Chris Kayler Photography

Well, time to head back to the West Virginia photos for a bit!

The following is an image taken in one of my favorite parks in West Virginia, Blackwater Falls State Park. The park offers many waterfalls, including the main Blackwater Falls and many more on Shay’s Run, Pendleton Run, and others. This particular waterfall is enclosed in an area of mainly evergreen hemlock and rhododenron, ensuring that the area stays mostly green, even when bright autumn colors abound elsewhere. Besides the overwhelming green, there are a few deciduous trees in the canopy above that turn yellow and orange. Because these trees cannot be seen in any photograph of Shay’s Run, it is best to wait until past peak when many of the leaves have fallen onto the ground and into the stream. On this day, large numbers of leaves had fallen near the base of the falls. By using a long exposure, I was able to capture the movement of the leaves as they circled around the pool.

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

To view more landscape photos of Blackwater Falls State Park, West Virginia please click here.

To view more landscape photos of waterfalls please click here.

To view more landscape photos of West Virginia please click here.

Well, I still have more landscape photos from my autumn trips to post and write about, but my unprocessed Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge photographs were calling me, and I couldn’t resist processing this image of a momma Chincoteague Pony (she had a young one following her around all the time). Visting the refuge with my girlfriend and all around horse lover Kari Post definitely helped in the making of this photograph, as I don’t have much of an interest in horses, and often pass them up at the refuge as they remind me of domestic animals, while I greatly prefer to photograph wildlife. Regardless, I’m glad I took more photographs of them this time, as they really are quite beautiful!

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

To view more wildlife photos of Chincoteague Ponies please click here.

To view more wildlife photos of mammals please click here.

I’ve just recently arrived home from a trip to Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, Virginia, and have yet to process any photos from that trip. Overall, it was rainy and windy and I don’t think I was able to make any special images. For now, I will show some more images from my autumn travels throughout West Virginia, western Maryland, and Shenandoah National Park.

This particular image is from one of the most unique sunsets I have been fortunate enough to experience. After two days of rain, and then wind, the skies eventually began to clear as I made my way out to Tablerock Overlook in West Virginia’s Monongahela National Forest. With an expansive view of the mountains and valleys below, and a pothole full of fresh rain water, all the potential elements of a great photograph were there. All I needed was some nice light … and nice light I got! As the sun traveled its course and moved below the clouds, the mountainsides became painted with warm evening light. This alone was beautiful, but not particularly unique, until I realized that the thick cloud banks were still casting their shadows onto the tops of the mountains. A golden sliver of light such as this is an event most landscape photographers dream of. Hopefully it will be my first of many!

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

To view more landscape photos of Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia please click here.

To view more landscape photos of mountains, valleys and overlooks please click here.

To view more landscape photos of West Virginia please click here.

Woo hooooo!

Finally, after computer problems, on top of monitor problems, I am now set up again and capable of processing and posting images. It was hard being unproductive at home for such a long period of time.

During my forced “vacation” I tried to make the most of it and get out to photograph new subjects, but found my inspiration lacking. I think this was mostly because of the fact that I couldn’t do anything with my new images once I arrived back home. Regardless, I did get out to Shenandoah National Park, Virginia to camp overnight in an attempt to photograph sunset and sunrise at Blackrock Summit, as well as White-tailed Deer in Big Meadows.

I arrived at Shenandoah during late afternoon and quickly made my way up the Blackrock Summit Trail. After climbing to the top of the large crumbling pile of rocks, I was greeted with a cloudy, hazy view, thanks to a low pressure system moving into the area. I had hope, however, for there was a small gap of open sky below the clouds. Sure enough, after a bit of waiting the sun eventually came into view and cast a lovely glow onto the distant ridges.

After the last of the light faded away, I packed up my camera gear and made my way back to my tent. Overnight, I encountered heavy winds, rain, and fog as the storm moved in. There would be no sunrise in the morning, but the sunset certainly made everything worthwhile.

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

To view more landscape photos of Shenandoah National Park, Virginia please click here.

To view more landscape photos of mountains, valleys and overlooks please click here.

To view more landscape photos of Virginia please click here.