Goldenrod at Lucifer Falls

As we drove around the Northeast in the second half of July and the first week of August, we were surprised to see goldenrod (Solidago sp.) already flowering abundantly in many places. One of those was at Lucifer Falls in New York’s Treman State Park on August 1st. That was seven weeks ago; I’ve yet to see any goldenrod flowering in Austin, though I’ve read reports online of people beginning to see some here.

And while we’re still talking about Treman State Park,
let me show you one more picture of the picturesque rock strata there:

© 2019 Steven Schwartzman

Rainbow Falls

You’ve already seen that at Watkins Glen State Park in New York State’s Finger Lakes region a visitor can walk behind Cavern Cascade. Upstream at Rainbow Falls comes another (and somewhat wetter) chance to do that:

From behind the curtain of water I experimented with a slow shutter speed, namely 1/15 of a second.

And below, sans animation or slow motion, is a more ample view showing the round pools the falling water sustained. In the previous waterfall picture from Watkins Glen I felt fortunate to have one disembodied tree trunk or limb that had ended up in the gorge; here I got three.

© 2019 Steven Schwartzman

Other waterfalls at Treman State Park

While Lucifer Falls is the best known waterfall in the upper part of Treman State Park, others there also deserve attention. In the first photograph, though no direct sunlight had yet reached these falls on the morning of August 1st, reflected light from near by added yellow to the pool at the base of the waterfall. In some of my photographs I zoomed in to minimize or exclude that trespassing sunlight:

Here’s a different waterfall altogether, the most channelized I saw there:

And here’s a downward and more abstract view of a waterfall:

I used a shutter speed of 1/800 of a second for the third photograph and 1/1000 for the others.
Speedy me, or at least speedy my camera’s shutter.

© 2019 Steven Schwartzman

Keeping and not keeping to the unstraight and narrow

Here are a couple of pictures from July 30th showing how narrow and sinuous some parts of the gorge are at Watkins Glen State Park in New York’s Finger Lakes region.

In other places the gorge widens and its high walls curve more broadly:

© 2019 Steven Schwartzman

Ithaca Falls

When we visited Ithaca, New York, on July 31, we found that
people there are fortunate to have Ithaca Falls right in town.
How obliging of the dead tree trunk to interpose itself,
and of f/14 to get everything sharp from front to back.
Below is a view showing the top of the waterfall.

Why didn’t I include the top of the falls in the first picture?
Because from that angle I would’ve had to show some white sky
and I really don’t like white sky in a landscape photograph.

Speaking of including: I guess I’d better not leave out a couple of pictures showing
the seemingly ubiquitous rock strata in New York’s gorge and waterfall country,
including on the south bank of Fall Creek within sight of the scenic falls.

In the last picture I yet again imagine I’m looking at the ruins of an ancient building.

© 2019 Steven Schwartzman

Cavern Cascade

One of the waterfalls at Watkins Glen State Park in New York’s Finger Lakes region is Cavern Cascade. Below is a chiaroscuro portrait of it from July 30th that plays the falling water off against the rock strata in the gorge.

What makes Cavern Cascade so popular is that the trail leading to it passes behind the cascade. Naturally that’s where I wanted to stand to take a less-conventional photograph, but so many tourists kept coming along the path in both directions and stopping to have someone take their picture or to do a selfie that I despaired of ever getting half a minute completely free from people. Eventually there was a brief letup in the human caravans and I rushed in to make my abstract portrait looking out at 1/800 of a second through the waterfall toward the light beyond it.

© 2019 Steven Schwartzman

Not just Lucifer Falls

At Robert H. Treman State Park in New York’s Finger Lakes region on August 1st I didn’t only photograph Lucifer Falls and other waterfalls. Here are some non-watery scenes from the western (upper) end of the park.

I can’t not see a bell.

A hornet nest.

Living, dead, and inanimate together.

Oh, the lichens….

This reminded me of those old ruined homesteads out in the country where the only thing that’s left standing is a chimney.

© 2019 Steven Schwartzman