Letchworth State Park
Lower Falls Close-up
Olympus E-M1 Mark III, M. Zuiko 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7 II, 1/6s, 75mm, f/16, ISO 100
Middle Falls Shine
Olympus E-M1 Mark III, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1.3s, 12mm, f/16, ISO 100
Upper Falls Drama
Olympus E-M1 Mark III, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 0.8s, 18mm, f/11, ISO 100
Letchworth State Park
Autumn Inspiration
Olympus E-M1 Mark III, M. Zuiko 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7 II, 1/3s, 85mm, f/18, ISO 64
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…
Great Bend
Olympus E-M1 Mark III, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/8s, 12mm, f/11, ISO 200, {7 image pano}
Watkins Glen State Park
After crossing the bridge over the Central Cascade you enter the Glen of Pools in Watkins Glen. I’ve photographed this area many times and depending of the level of water in the creek it takes on different appearances. Typically I would like more water but there is a subtle clarity with the lower level bringing out the individual pools in this section of the gorge.
Glen of Pools
Olympus E-M1 Mark III, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 8s, 22mm, f/11, ISO 100
Watkins Glen State Park
Above the iconic Rainbow Falls, heading toward Mile Point Bridge is the Spiral Gorge section of the trail. It is a dark and narrow passage with dripping springs, sculptured pools, and thin Pluto Falls. This is the view of the gorge looking back toward Rainbow Falls from the vantage point of Pluto Falls. You can barely see three fellow hikers entering this section of the trail in the top, left third of the image.
Out of the Dark
Olympus E-M1 Mark III, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 0.5s, 14mm, f/11, ISO 200
Watkins Glen State Park
When you travel to Watkins Glen on the weekend, especially on a holiday weekend, you best be at the park early if you plan to do any photography. I arrived at 7:30am and the parking lot had a handful of vehicles so I figured my chances were pretty good I would be able to get the images wanted with minimal time waiting. I was helped by the new “rules” for exploring the gorge trail. The gorge is supposed to be walked in one direction and to return to the trailhead you use one of the rim trails. For the most part, people observed this rule.
The water level in the creek was a little low and it did hinder the impact of a few of the views within the gorge. I’ve said this before, timing is everything when you set out to photograph waterfalls. The low water didn’t necessarily reduce the impact of the iconic Watkins Glen view, Rainbow Falls. Although I was in the park before the sun would produce the reason for the name, it is still a beautiful sight. There were a few groups right behind me on the trail so I did need to wait about ten minutes but once they had passed this location I had another ten minutes to explore before the next group arrived.
I should not have been surprised when I eventually returned to the entrance of the park… there were a lot of people! The empty parking lot was completely full. As I returned along the northern rim trail, “Indian Trail”, I stopped at a few of the overlook locations and the amount of people walking in the gorge was the most I have ever seen. Granted I had never been in the park on a holiday weekend, but holy cow, it was definitely time to go.
The Destination
Olympus E-M1 Mark III, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 8s, 22mm, f/11, ISO 100
Chittenango Falls State Park
After a morning of weekend chores, laundry and groceries, along with a few hours of reading I needed to get out for a walk. The temperature was hovering around seventy degrees which was perfect to me. I checked the state park website and found the gorge trail at Chittenango Falls was open again, so off I headed for a little midday exploring.
The waterfalls at this state park can be tricky to photograph. The sun generally is casting shadows into the gorge as it makes its way across the sky because the creek is running south to north and the face of the waterfall is facing north. I checked the Photographer’s Ephemeris and thought my best shot was around 12:30pm. As you can see there is already a shadow dropping into the gorge. I should have been in the park about an hour earlier but I was still able to capture a good image. There was a storm approaching which provided some excellent clouds in the sky and helped to soften the midday sun.
Impetus
Olympus E-M1 Mark III, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/4s, 27mm, f/11, ISO 200
Buttermilk Falls State Park
As much as I love autumn, I was surprised to see leaves in the gorge in August. I don’t want to rush summer out the door. I still have more parks to visit before the changing leaves season…
Starting early
Olympus E-M1 Mark III, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 8s, 17mm, f/11, ISO 100
