Patience has not always been my strong suit when it comes to photography. Well, let me re-state that… in certain instances I have not exhibited the patience I need to get the image I want. I’ve been known to wait 20+ minutes for the next monorail to pass by at Epcot but tend to leave early when the sun is not done performing at the end of the day.
The other night I almost left after the “Color My Thoughts” image but convinced myself there was more to see. The creative side of the brain won out and I was rewarded with this view as the sun dropped below the horizon. I really liked the calm waters reflecting the hectic display in the sky. And who can argue with those colors… 🙂
Breathe It In Olympus E-M1 MK III, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/30s, 16mm, f/11, ISO 200
I love a waterfall image processed as monochrome. To me, it is clean, elegant and amazing. The first view I presented on Saturday was the color image, now it is time for the full gorge view in monochrome.
Simple Beauty Olympus E-M1 MK III, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 0.8s, 20mm, f/11, ISO 100
I could not have asked for a better day to make the trip out to Chittenango Falls State Park. Temperatures in the mid 70’s, a few puffy white clouds scattered throughout the sky and a light breeze floating through the park. I wasn’t alone in my desire to visit the beautiful waterfall. I almost was unable to find a parking space. Persistence won out eventually…
Surprisingly, the trails were not as crowded as the parking lot indicated. I believe there were a few group gatherings in the park and showing up around lunch time allowed me to explore relatively uninhibited. I was disappointed to see a family, or two, at the base of the waterfall climbing on the rocks. I guess all the signs prohibiting entrance to the falls went unseen… ???
I let the unwanted subjects for my image bother me for only a few minutes. There was nothing I could do about them and I was fairly confident I could make them disappear in Lightroom when I processed my images. Let me know if you think you know where they were in the image… 🙂
The falls face South and there is not an optimal time to grab an image as the gorge walls will be in shadow most of the day. I thought my best option would be at noon, which most photographers would say is when the light would be the harshest. But, the shadows on the walls help tame the overall appearance of the image. For each of the compositions, I captured a bracket of images in the event I would need to combine a few different exposures. This view didn’t need extra processing. The -.7EV image tamed the highlights well and I was able to pull out the shadows to show the detail in the gorge walls.
Classic Cascade Olympus E-M1 MK III, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 0.6s, 28mm, f/11, ISO 100
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… ?
Listen to the Falls Olympus E-M1 Mark III, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1.3s, 16mm, f/11, ISO 200
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…
Afternoon Escape Olympus E-M1 Mark III, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 0.8s, 17mm, f/14, ISO 100
Picture Day 