The Photography of Dr. Jeff Harper

On my early October drive from Sante Fe, New Mexico to the Formula One race in Austin, Texas, I stopped to visit the famous Carlsbad Caverns National Park in southern New Mexico.

During my childhood my family moved throughout the western states of the USA. I remembering seeing signs along Route 66 imploring passers-by to visit Carlsbad Caverns. I finally made it 50 years later!!!

I was not disappointed! I paid the entry fee and took the elevator to the depths of earth.

The cave is well-known for its many calcite formations such as this column and array of stalactites. (**)

Although I did not bring a tripod for these long exposure, low light photos, I was able to brace my camera on the guardrailings. Low light photography is my favorite.  [These are all ISO bracketed 3-shot captures from a Fuji X-T2 camera, post-processed in the Luminar HDR software. I was happy with the shadow detail and not having the brightly lit areas 'burned out.]

Giant columns of dripping calcite.

A 'waterfall' of stone.  Amazing.

The spiky ceilings were captivating.

I would not want to be down here in an earthquake!  First, you would be iimpaled by these needles and then crushed by the millions of tons of rock above you.

Some of my photos were dictated by the location of the guardrail. But it didn't matter: there was something interesting in every direction.

It was very dark inside the caverns (possibly to prevent the growth of mold).

Creepy, creepy formations everywhere.

A cascade of flowing rock . . . it seemed to be in motion . . .

The many 'off limits' side passages invited my curiosity . . .

The guardrails in this photo gives you an idea of how huge some of the large caverns were.

Nicely lit coves.  I am glad they used the same light tone throughout (The stalactite caves in Gibraltar succumbed to a revolving color wheel light effect . . . horrible!)

And deeper and deeper I went into the caverns . . . The climate of the caverns is described as "humid tropical" . . . I felt like I was back in Bangkok!  Nice!

And deeper and deeper I went into the cavern.  I visited in early October, so there were very few tourists on the day I visited. Normally, 450,000 people visit the cavern every year.

There was a crystal clear underground stream running through one of the big rooms.

The cavern path is several miles long.  At the other end were 2000 feet of stairs to reach the surface.  I made the decision to turn back after about a mile so that I could take the elevator back up. 

I had a wonderful two hours exploring the Carlsbad caverns. I highly recommend it . . . even if you have to wait 50 years.