Post by L Roebuck on May 16, 2006 12:51:55 GMT -5
Murfreesboro caver's photography on display
By DAN WHITTLE
whittle@dnj.com
Exploring the bowels of the earth in pitch-black conditions seems hard enough, but capturing the hidden world for others to see is even harder.
"Cave photography is not as simple as grabbing a camera," said Murfreesboro caver Bobby Biddix.
"Making professional quality pictures in some of the deepest caverns in America is one of the most challenging things I've ever done," Biddix said. "But cave photography is one of the most beautiful art forms in the world."
His extensive photo art collection, which includes a dramatically-beautiful shot within Rutherford County's own Snail Shell Cave, is on exhibit through June 26 in the Murfreesboro City Hall Rotunda. A public reception is set from 2-4 p.m. Sunday. The free exhibit is open 8 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays.
"I wish we had more than two hours to visit with the public, but that's the schedule," Biddix said. "The exhibit gives a snapshot of my cave explorations."
Murfreesboro City Manager Roger Haley said the collection is "breathtaking."
"We're honored to showcase Mr. Biddix's world-class cavern photography exhibit," he said. "Parents would be well advised to bring their children to see this exhibit."
Biddix said his most challenging cave exploration came in New Mexico's Lechuguilla Cave, which has hundreds of unrecorded miles of underground rooms.
"You're underground from seven to 10 days when you join an expedition to explore Lechuguilla," Biddix said. "This cave is so challenging physically, I have to spend several months getting in top physical condition.
"I've been on four expeditions of Lechuguilla, and plan to go back this fall," Biddix added. "You go down and down in this cave, establish a base camp and then you and your team go out to your assigned survey point. We do survey work for the National Park Service. Although we've mapped more than 100 miles, to date, there remains hundreds of miles of uncharted underground rooms and passages."
To obtain his level of professional quality photography, Biddix says he's combined "old" with "new" technology.
"I've found that the old-fashioned huge flash bulbs (the size of goose eggs) are best to light up a cave room, or an intricate formation that's taken centuries to form," Biddix said. "I've gone online and have acquired at least 10,000 hard-to-find flash bulbs to use on future expeditions. Modern-day electronic light sources don't have the candlepower you need to light up a dark cavern."
Today's underground explorers prefer to be called "cavers" as opposed to last century's term "spelunkers," he added.
"The adage is that cavers end up rescuing spelunkers," Biddix noted with a grin. "Caver is the most-used term now for people who explore deep underground cave systems."
What makes for good, safe cave exploration?
"Wear enough of the right type of clothing," he said. "Hypothermia is the biggest danger in caving.
"Safety, and preparation and training ... the main point being training plus reliable equipment," he added. "Safe use of equipment can be achieved only by teaching, information and demonstration. Plus, your chances of being injured are reduced by being aware of the dangers and knowing the equipment and techniques."
As for photographing caves, Biddix said the most important thing is "patience, lots of patience."
That, and trial and error, he said.
"Having the right camera equipment is essential," he added. "On this fall's scheduled expedition back to New Mexico, I'm planning on the type of lighting equipment required to capture the beauty of rock formations not seen in any other caves in the world."
"My personal style of underground photography is that I prefer to have a person in the photo, if possible," he said.
Other than that, he said an understanding of the type of cave being explored also helps.
"Or example, western caves tend to have more white formations. Tennessee caves tend to be made of darker shades of gray granite, which is more difficult to photograph in terms of lighting," he said.
"The hardest part of cave photography is keeping your camera dry in 100 percent humidity conditions and keeping your equipment free of dust and grime," Biddix said. "You don't want to be down 1,000 feet and then drop your camera, either."
He primarily uses Nikon brand lenses and cameras.
Biddix explained his fascination with Lechuguilla Cave.
"It was discovered in 1986, and is one of the most exotic caves in the world," Biddix noted. "Each year, only a few cavers are allowed to go down for exploration and charting the cave's extensive series of rooms, cliffs and formations. Most everything is incredibly white, with a milky-colored substance called gypsum. Some of it resembles pearls. Its designs are breathtaking.
"On one of our first expeditions, we traveled down 1,100 feet, loaded with camping gear and camera equipment," Biddix said. "We strive to not humanly touch anything, using plastic bags, gloves and other items in order to not disturb the setting that no human being has seen before. There are a lot of rules and regulations, including carrying out what you tote in.
"The only life is tiny microbes, many of which had not been discovered before," Biddix accounted.
The 38-year-old recalls his first cave exploration.
"You don't do caves in Tennessee without visiting Warren County's Cumberland Caverns," Biddix advised. "If you visit one cave, Cumberland should be the one. My parents (Margaret and Ed Biddix of Murfreesboro) took me down in the Cumberland Caverns when I was age 6. That started my interest."
Cumberland Caverns are located just off state Highway 8, six miles southeast of McMinnville. Seasonal tours began in this cave May 1, and goes through October on a daily 9 a.m.-5 p.m. schedule. There's an underground ballroom available for bookings of weddings and receptions. Groups should contact cave officials at least two weeks before scheduling a tour. The phone number is 931-668-4396.
But, Biddix warned about photographing typically dark gray caves of Tennessee.
"They have a lot of CLSF, depending on the size of the room," the photographer described.
Asked to define CLSF, he said: "Cave light sucking factor."
Persons interested in knowing more about his explorations and photography can visit website: "innermostimagery.com."
