If you’ve seen the last video I’d departed Little River Falls as the rains had set in. This had forced a reset of my original plans to hike to some waterfalls. Instead I would be continuing my journey west as I was ultimately aiming for a family rendezvous near Dallas. There was one stop that I had noted as a possible on the way. The historic Clarkson Covered Bridge, in Cullman County, Alabama. It’s a covered bridge, it must be dry….right?
Genius Or Luck?
As it turned out that was a brilliant decision. Because I spent the next two hours sailing my car in a generally westerly direction. Yes, the rain was that bad. The rain was still falling as i arrived at Clarkson Covered Bridge Park. All I needed was a break in the weather so I could wander round…is that really too much to ask….
Apparently so….atleast for another 20 minutes…
Whether The Weather
That gave me a chance to check the weather again. It wasn’t looking good. Heavy rain and thunderstorms stretching from Alabama. In fact, all the way across Louisiana too and heading eastwards for at least the next 24 hours. The torrential rains I had encountered earlier were forecast to be a light drizzle. But we all know how accurate weather forecasts tend to be!
Break It Up
The Clarkson Covered Bridge stop will provide me with a break from driving, some shelter from the rains whilst I stretch my legs and a little interest. Not to mention a photo opportunity or two, if that pesky rain eases. So I sat there watching the raindrops hit the windscreen and took in the tranquility of this place. It was quiet, with only one couple mad enough to visit this place in the near monsoon weather.
A Little History
Originally built in 1904, the 270ft lattice-truss construction bridge was swept away by floods in 1921. Part of the bridge was salvaged and repaired at a cost of $1,500. The bridge remained open to motor traffic until 1962. A replacement concrete bridge was built and traffic was diverted to use that instead. In 1974 the bridge was included to the National Register of Historic Places. A year later the Cullman County Commission restored the site with the help of concerned citizens as part of the American Bicentennial Project. The bridge is also known as the Clarkson-Legg Covered Bridge. Spanning Crooked Creek, near Bethel, this is the second longest historic covered bridge in Alabama.
Window Of Opportunity
After a short time the downpour ceased, allowing me to explore.
It didn’t take long for the downpour to resume, but by this time I was comfortably dry, sheltered by the bridge as I set up for a photo and marvelled at the joinery skills and patterns within the wooden beams.
This photo is a prime example of when to bracket exposures for a wide dynamic range. The roof was a lot darker than the floor, which was darker than the light coming from the outer lattice trusses. There’s probably a technical term for those trusses, I’m sure. I will take 6 photos here. Three for dynamic range with near focus and 3 for far focus to ensure I have sufficient sharpness front to back when I get home and finally pixel peep on the computer screen. I’m also using a tripod to make lining the images up in post a lot easier. A two second delay to negate and shake from the shutter button and boom…photo in the bag. Also remember on structures like this to not move around too much!
Dog Trot
This location is a small, but quite pretty park with the covered bridge, a few trails and a stream with wooden bridges across which flows into a mill pond, a dog-trot log cabin and a grist mill. With a break in the rain I ventured around for a few minutes before the downpour resumed. I took cover under the porch of the dog-trot log cabin. A dog-trot cabin is one that has a breezeway that runs through the middle of the house. There are distinct and separate living areas either side.
Kill Time Stay Dry
As i looked out from under the porch a path wound its way at the side of the stream to a distant wooden footbridge. I decide to use this path as my lead in line.
What this photo really needs is a little sunlight hitting from the side at golden hour. Unfortunately, this is the middle of the day at chucking it down with rain hour…..
The Grist Mill
With a let up in the rain and just a slight drizzle falling it was time to explore a little more. The mill pond is behind the building where I was taking shelter with the mill with its bright red wheel and mill pond waterfall just beyond.
When turning up to take photos of places I do often wonder why oh why did they let that tree grow there! I had the same feeling here. It would probably have been less annoying if i wasn’t rushing a little due to the weather. Combine that also with the fact that parts of the path was gloopy mud so i was reticent to leave the dryer bits and get a lower perspective closer to the stream. That may have provided a better composition. I opted instead to angle my view to the left, thereby eliminating the distraction of the tree.
As always, after taking a photo check it to ensure sharpness and exposure are good and that there is nothing untoward in the image. Like lens flare especially if you aren’t using a lens hood or are shooting towards the sun. OK, that’s not something I need to worry about too much today, but in this instance it is always worth checking for rain drops on the lens or filter. MrsFaceless and I always carry a fine microfiber cloth with us for quick cleans between images, being carefull not to knock the lens or tripod, of course. Eh MrsF?
Silky Smooth
When photographing moving water it’s worth taking a few exposures with varying shutter speeds to get the perfect amount of silky, for whatever your personal preference is. One trick to keep the exposure balance in the photos is to change the shutter speed, then adjust either the ISO or aperture by the same compensating amount. For example, if you change the shutter speed by 3 steps faster, then change the ISO by 3 steps to a higher value. This will get you a different capture for the silky flow of water whilst the same amount of light is being recorded hitting the sensor.
Water, Water Everywhere…
Well, that was a short and sweet break in the rain. The rain was back with avengeance now. There was definitely going to be no hiking in this so I checked the weather once more and made the executive decision. I will head further west where it shouldn’t be raining…let’s see how that works out, eh?
We hope you have enjoyed our little journey together – the story and the video; if so please head over and leave a comment on youtube – and a like and subscribe is always much appreciated!
Until next time…..