Blog•
on April 26th, 2010•
150 ft. below ground is a spectacular cavern which was unknown to me until last month. I have barely heard any information about underground caverns until a friend flipped through some TV channels and found a special on the Luray Caverns in Virginia, which features an organ which strikes the stalactites to create sound. At Howe Caverns there isn’t anything that extreme but is certainly just as amazing.
A delightful part of waiting in line to descend to the cavern was being able to take notice of the custom chopper created by Orange County Choppers for Howe Cavern’s 10th Anniversary. It was a very unique bike and a nice addition to the history of the cavern. Since I had never seen an OCC built bike in person that is another thing to add to my travel list.
Back in 1843 a farmer named Lester Howe noticed his cows hanging out in the same place under a tree one summer. Since the cow’s behavior kept recurring he went to see what was so great about that area. There was cool air coming out of the ground, so that lead to Lester searching and finding the natural entrance to the cave. What it was, had been an undiscovered cavern, explored only by an oil lamp. From then on Mr. Howe gave 10-11 hour tours for $.50 with a lunch for everyone packed by Mrs. Howe. Yet over the years this was not enough money to keep his farm running and he had to sell it to a mining company. Which they later blasted away much of it, ruining the structure of half of the cavern until this day.
Instead of an organ in this cave features the original river that carved out the cave over 6 million years ago. It was also amazing that we got to take a boat ride on the river, until the end of the Lake of Venus. Beyond that point has been discovered, but does not permit visitors just yet because the current owners of the site must now clear that part of it from previous owners who mined 875 ft. of the cavern to harvest limestone at the expense of the caverns structural integrity. I will be thrilled to go back when there is even more to be discovered. Aside from the nice boat ride to the waterfall, there were many other stops we visited. The bridal chamber was a great stop on the tour. The heart shape inset in the floor was created from the stalagmites and lit by a light from underneath. We were told there had been over 60 marriages conducted there.
My absolute favorite part of the tour was the way out to the entrance (not actually the same way we came into the tour). It was known as the winding way, it was a passage way no wider than a person’s body at most times. It had a very high ceiling, so it was not very claustrophobic for me. The passage way was lined with beautiful rock walls with all different rock formations. I do wish our group didn’t go through this so quickly, since it was in my opinion the most beautiful part.
This is an amazing place to discover and marvel at the fact that anything could be underground where you live. A photographer with a mono-pod would surely enjoy the beauty of a cavern, since it was hard to find an anchor point to steady my shots.
Blog•
on April 19th, 2010•
Since my photography show has been hanging for over a month now. So I wanted to share some images for those who can’t make it out to see it in person. I was able to have friend and photographer Andrew Yaniuk to take the photo I needed of me with my art displayed. I was very happy with the way my photos came out, thanks to his experience taking interior design photographs.
Feel free to enjoy my show via these photos or in person at Bouras Galleries (25 DeForest Avenue, Summit, NJ 07901). All photos displayed through the artist and Bouras Galleries are available for purchase. 10% of the proceeds will be donated to the local Overlook Hospital. So buying a print can help to better someone else’s life by this contribution.
Blog•
on April 12th, 2010•
Since visiting Baltimore’s National Aquarium I have been trying to find another aquarium that is just as amazing. I can’t say Adventure Aquarium at Camden Waterfront matched that, but wasn’t as disappointing as I was expecting it to be. It had many other experiences I had not enjoyed at Baltimore, because they weren’t even offered there.
On this trip I had the chance to try out another camera, a possible new purchase. I wanted to push the limits of a Canon 40d, I know it’s not best to use the highest ISO, but I wanted to see how noisy it would be under the low light conditions. The 3200 ISO had some minor red banding in darker colored photos. These animal photos won’t be portfolio material but they are certainly better than anything I would have gotten from a point and shoot camera. So the purchase of a Canon 40d may or may not be in my near future.
But back to the aquarium, it was pretty standard for me at first. Most things were just looking at the animals behind glass, but one of the better experiences was the interactive ones. Getting the chance to touch a shark was something I wasn’t expecting and I’m so happy I can now say that I have touched a shark. They are so soft too! There are many other hands-on exhibits throughout, you can touch a sea-cucumber, starfish, jellyfish and stingray. I opted to only touch the shark and starfish.
Another great exhibit I had not enjoyed at any other aquarium was a hippopotamus exhibit, which had a great little alcove, that was a small secret to most of the crowd we were with. That made for some great un-crowded shots most of the time. Being able to be that close to an animal of such great size certainly helped to understand the power it has, even to show how graceful they are in water. The hippos were one of my favorite exhibits.
My very favorite exhibit was certainly the shark tunnel. I have been looking to find an aquarium that had one since seeing some great photography of an aquarium tunnel on the cover of a Popular Photography Magazine. It was a great experience to see the sharks swimming over you, while looking at their underside.
This aquarium may have cost just as much as Baltimore’s National Aquarium and isn’t as large, but is still a nice day trip for some good animal photographs. Just be prepared for some crowded areas, not allowing for good photographing. And oh yes, strollers should definitely not be allowed especially if they are not carrying any children in them. It is already too crowded with just people.
Ever since visiting a submarine and USS Constellation at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor I have formed a big interest in photographing military vessels. I finally got the chance to visit the Battleship New Jersey at Camden Waterfront and I was so impressed especially with the massive size of the ship, compared to any other boats that I have previously seen in-person. On our tour we opted for the basic self-guided tour, so we could then take our time taking photos. I absolutely suggest history buffs and photographers take a trip to this ship. It has great views from the Captain’s chair in the wheelhouse and also from the gun room.
The Battleship New Jersey had been decommissioned 3 different times and each time it had been reactivated as such great help to the war effort. It was great knowing that I was on such a great honored battleship and especially one that was named after the state I have been enjoying all my life.
Take the self-guided tour and get some great photography or take the ‘fire-power’ guided tour which goes to special restricted places on the ship. I will enjoy that if I ever take another visit back to the Battleship New Jersey.
