Stepping into a dark Cave

[kdoc856]

Last weekend, I took an early morning hike into one of the few areas of the Hocking Hills I didnt know, and found a little visited cave. It was so dark I wasn't certain what the walls were comprised of, or if there was any color or texture. Shot everything from a tripod and bracketed and just hoped to get lucky. Then exposure stacking in pp. Comments and suggestions much appreciated.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

[Donald]

Excellent stuff, particularly, I think, the first two. Wonderful tones and lighting.

[Polar01]

Kevin I like them all, hard time between 1 & 2, however what has sold me on #1 is the areas with the light and dark, I will call it violet or mauve colour.

Cheers:

Allan

[Kathy O]

The 3rd one does it for me I love the shape it creates, it makes me feel I am in the cave with you!! They are all very good, love the colors!!

Kathy

[kdoc856]

Thanks, all. This was a fun little shoot: so often I can't wait to see what I think are going to be really good images, and then am disappointed when I pull them up in ACR. This time, I wasn't at all certain I had anything, and then gushed with surprise when I saw all the color and texture the fused images brought out- couldnt see any of it when in the cave. Stuff like that just keeps me coming back!

[Mike Buckley]

The first two are best for me and the second one is magical. I like the layers that progressively lead your eye to the outside world.

[kdoc856]

Thanks, Mike

[rtbaum]

I believe that I visited that area when I was knee high to grasshopper, I was impressed at that time and I am impressed today. Beat the crap out of Mammoth cave I think!!

[Teton Chuck]

Kevin, these are beautiful photos. What a great job of capturing the colors and textures. I find number three disturbing simply because people have defaced the rocks. Otherwise it is easy to understand why troglodytes live where they do.

Cheers, Chuck

[kdoc856]

Thanks, Randy and Steve,

There's no way with these pics to get a sense of scale, but this cave is only about 20 meters long, 3-4 m wide, and I'm not sure of height because it was so dark- not exactly mammoth

[Jeff S]

I definitely agree with others who prefer the first two. I'm partial to 1 because the extra color (purple/blue) in the near foreground adds to the colors along the back wall. The light is sublime too. I predict that the next time you go to that cave several of the CiC members will already have their tripods out when you arrive.

[FrankMi]

Wow, really impressive Kevin. From the shapes involved it looks like this was once part of an underground river channel. Great capture of the delicate colors involved!

[kdoc856]

Thanks, Frank and Jeff

The first two were certainly my favorites as well. Scott Kelby is always saying that we should share only our absolute favorites, and resist the temptation of including our less favored images, as it only dilutes a viewer's experience and opinion of our work. I violated that this time (and frequently, I'm afraid).

[terrib]

Beautiful shots, Kevin. I also love the first two because of the great textures and colors. The first stands out for me just because of the sense of size and the deeper colors and contrasts. But I also really like the last one a lot too.

[Plumcrak]

Kevin, your photos made me dig through the archives and locate some of my shots from several years back at the same location. Sadly (although not unexpected) mine are not even close to yours, dirty lens, out of focus, under exposed...I think they might have been taken with a disposable camera to boot. Oh well, I guess that just means I will have to make a return trip at some point. I remember doing every trail except for one, because they did not allow pets on one for some reason. Just an absolutely beautiful area and you captured it with all its glory

[kdoc856]

Thanks, Terri, and you once again, Jon. I only work part-time now, and hope to really spend some time in the area this autumn and winter. Hopefully I'll have some worth sharing.

[kdoc856]

My apologies to Jon!

I was trying to link this thread to Jon's current one to demonstrate how differently the light by flash accentuates the colors compared to the HDR natural light technique that I used. But I messed it up and now can't find a way to delete the new thread.
The area he is in is extremely difficult to photograph in a way to do it justice, and I think he has done very well.