Gorge-ous!

Ithaca's Buttermilk Falls... a must-see!
Photo by Sarah Clowe. All rights reserved.

In addition to visiting with friends and family, and enjoying various cultural activities, this month has been a great opportunity for us to hike around some beautiful areas in the Capital Region, Adirondacks, and Western New York. 

I've said it before... Scott E. Brown's New York Waterfalls: A Guide for Hikers and Photographers (Stackpole Books) is an extremely useful guide for telling us how to get there, locate and photograph the best views. Here are a few of mine...

In order of appearance:

Hadley Mountain, Hadley, New York
Buttermilk Falls State Park, Ithaca, New York

Taughannock Falls State Park, Ithaca, New York

Letchworth State Park, Castile, New York

All photos by Jeremy (and Sarah) Clowe. Canon EOS Rebel T3, 

EFS 18-55 mm, EFS 55-250 m. Minimal Photoshop color/light correction.

©Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved.

Catch Me I'm Falling...

Today I can feel the weather finally starting the change (thank God). Signs of crocuses and snow drop flowers blooming... I was even able to ditch my jacket.

Although cooler this past weekend, Sarah and I managed to get outdoors for a hike with her parents on Saturday afternoon, along one of our favorite nature preserves in the Capital Region. I already blogged last June about the Christman Sanctuary, which contains a couple of really stunning waterfalls. Well I think now is really the time for us to get cracking on our waterfall search, because things are thawing and the water is falling! Here are some photos I took with my new Canon EOS Rebel T3:

Interesting to see the changes with a longer exposure:

For those who attended our wedding, this waterfall might look familiar 

(we used a photo of it on our invitations).

The Harder They Come, The Harder They Fall

Get a long, little doggie... enjoying the Christman
Nature Preserve. Photo ©Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved.

Yesterday I set out on a photographic mission: to take a nice shot of a nearby waterfall to use at the wedding. For the uninitiated, Sarah and I have a thing for waterfalls and have been making a list of those we have seen (including Niagara). I brought along an excellent book that my Mother had given us for Christmas: New York Waterfalls: A Guide for Hikers & Photographers by Scott E. Brown. In addition to listing all the locations in the state, I forgot that the book also had some useful tips for taking photographs of waterfalls, including the author's manual camera settings. Beautiful results!


One of the nicest waterfalls we have seen is located at the Christman Nature Preserve in nearby Duanesburg, New York--we actually used a photo of it for our wedding invitations, but thought that we should take a photo with a higher resolution for what we have in mind. So off I went, and enjoyed the nice wooded hike through the winding preserve. There were plenty of pretty nature scenes, but I was determined to get the shot of the waterfalls first... 


What I found instead was more like a trickle... I guess there has not been enough rain over the last week or so to sustain a natural waterfall in the location. The only sights I had to see were girls in swimsuits enjoying the pond... oh darn.

Christman Nature Preserve.
Photo ©Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved.

With limited time, I called Sarah at work and she suggested heading over to the Cohoes Falls, pointing out that because it was flowing from the Mohawk River, it would indeed by falling. She was right... I wandered down a long staircase on to broken shale rocks, and down near foot level for a nice vantage point to a series of pretty waterfalls. However, no sooner did I start taking photos then a park guide walked up to me to tell me that this portion of the park was closing for the day... by this point, I was wondering if I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. took a few quick photos, which turned out alright. Maybe one of these will work, or perhaps I still have time to find another (now I'm praying for rain this week!).


(Cohoes Falls photos ©Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved)

Sarah joined me at the river park after work, and we learned a bit more about the area and town of Cohoes. Also called "The Great Falls of the Mohawk," Cohoes Falls was celebrated by 18th century travelers, who regarded it as the second most beautiful cataract in the state this side of Niagara. The power of the falls was harnessed to fuel turbines for the city's industry, which included the manufacture of cotton. Most of the water is still used for power generation, and for the town's water supply. 


It looks like Cohoes Falls even has it's own webcam (hmmph... I bet no one's kicking them out): ny.water.usgs.gov/rt/pub/01357500.htm


So I'll keep chasing those waterfalls for the perfect picture... hopefully finding a good one before the big day.


Links:


www.friendsofcohoesfalls.org


The Nature Conservancy: Christman Sanctuary

Sight Tour v.1

A few photos taken with my phone during lunch. 

It's a nice habit to get into... yeah, I need to get a proper digital camera.

Photos ©2012 Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved.

Happy Trails...

Beautiful day. We decided to get out and go for a hike around the Lisha Kill Nature Trail in Niskayuna, not far from where Sarah grew up. It felt good to lose ourselves in the woods for a little while (despite the QR Codes!)...

All photos ©Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved.

LInks: 

Schenectady County Nature Preserves and Trails

Breath of Fresh Air...

I have spent too much time at a computer this week... decided to step outside and take a few photos at work today. Nice change of pace, especially with the weather and spring flowers shaping up...

I need to remember to come up for air like this more often... Happy Weekend.

All photos by Jeremy Clowe. Canon EOS 60D, manual setting.