PhotoEscapist

Chittenango Falls

Here it is, Fall in Central NY.  The trees are decked out for their fancy dress show, the harvest is coming in and we begin to think about winter.   Much like spring, it’s the time for rain and wind (on sometimes on Halloween, snow).  On Friday and Saturday, we got some of our Fall wind and rain.  Enough to pull leaves from trees, but, not enough to strip them bare.  We received over an inch of rain Saturday.  That much rain means energetic creeks, rivers, rain gutters, storm drains and water falls.

Seeing Sunday lived up to its name, a photo trip was necessary!  Tossing my camera bag over my shoulder and putting on some boots, I headed for the nearest gutters and storm drains!  After taking a dozen or so pictures of styrofoam lids and gum wrappers careening along the gutters and down to their ultimate demise in the drains and listening for the whispers of “It”, it occurred to me that these weren’t really interesting shots and really not a place most people would go to to get out of the house.

A moment or two of contemplation later I decided on going to Chittenango Falls.  The trip is about 25 minuets, half of it Highway and urban  four lane roads.  The other half simply beautiful especially in the fall with the vibrant yellows oranges and occasional deep reds surrounding the roads.  On the Way, I stopped in Chittenango to grab a friend and fellow geek, Dave, to find he and his family had gone off adventuring on their own

Located off of Route 13, Chittenango State park has a decent sized parking area, several picnic areas and two trails leading to the base of the falls.  At the top of the falls there are two great viewing areas giving fantastic views of Chittenango Creek running down the 167′ drop to the bed below, and its meandering path along route 13 in the distance.

From the top of the falls to the creek bed below

As I mentioned before, there are two trails to the base of the falls and the bridge that spans the creek.  The first passes several picnic areas and has a landing that gives an amazing view of the falls

Chittenango Falls 2008

But the path to get there looks like this

Steps of Dooooom

Thank goodness they reopened the Gorge Trail which is better suited for people who have worked in office chairs for the last 15 years and are climbing around with 20 or so pounds of photography equipment on their backs.  The last time I traversed the Stairs of Doom it took me a few days not to weep in horror at the sight of any kind of steps.

The Gorge Trail is mostly sloping pathways and fewer stairs that are more evenly placed.  However the path loops away from the falls then doubles back, so you get nice views of the woods and what seems to be a bed for overflow from the creek, but miss the great view of the falls you get from the other side.

Looking back along the Gorge Trail

To see more pictures from this Backyard Adventure, hop over to my Flickr photostream.

If you live in the area or are visiting and have never come here, it’s a must do.  Bring a lunch and some friends.  Parking will cost you $4 during the summer season.  For more details visit their site

I’d like to thank my 7th Grade Science teacher Robert Bliss, for keeping my interest in science, nature and people burning during my middle school years.  He’s one of the few who let us know it was ok to think and be creative in all aspects of our lives.

As always get up, get out and explore.  There are a lot of places in your backyard where you can go to escape if, you can’t afford that trip to Bermuda

Well, the last about the lens specifically.  I’ll still take pictures with it and you, may see it mentioned in passing.

This was the first ‘field trial’ with this lens.  It was in my bag as part of my normal load-out and, I found a opportunity to use it.  I also used the body doubler (not the kit doubler, I don’t like the way the camera balances with it on) for a few shots.

These were taken during my Quick Trip to Beaver Lake.  Unlike the other images in “more magnification testing” and “from the practical to the ridiculous“, these have been post processed, giving a better look at what the lens can do.

On to the pics:

Ducks and Geese @ 300mm

Ducks and Geese @ 800mm

Ducks and Geese @ 1600mm

I’m not sure where the fuzziness is coming from in the bright areas in the middle shot (around the duck’s chest) I’m assuming something (the doubler) has a finger print or smear on it.  In the third shot the blurriness is me, even with my tripod there is a lot of motion when shooting.  I’d take the shot with a remote, however the weight of the lens causes the camera to tip forward, without support.  I’m thinking about a counterweight or a string from the camera bad to the handle on the tripod to keep everything steady.

The Rokinin 800mm seems to be a good buy.  It’s cheap, and suits my purposes.  I need to better my skills with full manual and no light meter (or figure out how to make the light meter work with the D90 and a full manual lens   )  to get better shots from it.

Yesterday, I received a call to action.  Mother nature demanded my attention with, a long stretch of sunny days and balmy weather.  To translate for those who don’t live in Central NY this means, two sunny days and fifty-five degree weather

Such a call can only be answered in one way, pack up the camera gear, hop in the car and go someplace. Preferably a place with trees, water and maybe pumpkins, seeing it’s fall and all.

In addition to my normal load-out, I have a new addition to the gear. A Tomtom One XL – S.  I haven’t been able to locate the power supply (car or wall) for Glenda (Magellan Roadmate 2200t) for a while and decide this may be a good time to upgrade.  I’ve had the new GPS for a week or so, but, haven’t had a chance to test it.

So we have Nature telling you to get out,  a GPS that needs testing, and it’s fall so yer pictures need trees and pumpkins…I could go to a pumpkin patch, but the ones I know are really easy to get to.  The closest is “The Hollow“.   It’s two turns and 15 mins away.  It’s beautiful, but, doesn’t suit the purposes for testing  the GPS. Where to go? Where to go? During my contemplation the great one eyed god presented a solution! It presented an ad for The “Enchanted Beaver Lake“!  Perfect!  It’s several miles away and there are several twists and tuns to get there.  They also have a Photography club!  Bonus! I knew TV had other purposes besides erasing my mind!

I grabbed my gear, loaded up the car and headed out.

The 25-30 mile trip is about 20 mins long, most of it, on the highway.  The area surrounding the Nature Center is mostly rural houses and farms.  It’s not really much of a scenic drive, but it does pay off when, you get to your destination.

My first stop was to the visitor center to sign up to be a friend of the park. To join the photo club, you have to be a Friend.  I also signed up for a parking pass, which is $10 for the year, seeing as parking is normally $2, it’s worth it in the long run.  Together, this is $45 for the year.

Next it was time to pick one of the seven trails. They range form .3 to 3 miles, most coming in at under 1 mile long. I decided on taking the longest trail “The Lake Loop”, it would give me the most opportunity to see the lake and the areas around it. Besides, how hard could 3 miles be, with 20 lbs of  photography equipment in yer backpack and with you being out of shape and carrying a few extra pounds?

Two hours and 158 pictures later, I completed the loop. There are several places to stop and rest along the route, each with a bench and many with nice views. I shared the path with walkers, amblers and a few joggers, and one photographer. It’s really a nice amble, and if you live nearby or are just visiting the area, you should go.

I may have to go back for “Enchanted Beaver Lake” to play with the 50mm f/1.4, getting pictures of the candle lit pumpkins

We really haven’t reached peak leafing season here yet, so there isn’t a much color as I would have liked.  I also need to go later in the day to get some better sun.  Other than That, I’m pretty please how the photos came out.  You can find all of them on Flickr.  Here are some of my favorites:

It’s amazing what you can find in your own backyard! With the economy the way it is and ’staycations’ being the norm, you should look to see what your local area has to offer.

Remember to get up, get out and explore, you never know what you will find.