The Hazards of Nature Photography

This past week I made a quick stop at Blackwater Falls State Park on my way home from the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum.  More on that trip in a future blog.   It was a cloudy morning and I had noticed the streams were running nicely so some waterfall photography seemed in line.  Rather than shoot Blackwater Falls from the platform like everyone else,  I have always preferred Elakala Falls.  Gaining access to the multiple falls on Elakala Run gets progressively harder the further down the mountain you go.  There is not an established trail but photographers over time have created a small footpath to the second and third falls. 

I setup this panorama and noticed a distracting dead branch next to the tree on the right.   So I thought I would jump over to the rocks and do a little gardening.  When I reached for the tree on the right my hand slipped and I fell backwards hitting the rock below.  If things had stopped at that point it would not have been too bad.  But an object in motion wants to stay in motion and I was very much in motion.  I then proceeded to fall head over heels two more times before coming to a stop.  By then I was cut, banged up, and bruised from nearly head to toe.    I was very lucky that I did not sustain any serious injury and was able to hike out under my own power after shaking it off and finishing the pano.