Eis und Dunkelheit

I went underground for an hour or so this afternoon to play around with light and the ice-stalagmites in the Windloch Sackdilling cave.

The first photo is only with a single SB-800 flash remotely fired  from behind the ice.  It’s really cool how bright the ice glows.

caving stock photo: ice stalagmites in windloch sackdilling cave, Oberpfalz, Germany. Cody Duncan Photography

At first I set up a couple of flashes on light stands but it was a slow process moving everything around in the dark.  So I settled with keeping one flash on the ground somewhere behind the ice and using the other light stand like a boom and holding it at various angles.  I figure I’ll go back again for some more photos and try a few new things.  I like the contrast of the ice against the darkness, but maybe I’ll shoot off a few flashes in the back of the cave to help give a bit more depth to the photos.

caving stock photo: ice stalagmites in windloch sackdilling cave, Oberpfalz, Germany. Cody Duncan Photography

caving stock photo: ice stalagmites in windloch sackdilling cave, Oberpfalz, Germany. Cody Duncan Photography

caving stock photo: ice stalagmites in windloch sackdilling cave, Oberpfalz, Germany. Cody Duncan Photography

caving stock photo: ice stalagmites in windloch sackdilling cave, Oberpfalz, Germany. Cody Duncan Photography

Windloch Sackdilling

Was in Windloch Sackdilling cave again last night. Weather wasn’t so good, so the best thing to do is go underground. The ice-stalagmites have grown quite a bit and are pretty cool looking. I only had 1 SB-800 flash with me and no tripod as I wanted to keep things light while down in the cave, so I couldn’t do too much. But hopefully I can head back sometime this week with all my lighting gear (it’s pitch black, no natural light) and see what I can come up with. The ice is only in the first part of the cave, so no rappelling required to get there.

Windloch Sackdilling cave, Oberpfalz, Germany: photo of Ice stalagmites

Windloch Sackdilling cave, Oberpfalz, Germany: photo of Ice stalagmites

Crawling out from one of the small passages in the back of the cave.

Caving photography: caver crawling through narrow passage in limestone cave, Windloch Sackdilling cave, Oberpfalz, Germany:

Windloch Sackdilling – Night Caving

I’ve been getting more interested in caving lately, as I should, since the Franconia area around here is full of them. So when I got an invitation for a night trip to the Windloch Sackdilling cave, I had to go along.

This cave has several entrances into the first section. The easiest way is to just walk in, as seen here.

Windloch Sackdilling cave: caving photos of Windloch Sackdilling hoehle. Cody Duncan photography

We figured the sub zero temperatures of the last weeks would create some cool ice features, as this cave in known to have. But these ‘interesting’ shaped ice-stalagmites were all that we saw. I also forgot to remember that an underground cave would stay warmer than the surface (during winter), and indeed it was, once we got back to the surface, it was utterly cold again. This ice was in the first ‘surface’ section, so maybe a bit more will form in the next months.

Windloch Sackdilling cave: caving photos of Windloch Sackdilling hoehle. Cody Duncan photography

Rappelling down into the first lower chamber.

Windloch Sackdilling cave: caving photos of Windloch Sackdilling hoehle. Cody Duncan photography

A little climbing was involved to get to another area at the back of the lower section.

Windloch Sackdilling cave: caving photos of Windloch Sackdilling hoehle. Cody Duncan photography

Windloch Sackdilling cave: caving photos of Windloch Sackdilling hoehle. Cody Duncan photography

View looking straight up towards the ceiling in the ‘rear upper’ section.

Windloch Sackdilling cave: caving photos of Windloch Sackdilling hoehle. Cody Duncan photography

This little hole led to a 20-25 foot tunnel to crawl/slide through into another fairly small chamber
Windloch Sackdilling cave: caving photos of Windloch Sackdilling hoehle. Cody Duncan photography

Windloch Sackdilling cave: caving photos of Windloch Sackdilling hoehle. Cody Duncan photography

Heading back through the forest, trying not to get lost in the darkness…

Windloch Sackdilling cave: caving photos of Windloch Sackdilling hoehle. Cody Duncan photography