out.  This uprooted tree gave some nice background separation for the robin.