Flowstone Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

Flowstone

Jewel Cave National Monument

The Black Hills of South Dakota are riddled with caves and caverns .. nine are open to the public. Two are operated by the National Park Service ... Wind Cave National Park and Jewel Cave National Monument.

Most caves offer all sorts of levels of tours from short walks on lit and prepared trails to full on spelunking.

Photographing in the caves is obviously a challenge. Most tours do not allow tripods .. the tour guides don't want to be slowed by photographers and are concerned about the delicate environment .. most do allow flashes ... but that turns into a very tricky environment of reflections and shadows .. and working with the existing trail lighting. I am looking forward to getting another chance at it .. I think somebody with some really good image stabilized gear could have a blast and get some great results.

Jewel Cave is currently at more than 139 miles of mapped cave. It is currently the second longest cave in the world. An additional 554 feet were added by an expedition last month.

After taking my family down the elevator the equivalent of 23 floors down into the heart of the cave for the short "Discovery tour" My wife and I managed to leave our daughters with my Mom and have some "alone time" on the Ranger led 90 minute .. 1.5 mile and more importantly 723 stairs .. scenic tour ..

Jewel Cave was mostly formed by slowly circulating acid rich groundwater. Incredible formations of "Flowstone" are common throughout the cave.

added a workshop for the scale and atmosphere.

Jewel Cave National Monument official site:
http://www.nps.gov/jeca/

Here is an index of caves in the Black Hills:
http://www.rosyinn.com/5100a45.htm

This was shot at ISO 250 ..

dgarr, AROBN54, ribeiroantonio, gunbud, fserajian, Buin, snunney, evanrizo, Angelillo, Zelanda, robertosalguero, isabela_sor, elmec, jafadabret, adores, JorgeCK has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

AROBN54 (10791) 2007-08-10 17:36

Hey, John,
GREAT colors, great textures and the light is very well done. I love the roughness and smoothness and the different shadings. That must be the coolest place to visit. Well done!! Kindest regards,
Shelly

dgarr (701) 2007-08-10 17:48

Cool posting John. Your note is very helpful and appreciated. This is an interesting shot of stones in the making. I have never been an advocate of on-camera-flash, but I understand the need here.

ribeiroantonio (21975) 2007-08-10 17:51

Looking at the thumbnail I thought it was a magma flow. Only after I did realise it was a cave and the orange colour was due to the lighting around and most probably some iron solution going over the limestone. It also looks like an abstract painting. Very nice picture. Well done.
Antonio

gunbud (28163) 2007-08-10 17:56

Hi John,
Wonderful look into this colorful cavern with its strange variety of vivid colors and lovely muted details. Great depth achieved in this difficult lighting.
Regards, Tom

fserajian (4581) 2007-08-10 23:07

Hi John,

Lovely texture and colours, well spotted and TFS

Fara

Buin (38280) 2007-08-10 23:24

Hallo John!
Today a subsurface picture! Even as a thumbnail this one was an eyecatcher. The colours, the light and the shown scenery give a very mystic atmosphere. Here you have had a lot of difficulties - but the result is a wonderful photo - and note as well! The ws photo is great too!
Greetings from cool and rainy Germany - and have a nice weekend!
Frank

Graal (58732) 2007-08-10 23:50

Hi John,
unusual place and view, amazing pattern, pleasant colours. Good informations in note. I like it.
Gr., Aleksander

snunney (35476) 2007-08-11 0:49

Hello John,
An excellent capture of these beautiful rocks. Superb light and tones and excellent textures.

evanrizo (456) 2007-08-11 3:33

Hi John, I like this yellow and orange colors, they come very good.
The notice is excellent.
You captured it also with good light.
Have a nice weekend.
Evan

Angelillo (9065) 2007-08-11 14:36

Hi John,

The colors and textures are magnificent. The flowstone is ever so capricious... Your capture is really interesting. The light is good, however we're in a cave. Without flash is hard to take a shot like this! Congratulations!

Have a nice sunday,
Angel.

Zelanda (5692) 2007-08-11 19:13

Hola John,
Bonita gruta con bellos colores y estupendos detalles.
Excelente luz y definición.
Saludos
Ros

robertosalguero (110) 2007-08-12 0:24

John the workshop picture is very good. I think the walkways give a very good idea of the size of this cave. I think the original version is nice as well. The texture of the walls and ground is very interesting. Lots of sediment accumulation to create nice shapes and colours. Excellent picture and thanks for sharing.

Roberto

elmec (12194) 2007-08-12 9:27

Hello John!
Amazing place!
I like this patterns of flowing rock!
Great colours and structure!
Good done!
Best regards!

isabela_sor (42471) 2007-08-13 3:55

In my last vacation I had a long discussion with my friend Jerome,and one of our subjects was,of course TE and what I want more in my gallery .My answer was :a sunrise,a rainbow,and a cave :)
The texture of rocks there is amazing and the colors too
And thanks for your note
Isabela

Soon I will go to my favorite cave here in Romania and I will send you some images from there

jafadabret (40325) 2007-08-13 10:48

John, tu as dans cette photo des couleurs extraordinaires, un chimiste dirait que cela provient de tels ou tels composants mais ici ce qui importe c'est la beauté de l'ensemble. Un régal.
Jacques

adores (15769) 2007-08-13 20:54

Hi John!
Good shot of this cave! I like the pov, the different tonalities and the texture. Good work!