Brandywine Falls « Places 2 Explore

From this past summer on my drive from Cleveland, OH to Pittsburgh, PA on the way you can stop by the little town of Northfield, Ohio and see this amazing waterfall called Brandywine Falls. Some info from the web:

Carved by Brandywine Creek, the 60-foot falls demonstrates classic geological features of waterfalls. A layer of hard rock caps the waterfall, protecting softer layers of rock below. In this case, the top layer is Berea Sandstone. The softer layers include Bedford and Cleveland shales, soft rocks formed from mud found on the sea floor that covered this area 350-400 million years ago. Shale is thinly chunked, giving water a bridal veil appearance as it cascades down the falls.

A combination of boardwalk and steps brings you into the waterfall’s gorge and lets you view the waterfall head-on (a boardwalk option without stairs is also available). The boardwalk also provides a close look at Berea Sandstone. Careful inspection will reveal the individual grains of sand that accumulated in a sea 320 million years ago. Berea Sandstone is high quality sandstone found commonly throughout this area, both in nature and as a construction material used in buildings and canal locks.

Talke Photography Settings:

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Nikon 12-24 F/4
Setting: Aperture Mode
Focal Length: 22.0mm
ISO: 200
Exposure: HDR 5 exposures (+2 to -2)
Aperture: f/22
Gear: Tripod
Post Process: Adobe CS4, Photomatix, Color Efex Pro, Viveza

I was in Cleveland recently and was in my hotel room. I always check out the “City Guide” Magazine for scouting shots or locations. I came across this photo of a waterfall located in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It is called Brandywine Falls. I had no idea where this place was. The next day I had to make my way to Pittsburgh, PA. I checked a map and it was only 10 minutes off my designated roads on the way to the Burgh! I had to stop by! I found it easily. Parked and took the 5 minute walk to the falls. Wow! They had upper and lower viewing platforms. The lower was the best. I’ll post a few more shots soon. But I really liked this one. The sun was shinning through the trees and the fisheye was able to grab the tress over my head in the picture! A cool effect!! A great little stop…glad I found it! In 20 minutes I was back on the road!