Buttermilk Falls State Park

Olympus E-M1 Mark III, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 0.6s, 12mm, f/11, ISO 200
Can you hear it? The falling water. I love this park, especially in the early morning. No other hikers on the trail. My and the sounds of the gorge. I could stay here all day. Go ahead, listen, do you hear it… ?
It was a long week at work. Being on vacation the previous week didn’t help as most of my time was spent trying to catch up on everything that had accumulated in my absence. By early Friday afternoon I was done, mentally and physically, so I decided to cut out early. I didn’t have a plan other than I wanted to feel the sunshine on my face.
I ended up letting the car bring me to Chittenango Falls State Park to explore the gorge. My previous stops earlier this year were shortened due the gorge trail being closed. Although there was above average water flow in the creek the trail was open and I was able to get some images of the waterfall.
The afternoon sun does cast a shadow across the face of the waterfall but I do not believe it “ruins” the image. I was able to bring some light back into the shadows in post-processing. The key is not to destroy all of the shadows, only to enhance them. An image is only as good as the shadows, the light highlights but the shadows define…
Letchworth State Park
Autumn in New York is a sight to see. That would be the state not the city. Although to be fair, I’ve not visited the city during autumn. What I’m talking about are the state parks. I hope the state continues to support the park system.
I have been monitoring the state’s fall foliage map and now is the time to venture out and view the autumn colors. Even though the weather forecast was “iffy” at best I took a couple days off from work to travel to a few of these state parks I ramble on about and capture the changing leaves. My first stop was Letchworth, the “Grand Canyon of the East”. This park is one of the best state parks in the country. It is definitely worth the two and a half hour drive for me!
In order to get to the park before sunrise I need to leave the house around 3am. The drive generally takes me longer than the GPS calculated time as consuming coffee on the trip requires making a few stops along the way. I managed to get to the “Great Bend” section of the park forty-five minutes before sunrise. I love the morning blue hour and was hoping the chance of rain forecast for the morning would hold off long enough for a few images. I fought my way through occasional sprinkles while I captured images of the tree lined gorge.
This is a seven image panoramic of the Great Bend. The foliage map listed this area of the state at mid-point and you can see there are still some tress waiting to turn to their autumn color. Next weekend might be a better time to visit but I didn’t want to lose this opportunity. Fair warning, there will be more images to be posted…