I shoulda had a tripod… by rhoing

I shoulda had a tripod…

Mammoth Cave National Park. Not a great photo, but it was one of the highlights of the day and I didn't know when I packed that I would be going into caves. Let in as much light as I could without a tripod — f/2.8, ISO-6400, 1/3" — so this is what I got. But what an amazing place!

The purpose of the trip is genealogical. Tomorrow several of us will be looking for building foundation(s), grave markers, long-forgotten wells on property we (and by "we" I mean my brother) are certain was settled by a great-…-great grandfather and his family.

[ IMG_6699S102x64tm :: f/2.8 :: 1/3" :: ISO-6400 :: 38mm ]
Very interesting! Our family has a deep history with the Carlsbad Caverns in southern New Mexico. It is what brought us to NM as my grandmother came in 1931 to be the secretary to the first director of the new national park. Thereafter my father, two brothers-in-law, sister, and son have all worked as rangers at the park. My 3rd grade teacher was also my neighbor, and her husband was Ray V. Davis. He owned a photography studio, and he was the first one to photograph the caverns. Through trial and error, he perfected his technique, and it's still the definitive way to photograph caves. When National Geographic came to document the park, he showed them how to do it. Sadly, their three sons all died in WWII, through the Bataan Death March in the Philippines, another strong New Mexican connection as it was our national guard that was stationed there at the time because so many of them spoke Spanish.
September 5th, 2019  
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