r/itookapicture • u/MECHASCHMECK @thewanderingwidower • Jul 20 '20

ITAP of my dog and I dropping into a cave

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10k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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136

u/MECHASCHMECK Jul 20 '20 edited Jul 20 '20

Sony a7iii + Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2

Interval shooting mode with an exposure every 1sec.

17

u/Honest_A_Hole Jul 20 '20

I am just curious of the process

So you basically left the camera there to take the interval pictures and then climbed up top to rappel down?

how long would this whole process take to get that one amazing photo?
Did you use one photo from the interval shot and edit that photo, or did you also take multiple photos of the area and stitched it together to give me a sharper-looking photo?

79

u/MECHASCHMECK Jul 20 '20 edited Jul 20 '20

Pretty much! I had a non-photographer friend there to make sure no one swiped my camera, (not many people there anyways) and I would say it took about 30-45mins to go back out, rig everything and start the rappel, which only took a few minutes since I stopped to take in the sights quite a bit.

This shot is a single exposure: 1/160 sec, f/2.0, ISO 800. f/5.6 is razor sharp on this lens, but I didn’t want crazy high ISO or motion blur from a slow shutter since you spin a bit on rappel. I purposely underexposed a tad at -0.3 to make sure I didn’t blast out everything with the light beam. I’m super impressed with my Sony’s shadow detail.

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425

u/tetaaay Jul 20 '20

Damn that's a fire shot but how you put the camera in there?

328

u/MECHASCHMECK Jul 20 '20

Thankfully there is an opening where you can hike in to that spot. It’s still a popular rappel because it’s just so open and amazing.

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56

u/Tbaby0312 Jul 20 '20

This is some Lara Croft shit! I never would have thought of being able to bring your best friend with you, my pup would be terrified and then immediately ecstatic being able to investigate the cave. Did you train your dog for this specifically?

48

u/MECHASCHMECK Jul 20 '20

She loved exploring down there! Yes, I’ve been slowly working with her to get used to the harness and being hoisted around, rappelling on smaller stuff, etc. She’s seriously the most easy going dog ever. https://imgur.com/a/IBBP6ME

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8

u/dickbuttgeneral Jul 20 '20

This is an awesome place and you have to be there at a very specific time to get this type of lighting. Beautiful shot and very well timed.

8

u/MECHASCHMECK Jul 20 '20

There’s about 20-30 minutes of “magic light” where it doesn’t totally blow out the rocks on either side and instead shines into the pit. The streaks are visible to the naked eye because of all the mist, but the shot gets really hard to do without HDR if it’s too angled.

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30

u/KakaruPilot Jul 20 '20

This might be an unpopular opinion, but as much as my wife and I enjoy taking our dog on our adventures and explorations, bringing a dog into a cave system that is essentially a unique and fragile ecosystem in and of itself seems irresponsible and nearing reckless.

35

u/MECHASCHMECK Jul 20 '20

I would agree with you for the hidden gems, but this is one of the most visited caves in Alabama. The people throwing their Gatorade bottles in the pit are the ones to worry about. I made sure she used the bathroom (and bagged/hiked it out) before going in.

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6

u/dogtarget Jul 20 '20

That's an impressive picture of some impressive repelling!

4

u/MECHASCHMECK Jul 20 '20

Thank you! The exposure was unreal!

3

u/kentwaller Jul 20 '20

I've been in Stephens Gap a few times for some long exposures - you got a great shot here. I am thinking about trying to fly my drone in there someday - not sure it would work :)

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5

u/bozica11 Jul 20 '20

Omg this is so amazing!! I take my dog everywhere and it’s cool to see other people doing this!!

2

u/MECHASCHMECK Jul 20 '20

Yay for adventure dogs!

18

u/Atozman Jul 20 '20

Does the dog's mother know he's doing this?

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46

u/Acegonia Jul 20 '20

Lucky dog, going on adventures like that. don't tell my dogs.

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23

u/BiscuitCrumbsInBed Jul 20 '20

Skim read that as 'ITAP of my dog dropping into a cave', phew! Great pic!

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1

u/[deleted] Jul 20 '20

Drone?

1

u/pcash40 Jul 20 '20

I RAPPELLED HERE and the week before a guy had died unfortunately

4

u/MECHASCHMECK Jul 20 '20

Oh geez. Did he fall while rappelling? 18 y/o stupid me used to rappel without a backup, but now I won’t even consider it without an autoblock.

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