Finally, nice weather for one of Jacky's visits! Jackson Falls and Rocky Bluff Falls


Our friend Jacky has been to visit us twice in the six years that we have lived in So Ill.  The first time, temperatures dipped into the single digits and she had the flu, so it wasn't much fun for her.  The second time, we had some fun at a cave in Missouri and at the water park in Mt. Vernon, but it was close to 100 F, so hiking wasn't on the docket.

She was itching to come meet Lucy so she came in early March, which is a risky time of year for weather; it could be cold, rainy, icy, or pleasant.  Luckily, this time, she got great weather for most of the visit and the girls had a great time here and in St Louis (post about the rest of the visit here).  I was invited along for the hikes and enjoyed the opportunity to return to Jackson Falls for another round of photography, this time with the waders!  But first, we hit up Rocky Bluff Falls.  There wasn't much flow, so I got creative with the camera angles.

Photo by Jacky MacDonald
Photo by Jacky MacDonald





Jacky came up to check out the waterfall and take some pictures, but she also ended up on the glass end of my camera.




 

After taking some pictures of the girls, I headed down to the bottom of the falls for some more close-ups of the trickling water. The first two are similar shots with different processing.  Which do you prefer?






I ascended the stairs and met up with the girls.  Laura reintroduced Lucy to lichens, ferns, and rocks before we headed home.



The next day, we headed to Jackson Falls, this time from the closer (than Millstone Lake) access.  It was packed in the parking lot and along the road, but I managed to get Dusky up and onto this "parking spot".  The weather was so nice that I wasn't really surprised to see so many people.  Many were climbers out enjoying the warmer weather.  I was happy to finally see blue sky during a hike!

Photo by Jacky MacDonald
Photo by Jacky MacDonald
I carried Lucy until I spotted this swirl in the creek atop Dog Trot Falls.  I have been so wanting to photograph a swirl of bubbles since I started toying with long exposures.  I took this shot and then tried a bunch of approaches to emphasize the swirling, only to end up favoring this first shot when I got home.


I have also started dabbling in focus-stacking and tried it out for the next two pictures with the hopes of getting both the close objects and the far objects in focus.  Still some progress to be made, but I am pretty pleased.



Meanwhile, Laura fed Lucy on a rock in the sun next to the creek.  Not too bad at all!

Photo by Jacky MacDonald

Then the girls loaded up to do the slightly longer hike along the south bluffs while I hopped down the rocks at Dog Trot to buy myself some time for photography.  Jacky got some really cool shots with her phone during their hike.


Photo by Jacky MacDonald
Photo by Jacky MacDonald
Photo by Jacky MacDonald
Photo by Jacky MacDonald
Enjoying the comfort that the warm weather afforded me this time, I got a bit closer to the "splash zone" at Dog Trot Falls.



I took quite a few pictures at Jackson Falls a couple weeks ago, but there was one angle that I really wanted to get, but couldn't without getting in the water.  So, this time, I packed in my breathable waders and was dead-set on getting in.  I ate lunch on a huge rock in the sun before donning my waders and testing the water depth.  After probing with my hiking stick and my legs, I determined that it would be possible to get the shot, but risky.  With calculated and cautious steps, I worked towards the rock and then leveled the tripod.  I mounted the camera to it, only a few inches from the water's surface, dialed in my final settings, and started shooting.  I'm not sure how many minutes went by while I made minor tweaks to the shots, but I know that my legs were nearly numb when I got out of the water.  So worth it though!



Some kids were enjoying throwing rocks into the water while I got the blood moving into my lower extremities, so I explored a bit below the falls until the girls arrived.




Another falls, another feeding.  I tell you, this girl is going to start expecting waterfalls for every feeding if we keep this up!


Photo by Jacky MacDonald
Photo by Jacky MacDonald
Photo by Jacky MacDonald
It was getting late, so we took the Dog Trot access out.  Laura did great, carefully climbing the rocks up and out of the valley.


I couldn't resist a few more shots of the water hitting the dark rocks at Dog Trot Falls, so I used a fresh angle and caught a few more on the way out.  The two photos are similar shots with different processing.  Which one do you like better?

Photo by Jacky MacDonald





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