You never know what photographic opportunity may come your way so you should always be prepared by having a camera with you. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t always have my DSLR with me, but I always at least have my cell phone camera with me. The saying, “The best camera you have is the one you have with you” is very true! This past Saturday I was driving home after doing a little Christmas shopping, and wasn’t even thinking about taking any pictures. The weather had been terrible the previous night and most of the day with heavy rain and wind. Over 2 inches of rain had fallen, but the rain had finally stopped and as I passed Griggs Dam on the Scioto River late in the afternoon I could see that the water was flowing over the dam very fast and fog was forming over the swirling water. I love photographing in the fog and couldn’t pass up an opportunity to shoot in the fog, and I even had my DSLR and tripod in the trunk!
The wind was really blowing the fog around, one minute you couldn’t see a thing and the next it was almost clear plus I was losing daylight since it was almost sunset so I had to shoot fast. These views give you the feeling of how fast the water was flowing over the dam, and how powerful it is by the violent churning and swirling, and the fog adds a sense of mystery. The second image is a very tight shot of just the flowing water, meant to be an abstract view. The camera settings for these shots were 1 second at f/11, 67mm focal length and ISO 100.
An abstract view of the flowing water
Griggs Reservoir Park as it is formally called has biking/running trails the run the full 2.25 mile length of the park. Within the park there is also a nature preserve, disc golf course, various picnic areas, and a boat launch. The dam was dedicated in 1905, names in honor of Julian Griggs who was chief engineer for the City of Columbus for many years.
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