PhotoEscapist

CNY Blooms Entry Display

This was my first visit to CNY Blooms at the Oncenter in Downtown Syracuse, NY.  From the description on the webpage and the flier in the newspaper I was expecting a lot more.  I thought I’d find flowers, plants and landscaping vendors from wall to wall.  Walking through the doors I was greeted by a great display put together by the CNY Nursery & Landscape Association.

CNY Nursery & Landscape Assc. Display

CNY Nursery & Landscape Assc. Display

Sadly the rest of the Oncenter looked more like this:

*Sigh*

I thought there would be more companies along the lines of the Holland Bulb Farm, Michigan Bulb and Spring Hill Nursery.

I wandered around for an hour an took a few pictures.  There were a couple of eye catching displays but nothing quite as good as the CNY Nursery & Landscape Assc. Display.  I did run across another local Photog, normaJean,  who had some very nice canvas wrapped prints on display.

Overall the show for me was a bust.  Being that it was my first time there, I’ll assume it was the poor economy which made the event so lackluster.

If you do go parking was free at the Oncenter lot (mention you are there for the CNYBlooms Show) and tickets to enter were $10.

I have this odd urge to go out and find a VW Minibus now….

Hope

I enjoy going to Onondaga Lake to take pictures.  It has fabulous views and a rich history and, like many other beautiful places it has been abused by industry.

Right now, it is one of the most polluted lakes in the world.  The fish that live here aren’t fit for human consumption and the waters aren’t safe to swim in.   Descriptions of the pollution included, mountains of broken ceramics, ponds of mercury contaminated sediment,undulating  tubes of tar a few cars, a plane and, a train beneath the surface of the waters.

However there are plans under way to restore and revitalize the lake.

Enough of that   You’ve seen some of the pictures I’ve taken there during the day.  If not, here are a couple of galleries and lest I forget, this picture is on display at the Westcott Community Center (it’s also for sale on my ‘buy featured photos’ tab on this page)

This is the 20th year of Lights on the Lake.  Adorned with Christmas light displays, this two mile journey covers seven different themes sponsored by local businesses and organizations.  In general, “Lights on the Lake” is a drive through event.  The night I attended was one of two walking nights.  This allowed hundreds of people the opportunity to wander among the displays at their own pace.

It was a really nice November night to wander through the park with 20 pounds of equipment and  tripod for company.  My four mile round trip journey though the park took around three hours.   When you drive through, the trip is half the distance and takes less than a third of the time.  For details about the cost and the dates of lights on the lake, please visit their site.

Seeing as it was night, I alternated between a wide open shutter and long exposures resulting in some nice pictures.

These are my favorite shots:

This picture is neat, and it makes me think they could pull off a Halloween Event in the park too.

Fantasy Forest

As a Runner Up I like this photo too

Long exposure to the Victorian Age

You can find more photos on my Flickr page.

I will have to go back later in the winter.  The lights reflecting off of the snow makes an amazing change to the atmosphere along the winding path through the lights and park.

After your tour of “Lights on the Lake, you can go to Sainte Marie among the Iroquois for “Christmas Around the World” (Between November 27th and December 19th from 5 – 9pm).  It’s free with your “Lights on the Lake” ticket or just $1, and will be a future Photoescapist Blog topic

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