Show Me: Caves!

[bazzanoid]

Afternoon all,

I'm off on holiday and June, and part of our trip takes us to some underground show caves - you know, poorly lit, stalagmites, frozen lakes, waterfalls etc - i'm after some inspiration and some advice.... any tips or pics you could share would be great!

Thanks!

Barry

 

[wdwmom2]

This past October DH and I took a trip down Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. On the way home we stopped by Luray Caverns. What a remarkable place!!! I have been there before, but it was sooo loonnng ago that everything was new to me.

All these pics are taken with my old Nikon 4300 P&S and no tripod. Sorry that they are not great.

This is a reflecting pool

I'm so bad, I don't remember what this is called, something curtain I think. All I remember is that it was in National Geographic

"fried eggs"

Wishing well contribution sign. Not sure why the last year on the board was 2002 as I took this pic in 2006

 

[ukcatfan]

Here is one of my favorites:

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Nice shots wdwmom2!

If you ever make it to KY, there are some very nice caves there. Unfortunately, the last time I visited one, I did not even own a camera.

Kevin

 

[wdwmom2]

Here is one of my favorites:

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Nice shots wdwmom2!

If you ever make it to KY, there are some very nice caves there. Unfortunately, the last time I visited one, I did not even own a camera.

Kevin

Thank you for the compliment! I just wish I had my S3 when I was there.

Your pic is too funny !!! May I suggest you pick up a stronger flash !

 

[tiggr33]

I just visited Meramec Caverns in Missouri last weekend. Pictures are uploading as I type. I will edit and update this post when I have the url's to the photos.

 

[Groucho]

I have a small gallery of photos that I took in Howe Caverns here, I stopped there in November on the way back from Saratoga Springs (New York, not Disney.)

Most were taken at ISO 1600 with my old Sigma 28mm 2.8 (my fastest lens at the time) and no noise reduction has been done. Here's a few I like:

On the River Styx...

If I went today, I'd probably have to use my 50mm 1.4 even though it would be a little narrow for the caverns. A faster (1.8 or so) wide-angle would probably be ideal. There's really no time for a tripod since you'll probably be with a walking crew. IS would help, but if you're not using a PnS or a Sony or Pentax DSLR, you probably won't be able to get it on a wide-angle lens.

Another tip is to not spend the whole time behind the viewfinder, look around and enjoy the scenery yourself. I love going down in caves (even after watching "The Descent" on an imported DVD months before it was released in the US!) and if you worry TOO much about the camera, you won't have a chance to really enjoy it!

 

[tiggr33]

Sorry for the image size. They were sized correctly for the site they are originally on.

 

[jann1033]

caves? might have some audio of a crazy claustrophobic hysterical screaming woman...uh that would be me in a cave it's hard to run and take photos at the same time so i have no photos

 

[Jeanne B]

Here is one of my favorites: