As any landscape photographer can tell you, Mother Nature can throw you some curveballs.  Rain when you wanted sun.  Sun when you wanted rain.  Weather plays a major role in landscape photography second only to the landscape composition, in my opinion.  We watch it constantly and make changes accordingly.  Its unpredictability is the reason it's pretty rare for an trip planned well in advance to not have some sort of weather that is not what you had in mind.  Most of the time you can work around the weather and still find compositions that you are happy with.  But sometimes, there is nothing you can do but wait and hope that the weather changes.  That was the case this past fall when photographing Corkscrew falls (Robinson falls) in Boch Hollow State Nature Reserve in Ohio.  I had wanted to photograph this waterfall for sometime and finally planned to visit it.  Everything was planned including getting the necessary permits weeks in advance.  Little did I know that the area would be hit by over 2 weeks of drought before we got there. The first day there I went to scout the area this is the image I produced.

20171007_JMS_HockingHillsSP_0027

Corkscrew falls, Boch Hollow State Nature Reserve

Not exactly what I had in mind.  The place was everything I had hoped it would be but the amount of water trickling over the falls was not doing the waterfall justice.  I took a couple of photos and headed back to the hotel.  The forecast predicted a rain shower over night so with hope I went to bed.  

The next morning I woke up to find in deed it had rained, but the amount seemed insignificant.  I only hoped that it had made a difference at the falls.  We headed back to the falls and on the trail down you could hear the waterfall, which gave me encouragement that the rain had made a difference.  

20171007_JMS_HockingHillsSP_0203-416Corkscrew or Robinson falls, Bach Hollow Nature Reserve, Ohio

Corkscrew falls, Boch Hollow State Nature Reserve

What a difference a day made!  Not only had the rain increased the amount of water over the falls it had also made everything wet giving the image a much more pleasing look.  I walked pack to the car with a big smile on my face and my favorite image from my trip.

Weather conditions can change overnight, so if the conditions are not what you wanted, wait an hour or a day and go back.  It might be well worth your time.

Explore | Compose | Capture | Publish