I’ve hiked up here twice in three days; the first time I went way up the mountain above without any water and got really dehydrated. Take a clue – if you hike up to such a place take water. The lookout point by trail is much farther than the distance as the crow flies. Take an orange or apple or something, and leave your heavy lenses at home – a wide angle is all you need. (I had the 70-200 f2.8 that first day and would gladly have traded it for a bottle of Gatorade.)
At first the two guys in the second photo were in the way, clambering around and shaking the trees. But when they started taking pictures they became perfect subjects, giving the scene a sense of scale. I got the email address of one of them and sent him this photo – it’s probably on his Facebook page now.
As for the third photo it’s really hard to photograph the river and the town of Harpers Ferry without the picture seeming lopsided, due to the angle of the bridges and perspective of looking down. I think I need to come back up here with a fisheye lens.
Regarding the rest, I was tempted to stay and get shots of Harper’s Ferry in evening with town lights on. But I also really wanted to see the river and sunset through the trees – so hiked back down and didn’t feel visually cheated in the least. Enjoy, and click on the photos to see them larger size.
