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canyonwalkerOn the Cataract Falls trail on the flank of Mt. Tam you start out seeing a small falls, then another. But don't stop there; that's only the start of it! The trail is replete with falls. You don't even have to look hard to find them. They're right in front of you.
With our visit this past Sunday we've hiked this trail I think 4 times now, maybe 5. It's never failed to please.
Our last visit was 3 years ago, in Jan 2020, right before the pandemic shut things down for a while. We also visited in 2015.
One thing that's interesting in looking back over the pictures I made on previous visits versus the pictures here is that the color tonality is different. I attribute that to the sunlight. The two previous visits I blogged were on days with a heavy overcast. That evened out the light and made it easy to capture pale green tones.
On this trip there was strong sunlight above the trees. As it filtered down through the canopy it created harsher contrast between light and shadow and gave a bluer cast to the water and wet rocks. I've adjusted for the color tone and light balance with my camera and in postprocessing. It's not possible to make the pictures look the same. After all, photography is not about capturing the thing that's there but rather the light that reflects off it.
We turned around after less than a mile and several hundred feet of ascent. The trail goes farther, but we know from past trips that the best sights are in the lower parts of the canyon. We're ensuring we have time and energy for another hike— no, make that two more hikes. In beauty we walk.
Stay tuned for more!
Update: more waterfalls in part 2!
With our visit this past Sunday we've hiked this trail I think 4 times now, maybe 5. It's never failed to please.
Our last visit was 3 years ago, in Jan 2020, right before the pandemic shut things down for a while. We also visited in 2015.
One thing that's interesting in looking back over the pictures I made on previous visits versus the pictures here is that the color tonality is different. I attribute that to the sunlight. The two previous visits I blogged were on days with a heavy overcast. That evened out the light and made it easy to capture pale green tones.
On this trip there was strong sunlight above the trees. As it filtered down through the canopy it created harsher contrast between light and shadow and gave a bluer cast to the water and wet rocks. I've adjusted for the color tone and light balance with my camera and in postprocessing. It's not possible to make the pictures look the same. After all, photography is not about capturing the thing that's there but rather the light that reflects off it.
We turned around after less than a mile and several hundred feet of ascent. The trail goes farther, but we know from past trips that the best sights are in the lower parts of the canyon. We're ensuring we have time and energy for another hike— no, make that two more hikes. In beauty we walk.
Stay tuned for more!
Update: more waterfalls in part 2!
