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).

Magnifique!

Sights of Quebec City... felt like we were transported to Europe! The sounds weren't bad either--whether it was the rush of the largest Canadian waterfall this side of Niagara (Mont Morency), or jazz and folk musicians playing in the city... we also could hear Roger Waters playing Pink Floyd's "The Wall" in its entirety... kind of special to hear this around the fortress of Old Quebec... "all and all it's just another brick in the wall..." What day is it again?

Closing Walls and Ticking Clocks

Man, it really feels like we're racing against the clock right now... not enough hours to work on all the thing we want to have ready before the weekend!


Last night I was back in the Hudson Valley, cleaning the house and getting ready for the arrival of my family. The house is big... takes a good few hours to get it all covered. In the midst of all that (and looking for old photos/video with Sarah), I forgot to complete my blog post for Monday! You'll have to take my word for it, but I did have this video clip saved in my drafts yesterday... so I did have something prepared and underway (I'm going to go ahead and date it for July 9, anyway). 


This Coldplay song, "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall," will forever be linked with my engagement--I had it on a mix tape that I played that evening in September as we rounded Niagara Falls, and the urgency of it perfectly matched that feeling of racing against the clock and the excitement over what was yet to come.

There seems to be a ongoing association with deadlines and Coldplay's music for me... a few years back I was invited to film a portion of a very intimate concert they gave at the Avalon (now the House of Blues) in Boston. I got the word very last minute, so I hopped in my car and drove the couple hours from the Berkshires to Beantown... unfortunately, my Mapquest took me out of my way, and I missed the opening songs I had been invited to record... disappointing, but I did get to see the rest of the show for free, and that was a good time. 

The Finishing Touches...

She's crafty... and she's just my type!
Photo ©Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved.

Exactly one week to go! Unbelievable... I can't believe we're finally in the home stretch. Still a bit of work to do, but it has been fun... 

Today we stopped by the wedding venue to have one last meeting to go over things before our rehearsal. A lot of details to consider, things to look out for, and a few new ideas... As we walked outside, near where the ceremony will take place, we were pleasantly surprised to come across some new landscaping... we could not believe it... the site has built a mini-waterfall! It looks beautiful, and will tie in perfectly to one of the themes of our ceremony. I have to think that this was built just for us... right? Now if we can be assured that's the only water to fall on this (hopefully) outdoor event.

Here we go!...

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