After capturing the panoramic view of the beach at Delta Lake I started to wander around looking for the view that catches my eye. No, not that one… the angle is all wrong, it feels off.
Maybe this one… meh…
Ooohhh! That patch of sky is turning a beautiful color. I bet if I go over that way I can focus on the color.
Yes! Simplistic. Part silhouette, mostly minimalistic, but all about the color…
Color My Thoughts Olympus E-M1 MK III, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/320s, 40mm, f/11, ISO 200
Those were the first thoughts running through my mind as I stepped out onto the beach at Delta Lake State Park yesterday evening. I haven’t been to this park in four months. The last time I was here there was still ice piled up on the beach. It was a beautiful evening and I took a minute to enjoy it.
It was a rare moment at the park during the summer to have the beach to myself. There are little signs other visitors are around but when I arrived the beach and water were empty. The clouds were moving into the area and the sky presented an array of colors. Naturally I thought it best to capture a panoramic view so everyone else could enjoy what was before me.
I stayed for an hour as the sun and clouds played tag across the sky. I definitely have more images to share…
Take It All In Olympus E-M1 MK III, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/80s, 25mm, f/11, ISO 200, 7 image panorama
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
The namesake waterfall is not the only attraction to see when you visit Chittenango Falls State Park. I’ll admit it is the big ticket item, and definitely worth the trek down into the gorge. But, I have found the area of the Chittenango Creek above the falls to be a treasure trove of opportunities for a photographer. It might only be fifteen or twenty minutes for me to explore the views of the waterfall in the gorge but I spent over an hour exploring the creek. BTW, it is properly pronounced “crick”… 😉
For me the “trick” when photographing the creek is finding the right shutter speed. I want a longer exposure that will produce the silky water but I do not want to lose the sense of motion. I could have used the ten stop neutral density filter to totally blur the water (and there are instances when that is exactly what you want), but I chose the three stop filter to keep the swirl of the bubbles from becoming completely solid white.
I can still hear the sounds of the creek as I view this image… aaahhh, that sound takes me back a few years… 🙂
Whorls of Serenity Olympus E-M1 MK III, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 3.2s, 14mm, 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
Picture Day 