This week, the blog entry is going to depart from my favorite subjects-wildlife and is going to focus on some scenics of a gorge and waterfalls. Joan and I had to make a trip to Elmira, New York to pick up parts from heat treating on Friday. It was a beautiful summer day with light rain and peek a boo sunshine. Watkins Glen is only about 1/2 hour from Elmira, so we decided to take a detour home through Watkins Glen and visit the State Park there and walk through the Glen. It had been years since we had been there.
I took the Canon 1D MK IV with 24-105 f4 lens and Joan took the Nikon D300 with 18-200 lens. We packed along the Gitzo tripod with Really Right Stuff ball head mounted. I learned from a very good mentor (Mark Picard) long ago-do not waste your time and efforts shooting hand held. I was amazed at how many "photographers" I saw in the Glen with very expensive DSLR cameras and NO tripod. Even when the sun is completely out, the Glen is shaded so shutter speeds are slow. There is a mist in the Glen from the waterfalls which makes for a great way to get very naturally saturated images. I set the ISO to 200 and most of the shots had an f stop of f13.
The path winds along through gorge and has nicely laid stonework for the path as well as walls.
There are a couple of tunnels that are had hewn from the rock cliffs and one has a spiral staircase cut into the rocks and you emerge and pass behind one of the larger waterfalls.
The scenery is beautiful and it is a wonder to see how the water has cut its pathway through the rocks.
Until Next Time!
Jim Borden
6 comments:
Thank you
A trip down memory lane for me.
We lived just outside Elmira decades ago and I still dream of Watkins's Glen, our refuge on hot days.
Walking behind that waterfall and the olympic size swimmingpool somewhere near it, made my summer bearable.
By chance I was thinking about these scenes this weekend when the UK had a heatwave [ it climbed all the way up to 80F - I know, chickenfeed for you over there]
@jocodeane
Thanks. I grew up not far from Watkins Glen. Glad you liked it
Jim
Great shots and commentary, Jim. I grew up in Geneva and have made many trips to the Glen and the surrounding area. I sure do miss walking through it and feeling so at peace. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Jim. Thanks for the walking tour. Fun and some nice images. It's a place I'd like to visit sometime, so it was a pleasing vicarious read/view for me.
Hi Jim,
I really enjoyed the series and the thoughts about tripod use. I am still known to shoot without them at times, but these occasions keep getting further and further between.
They are essential in most cases for professional quality video also, yet I well recall a person who kept telling me he did not need a tripod--in the end I think he learned the lesson the hard way when people who gave him an assignment had to look elsewhere for steady footage.
In the case of stills, tripod use is the only way to reliably get those razor sharp images.
Jim, these photos are incredible! I'm surprised there were so many people without a tripod - I would never try something like that without one!
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