Shadow Falls

A few days ago, Edwige and I were out hiking some trails near the Mississippi River when we came across what we now know to be Shadow Falls. The spring-fed falls is in a wooded ravine surrounded by limestone and sandstone cliffs that overlook the Mississippi . Although I had my camera, I didn't have any miniatures along for the hike. I took a few shots of the area and planned to return with some minis another day.

Edwige had found a set of Preiser Freeclimbing figures online and purchased them for my birthday. I had been wanting these miniatures for quit awhile and was pretty excited to receive them! After discovering Shadow Falls, I knew it would be the perfect place to photograph these mini climbers. So we set out on another hike to the falls yesterday.

Above: I normally shoot at an aperture of f5.6. But with all noise (fine details) in the background, the miniature climber was getting a little lost in the photo. I opened the aperture up to f3.5 which really blurs out the background and helps the eye focus on the climber.

Edwige photographs me struggling to get a miniature climber to stay in place. The moss covered limestone rock was very wet and slimy, which didn't help the situation.