This is one of those beautiful small scenes the Catskills in NY is known for. We got here during mediocre light (by photographer standards…aka a nice day to everyone else haha) so I struggled a bit with this edit. What do you guys prefer? Black & White? Or color?
Also, the holiday gift giving season is upon us. If anyone wants a print or two, let me know!
Crescendo :: NY
Between the destruction of Hurricane Harvey and Irma, and the wildfires raging out west, most recently in the Columbia River Gorge, I’ve been doing a little reflecting. Our natural spaces are so important, yet so fragile. One little event, change, or bad decision can upset an ecosystem for decades.
Would Harvey have been quite as damaging if the natural flood planes and wetlands around Houston had remained intact? Would the Gorge be flush with greenery still if one kid decided fireworks in a dry season was a bad idea?
Hindsight is 20/20, and so it’s easy to say what should have been done differently in those cases…. but what about the decisions that are being made now, that will devastate something in our future? Those little moments of putting money, or Instagram fame, or some other selfish priority over the need (yes, *need*) to maintain these green spaces? Every day we have the opportunity to make good, healthy, environmentally sustainable choices and it’s so easy to be selfish, to take the easy path, to say “someone else will do it.” But in the end, it’s not someone else’s responsibility to guarantee you and your children and your grandchildren a safe future. It’s yours. It’s all of ours. If each of us does our part, in the end, we all win.
This is a shot from North-South Lake in the Catskills of NY. Sunset was dang purty!
Epiphany :: NY
I know, I know….it’s a weird crop. But this is art dangit, and I do what I want. Also, I didn’t think cropping this one down did it justice.
Anyway, this is sunset over “Connery Pond” in the Adirondacks ….when you read it, your inside voice needs to have a Scottish accent, and add “Sean Connery” somewhere into the mix. Then you need to google the old Celebrity Jeopardy episodes of SNL and laugh uproariously. Look, I don’t make the rules, eh? (Oh, yeah, I do. 😂)
Nerdy stuff: This is three exposures blended together as a focus stacked vertical panorama.
Bastion Trickle :: NY
Below the more famous Kaaterskill Falls in NY resides this little guy, Bastion Falls. This shot is from last fall, when we had gone through a bit of a dry spell an the falls were down to a trickle. Still beautiful though. 🙂
The photo info: f/11, 1/8 sec, 22 mm, ISO 100, circ polarizer
Watkins Glen, NY – Long Exposure HDR
I discovered a photo of Watkins Glen by accident about a year ago (thank goodness for Google image search!) and put it on the mental “to-visit” list. Over the long holiday weekend, the opportunity to go there came up! It was a bit of a detour from my final destination of Niagara and Toronto in Canada, but well worth the trip.
19 waterfalls, a few hours of hiking around to break up the road trip and stretch our legs, and a bracketed pano series later…and here we are. 🙂
Niagara Falls (ON, CA) Ferris Wheel – Long Exposure
Finally, the submissions are in and we can show you our interpretations of Long Exposure work!
My first submission is an image of the ferris wheel on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, which also happens to be one of my fondest memories of the place. I had gone several years ago and really enjoyed the view from the top of the ride. It puts you high above most of the other buildings and lights and gives you a nice view of the main attraction – the Falls.
This image is actually a composite of two different images, layered and blended by hand. The short and long exposures of this image both had components I wanted in the final version, so it made sense to layer and mask, so I could have fine control over the fnal blend.
I contemplated desaturating this particular image, but in the end, decided the lights were indicative of the area the ferris wheel resides in (Clifton Hill) and the image was better with the color. Tourist demand has turned Clifton Hill into a fair-like atmosphere, with lots of bright lights and gimmicks. The Sky Wheel is a major feature of the tourist landscape and obviously, it’s own bright lights give it personality.
In the end, it is just a ferris wheel but the view of the Falls left a lasting impression. Sky Wheel, I salute…errr…photo you!
Looking for other bloggers, book reviewers (if you can read, you're in!) and photographers who want to join forces to save the world! (Or something like that.)
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