Note (November 2022): this post was in my draft folder for years! It’s from 2015, and I “found” it while repairing broken links in my long-neglected blog. For me, at least, it was nice to read my old thoughts… So here it is! 

On a Thursday a few weeks ago, the weather forecast was for cloudy the next day, which offered promise for some Friday morning photography at the nearby-to-home Potomac River. One special spot on the river — not too far from my home in Virginia — is Great Falls National Park, which offers great views of the spectacular falls.

But for this Friday morning, I headed off before dawn to Maryland — to the “Chesapeake & Ohio National Historical Park” (the National Park on the Maryland side of the Potomac). And, in particular, to the Billy Goat Trail, which skirts the river within the park. (A fun trail, too, up and down over the rocks.) The sights along the Billy Goat Trail are a bit more subtle, perhaps, than at the majestic falls upstream. But…  they offer a great chance to look for compositions, more than views, which is what I wanted for that Friday morning.

I spent quite a while composing each of the the two images here. The above image was taken from some rocks that protruded out into the river a bit, which meant limited options for placing my tripod. The most obvious spots were to the left of where I (ultimately) ended up, but that meant that the rock in the right foreground was too far to the right, relative to the other elements in the frame. After quite a bit of climbing around on the rocks, I finally found the “final” spot, which meant that the rightmost leg of the tripod was in the water, and I was somewhat awkwardly perched on a pointy rock. It was the right spot for the photo, though. I find this process of being “in nature” and searching for a composition that seems to work well is a slow and intentional process. But it’s also wonderfully meditative, peaceful, and (usually) very satisfying.  I (finally) ended up with a composition I was happy with, which, to me, at least, seems to unify a bunch of elements (including the shapes of the waves), in a way that didn’t come to me quickly.

The general process for composing the pothole photo below was similar, although for this one, I found “the best” vantage point by moving around with my camera — not attached to my tripod! —  and exploring alternatives. Then it was easy to just put the tripod under the spot I found, and with just a bit of adjustment, to get the shot I wanted. Also, my first images were taken from a slightly higher vantage point, which meant that the sky above the trees reflected in the water just “above” the edge of the rocks to the left. Initially, I liked the resulting parallel lines (with the reflected and upside down edge of the tree tops paralleling the same shape as the rocks). But ultimately, I went for the composition shown here, which seemed simpler and with a nice contrast between the dark reflection of the trees and the lighter rocks.

Again, this was a relaxing and satisfying process.

I really look forward to coming back to this area frequently. One thing I’ve learned — and enjoyed — is that the river looks very different as the water level changes. Which it does a lot!

Edit (November, 2022): I found a more recent “version” of the above photo, taken in 2019 (vs. 2015). I wasn’t specifically trying to recreate the above image; it’s just a nice composition that I was drawn to, once again. I find it quite interesting to see how my approach and “vision” evolved — or at least changed — over those four years.