The Daily Journal
See also: Photo Exhibit
By DAN WHITTLE
whittle@dnj.com
Exploring the bowels of the earth in pitch-black conditions seems hard enough, but capturing the hidden world for others to see is even harder.
"Cave photography is not as simple as grabbing a camera," said Murfreesboro caver Bobby Biddix.
"Making professional quality pictures in some of the deepest caverns in America is one of the most challenging things I've ever done," Biddix said. "But cave photography is one of the most beautiful art forms in the world."
His extensive photo art collection, which includes a dramatically-beautiful shot within Rutherford County's own Snail Shell Cave, is on exhibit through June 26 in the Murfreesboro City Hall Rotunda. A public reception is set from 2-4 p.m. Sunday. The free exhibit is open 8 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays.
"I wish we had more than two hours to visit with the public, but that's the schedule," Biddix said. "The exhibit gives a snapshot of my cave explorations."
Murfreesboro City Manager Roger Haley said the collection is "breathtaking."
"We're honored to showcase Mr. Biddix's world-class cavern photography exhibit," he said. "Parents would be well advised to bring their children to see this exhibit."
Biddix said his most challenging cave exploration came in New Mexico's Lechuguilla Cave, which has hundreds of unrecorded miles of underground rooms.
"You're underground from seven to 10 days when you join an expedition to explore Lechuguilla," Biddix said. "This cave is so challenging physically, I have to spend several months getting in top physical condition.
"I've been on four expeditions of Lechuguilla, and plan to go back this fall," Biddix added. "You go down and down in this cave, establish a base camp and then you and your team go out to your assigned survey point. We do survey work for the National Park Service. Although we've mapped more than 100 miles, to date, there remains hundreds of miles of uncharted underground rooms and passages."
To obtain his level of professional quality photography, Biddix says he's combined "old" with "new" technology.
"I've found that the old-fashioned huge flash bulbs (the size of goose eggs) are best to light up a cave room, or an intricate formation that's taken centuries to form," Biddix said. "I've gone online and have acquired at least 10,000 hard-to-find flash bulbs to use on future expeditions. Modern-day electronic light sources don't have the candlepower you need to light up a dark cavern."
Today's underground explorers prefer to be called "cavers" as opposed to last century's term "spelunkers," he added.
"The adage is that cavers end up rescuing spelunkers," Biddix noted with a grin. "Caver is the most-used term now for people who explore deep underground cave systems."
What makes for good, safe cave exploration?
"Wear enough of the right type of clothing," he said. "Hypothermia is the biggest danger in caving.
"Safety, and preparation and training ... the main point being training plus reliable equipment," he added. "Safe use of equipment can be achieved only by teaching, information and demonstration. Plus, your chances of being injured are reduced by being aware of the dangers and knowing the equipment and techniques."
As for photographing caves, Biddix said the most important thing is "patience, lots of patience."
That, and trial and error, he said.
"Having the right camera equipment is essential," he added. "On this fall's scheduled expedition back to New Mexico, I'm planning on the type of lighting equipment required to capture the beauty of rock formations not seen in any other caves in the world."
"My personal style of underground photography is that I prefer to have a person in the photo, if possible," he said.
Other than that, he said an understanding of the type of cave being explored also helps.
"Or example, western caves tend to have more white formations. Tennessee caves tend to be made of darker shades of gray granite, which is more difficult to photograph in terms of lighting," he said.
"The hardest part of cave photography is keeping your camera dry in 100 percent humidity conditions and keeping your equipment free of dust and grime," Biddix said. "You don't want to be down 1,000 feet and then drop your camera, either."
He primarily uses Nikon brand lenses and cameras.
Biddix explained his fascination with Lechuguilla Cave.
"It was discovered in 1986, and is one of the most exotic caves in the world," Biddix noted. "Each year, only a few cavers are allowed to go down for exploration and charting the cave's extensive series of rooms, cliffs and formations. Most everything is incredibly white, with a milky-colored substance called gypsum. Some of it resembles pearls. Its designs are breathtaking.
"On one of our first expeditions, we traveled down 1,100 feet, loaded with camping gear and camera equipment," Biddix said. "We strive to not humanly touch anything, using plastic bags, gloves and other items in order to not disturb the setting that no human being has seen before. There are a lot of rules and regulations, including carrying out what you tote in.
"The only life is tiny microbes, many of which had not been discovered before," Biddix accounted.
The 38-year-old recalls his first cave exploration.
"You don't do caves in Tennessee without visiting Warren County's Cumberland Caverns," Biddix advised. "If you visit one cave, Cumberland should be the one. My parents (Margaret and Ed Biddix of Murfreesboro) took me down in the Cumberland Caverns when I was age 6. That started my interest."
Cumberland Caverns are located just off state Highway 8, six miles southeast of McMinnville. Seasonal tours began in this cave May 1, and goes through October on a daily 9 a.m.-5 p.m. schedule. There's an underground ballroom available for bookings of weddings and receptions. Groups should contact cave officials at least two weeks before scheduling a tour. The phone number is 931-668-4396.
But, Biddix warned about photographing typically dark gray caves of Tennessee.
"They have a lot of CLSF, depending on the size of the room," the photographer described.
Asked to define CLSF, he said: "Cave light sucking factor."
Persons interested in knowing more about his explorations and photography can visit website: "innermostimagery.com."
The Daily Journal
See also: Photo Exhibit
