Bill Fultz (slakejustice)'s photostream  

Dog Slaughter Falls
Dog Slaughter Creek
Daniel Boone National Forest
Kentucky

5 Image HDR

Besides being really cool to look at, Kentucky waterfalls have another cool feature, unusual names. Another falls that myself and Jason were able to take our good friends Randy Sanger and Todd Williams to see was Dog Slaughter Falls. The moderate one mile trail to the falls is both beautiful and peaceful as it passes along the creek side and along rock overhangs which offers plenty of time to contemplate the origin of the creek and fall’s namesake. Upon our arrival to the falls it began raining and with it came the fog. This was another falls that I’d not seen with such a heavy flow, but it still had it’s unique water feature, it’s perfect flow lines. Unfortunately with the heavy flow came photographic limitations. My original plan was to cross the creek and shoot it from the other side, but with the water levels as high as they were I decided that I didn’t want soggy feet the rest of the trip. I got several shots from the right side, and this is the first post of many.

Downtown Chicago
94th Floor Observation Deck
The John Hancock Center
Chicago, Illinois

Something I’ve always wanted to do has been to go to the Hancock Tower and watch the sunset and look down on the city of Chicago at night. I kind of got my wish last week. Having spent part of the day at nearby Gary, Indiana my good friend Jason Haley and I had been shooting abandoned buildings, but eventually my heebyjeebies were getting the best of me and we decided to take the short drive to Chicago and grab a bite to eat. So we mulled around Michigan Ave looking for a place to eat that wasn’t pizza and wasn’t corporate. Eventually we found a place down the street from the Bentley dealership and I got to eat some damn good North Carolina BBQ (no slaw). Afterwards we decided to go to the Hancock Tower since sunset was approaching. As our luck would have it, the blue sky and puffy Simpsons Clouds gave way to a bluegrey overcast sky, but we decided to head up anyway. Then we found out you couldn’t use tripods up there. Boo. Nonetheless, the view was still spectacular, as always, and it was a true joy to watch the skies turn dark and watch the city lights come on. Most of my night shots turned out terrible, 1/3rd a second is really pushing it, but that’s O.K. At least I got to knock something off my bucket list.

Eagle Falls
Cumberland Falls State Park
Kentucky

5 Image HDR

Last week myself and my longtime friend Jason Haley had the pleasure to show our good friends Randy Sanger and Todd Williams some of the falls in and around Cumberland Falls State Park. The area had been receiving some serious rain as of late and this day was not any different as it rained nearly the entire time we were out hiking. This was our third stop on our little tour and was it worth it. To be honest, the hike is a bit of a killer, at 3/4th a mile with all the elevation gain and drop it feels like 3 miles, but the trailside views and the payoff at the end really make up for it. The trail passes right above the 125 ft. wide 40 ft. tall Cumberland Falls, which had the highest volume I’ve ever seen it, and later the trail offers a lovely view from a cliff that overlooks the gorge. In all the times I’ve visited this 35 ft. falls I’ve never seen it with the flow it had on this day. The falls as it hit the splash pool was creating a sound unlike any I’ve heard from a falls before, Randy would later describe it as “hauntingly beautiful.”

City Methodist Church
Gary Indiana

5 Image HDR

Constructed at the cost of over 1 million dollars in 1926, the City Methodist Church is a massive nine story structure that sits in downtown Gary in a complete state of ruin and destabilization. Architecturally designed in a traditional English Gothic style, the church remained a place of worship until1975. Due to a major population shift in northeast Indiana in the late 60’s and early 70’s the churches congregation shrank and it was sold to Indiana University as a campus extension, but was never used. Over the following years the church was used for many purposes but eventually was abandoned. 1997 it was severely damaged in a massive fire which also included several nearby buildings. The fire was believed to be act of arson. It has been suggested that the building become a "ruins garden" like those found in Europe.

There’s a level of uneasiness when you first approach the building but it seemed like the most comfortable abandoned building in the area as far as chances of crime. It sits directly across the street from a college and daycare with lots of activity around. Access is easy, there are no doors on the structure and no boards on the windows, trees and bushes cover what used to be the lawn. Inside it’s amazing to walk among a place which was at one time such a thing of beauty. There’s an auditorium, 4 floors of rooms, a basket ball court where the roof has completely collapsed, and of course the cathedral, shown here. Every room there was debris, concrete, wood, cloths and other odds and ends. Sounds from the surrounding streets gave the impression that what is happening outside is right within the building. People taking, cars, emergency vehicles and construction made for an odd soundtrack. I will admit I was a bit uneasy while I was here. Being completely unfamiliar with the area, there was always that concern in the back of my head that some undesirables with a criminal intent would approach or would be found living among the ruins. Nonetheless, this place is incredible and I got several satisfactory images from here. Most of the posts from Gary will return in a b&w form sometime in the future.

Muddy Creek Falls
Muddy Creek
Swallow Falls State Park
Maryland

5 Image HDR

A shot from a side trip when I went out to Davis, West Virginia last March with good friends Jason Haley and Randy Sanger. This park is just gorgeous, featuring 4 waterfalls, massive old growth forest and a beautiful riverside trail, Swallow Falls State Park is well worth the 30 minute ( one way) detour off I-68 if you're ever in the Blackwater Falls area of West Virginia it's about 40 minutes one way. For waterfall photographers you always want to shoot with a good flow, however there is such a thing as too much flow and most of the falls Randy, Jason and I visited on this trip had this problem. I wished they had a slightly less flow, we had a lot of trouble with splash pool spray and difficulty with waterfall texture. This falls had a problem with both, Randy and I both commented on how we would have liked this falls with a little less water. At 53 ft. tall, in my opinion this is the most beautiful falls in the park.

No posts for a few days, off to Cumberland Falls with good friends, Jason Haley, Randy Sanger and Todd Williams. Calling for a lot of rain, so I've got a feeling the falls will be flowing! Then Jason and I are off to Gary, Indiana for some urban exploring. I'll get caught up with everyone late Saturday and Sunday. Have a great rest of the week and weekend!