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

Trip to the Falls is a post from: PhotoEscapist

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.

The last Rokinon 800mm F/8.0 Post is a post from: PhotoEscapist

and found a waterway!

How I got there is a story in itself.

This journey began Monday night with a trip to the Parade of Homes on Chefs’ night. For $10 you get to tromp around 500k – 700k homes (this is Real Estate in Upstate NY, for yer 500 or so Grand you get 3000+ square feet on 1/4-1/2 an acre of land) and sample food from some of the finer restaurants in the area. Not a bad deal at all.

It was here we ran in to the Head Chief of The Gingersnap Ann Pellegrino. She was engaging and very delightful to speak with. My 7 year old niece, Emma, spoke with Ann at length about cooking, and the best techniques for a first grader to make better tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Ann’s willingness to take time out to speak with my niece, the amazing Baked Pears and this t-shirt

were reasons enough to go on a trip to Phoenix, NY and visit her shop.

The Gingersnap bakery is located on State Street, next to the Oswego River and Lock 0-1. The bakery is rather small, but filled with the wonderful scents of baking pastries, cakes and cookies. The staff was very friendly and assisted us in buying 4 cupcakes, 2 butterfly cookies and 4 fruit filled pastries. The cookies were released from their box, and were quickly consumed by my nieces, who found the cookies to be most excellent. The cupcakes and pastry survived until after dinner. The cupcakes were very good and the fruit pastries were amazing. The sacrifice of these confections was not in vain. We will remember their sugary goodness.

If you are in the area or traveling the Owsego river, I really recommend going here to stock up on some excellent desert foods, also, they cater, so keep them in mind for yor next food filled event!

I know, it seems I’m rambling. But, this seems to be the kind of path my life takes. I Start at point A intending on getting to point B and find points C,D and F along the way. Sometimes I go back and find point E, but, not always. Knowing there is something I missed keeps me going back form time to time to find it

On the Oswego River and Lock 0-1!

The back of the shop faces the canal. If you were to get pushed out the back door hard enough you, would stumble about 6′ and go cup over tea kettle over the fence and in to the water. There are several shops located along the walkway to the lock all with equally fantastic views. There is enough room between the buildings and the water to put a table and a couple of chairs with out getting in the way of foot traffic. I’ll have to go back on a Spring Friday or Saturday evening ts see if there are indeed tables put out by the cafe and restaurant located on the water. Up further is the lock and a drawbridge for the canal.

Not only was coming across the canal fortuitous, my timing was amazing. While taking pictures of the area, The “Black Sheep” and the “Letitia” came up river to travel through the lock. I had never seen a canal lock in use before. I know the theory and have seen models, but, it was great to see it action for real. I have both pictures and video, and regret I only brought one camera. It would have been great to take snaps and done the video at the same time…tho I may have needed to grow a third eye and 2 extra, very long, arms…On to a few of the pics!

You can also find them on my Flickr account or over on SmugMug

There are 9 photos in all. The video I still need to edit it and will post it to YouTube in the next few days.

A trip to get free food and look at huge houses leads to great pastries and some nice canal shots! Amazing how some things work out

There is a lot to see out there. I’m trying to find what I can and, bring it to you Get up, get out and, get going

Ohhh, yeah! I’m looking for an RV (and some donations or picture sales ) If you can help me find one on the cheap, please let me know! escapist@photoescapist.com

Thanks!

I went for Gingerbread cookies… is a post from: PhotoEscapist