The Illumination of the Rotunda Room of Camps Gulf Cave

Camps Gulf Cave Trip Report

Illumination of Rotunda

April 7, 2009

Nathan Williams

Huntsville Grotto

NSS 52960

The Rotunda Room of Camps Gulf Cave taken in 2009. Fully illuminated for over an hour.

There we were. Standing in the dark void which was the  Rotunda Room of Camps Gulf Cave. Flashguns were loaded with massive flashbulbs meant to illuminate the vast reaches of the room. A group of cavers watched as Avis Vanswearigin made her way to the center of the room. Avis was the model for this shot. On the flashguns were Michael Burke, Jack Fisher, Justin Mahaffee and Jack Fischer. I stood back near the rear of the room with five cameras ready to shoot. The lights went down, shutters were opened, and the call was given to fire the massive flashbulbs. In a second the room was lit with nearly one million lumens as the bulbs fired. Then as soon as it came it was gone. The room was dark and the shutters closed. We got our shot and now it was time to go back to camp. That was four years ago.

While the shot of the Rotunda Room was a success I couldn’t keep from wondering how it really was to really see it. The bulbs I had used only burned for about 1/30th of a second. How I wished it would have been possible to pause time during that 1/30th of a second when those bulbs went off. To look around…to really see. That’s what I was after. It was a desire that would call me back four years later. If I couldn’t stop time, I would find away to make the time of light last longer.

Tinkering around with different types of lights for photography I stumbled onto two sources that would allow me to keep a place lit. I decided to tackle the job of  illuminating the Rotunda Room once more. This time we would keep it lit, we would look around, we would enjoy it and for once we would…experience the shot.

Days before the trip I had ordered some very powerful compact fluorescent lights. Capable of emitting 6,700 lumens of light each, these lights would generate the illumination needed to light the room. No trip comes without its share of perils. The day before I was to leave for camp I noticed that all but one of the lights had been damaged in shipping. Falling back on a backup plan I obtained some similar lights headed to camp at Fall Creek Falls State Park. Once at camp it was crunch time. The last minute lights came at a price as they would require some heavy modification to allow them to work on portable power. Helping me at camp was Paul and Sabrina as well as a new caver Stephanie. We completed the work just after midnight and now it was time to get some rest. One only could know if our efforts would pay off. Through the night I dreamed over and over of crashing equipment and illumination failure. All played on my doubts. It was something I would have to block out if I were to remain focused on the task at hand.

We arose the next morning and prepped our gear for the trip. Due to limitations we had to enter the cave in small groups. Our group would enter first followed by the others a little later. With us was Tommy Royston, Steve Pitts, Jennifer Pinkley, Sabrina Simon, Michelle Vaughn, Angela Morgan, Stephanie Quintana, and Tony Amundson. We entered the cave with all the gear needed to accomplish the shot. After a few bouts with navigating through the large chambers and a rather humorous incident involving me sliding down a mud slope being pulled by all the heavy cases of photo/illumination gear into the river below, we finally arrived at our destination. The Rotunda Room.  During a quick break I took a quick tour around the room for a good vantage point. Once found I returned to the group to find everyone ready to get busy.

The Rotunda Room covers an area of about 3.5 acres with large breakdown over most of the room. To truly get a sense of scale models would need to be placed throughout the shot. To the left was Sabrina, in the middle up top was Michelle, To the right was Angela, and down in the foreground was Stephanie. Lights were placed and everything was checked and  double checked. There was a small group present and ready to see what I had hoped for. It was time. The call was given to turn off non essential lights.
There we all were. It was dark. The void lay before us. After a couple personal thoughts I pulled it together and gave a quick countdown 3...2...1...ALL LIGHTS ON!
The chirps of the power equipment could be heard as they struggled to provided the initial startup power for the massive lights. Then it happened. It was all there. I had my 1/30th of a second from four years ago back and now I was sharing it with old and new friends alike. It was like magic. The new lights and power systems allowed us to keep the lights going for just over an hour. The room was lit very well and you could really see all the details. We got busy and I shot several images. The best way to shoot this room was to break it up in the smaller sections and not to try to get it all into one shot. This way more detail could be captured. After capturing a high resolution series I swapped lenses and started on an ultra high resolution series. This series will be completed on future trips and once finished the final print will measure over twenty feet wide.
Slowly the lights powered off as the batteries dwindled down. The room finally went dark as the last light was shut off. It had been a great day. The lights worked and we got the picture we were after but more than that we got an experience we will never forget. We had a great team and a great trip. Everyone worked hard and it really paid off. I am very thankful to all who helped. Without them it would have not been possible. Hopefully we will travel to more places like Camps Gulf and create another experience. Only time will tell.