Last night after dinner I headed over to Delta Lake State Park just north of Rome, NY.  This park is around the corner from my house (in the country around the corner is less than 10 miles) and although we visited more when the kids were younger it had been quite a few years since I was inside the park.  I can contribute my renewed fascination to my new obsession in photography.  This spring I went to the park to explore with my camera and and old friend has become new again.

I watched the afternoon clear skies become ripe for pictures as the clouds rolled in and I just knew the sunset was going to be worth photographing.  Everything worked out as I was able to get dinner cooked, gobbled down and my hiking boots on to make it to the park with a little over an hour until sunset.

As I topped the knoll between the parking area and the beach this scene stopped me in my tracks.  I quickly made my adjustments to the camera settings before clicking away.  I needed to get a little closer to remove some unwanted elements in the picture but luckily the wide angle lens still allowed for a nice picture.

Delta Lake State Park, beach area Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.0, 1/50sec, 32mm f/8, ISO 200

I think I have fallen into a routine every time I visit the park but it has given me some really nice pictures in the past.  There is a path that starts to the right of the beach area and mostly follows the lake’s shoreline.  This next picture is right at the start of this path and the view is looking toward the dam which created the lake.  I think on my next visit I’ll use the telephoto to show the dam more clearly.

Delta Lake State Park, view toward the dam Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.0, 1/40sec, 17mm f/8, ISO 200

My normal route through the path didn’t yield as many photo opportunities as I had hoped and with a limited time frame before sunset I stopped short to circle back toward the beach.  The advantage of living close and being able to get to the park so late is I generally have it to myself.  The few families or groups left are just finishing up their stay so I’m able to setup practically anywhere.

During the summer you are only allowed to swim during scheduled hours when there are life guards on duty. They even rope off different sections of the beach for the varying abilities (or heights) of the swimmers.  I really liked how the buoyed line appears to go on toward the horizon.

Delta Lake State Park, beach looking west Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.0, 1/100sec, 19mm f/16, ISO 200

In the first picture of this post, the tree filled area is a small overlook which you can get to in numerous ways but over the years small paths from the beach up the hill have been made despite the best efforts of the park to created stair paths.  I always like following the man made paths as you generally find better picture spots along the way.  Once you get to the top there is a area looking west which allows for a nice view of the lake and the setting sun.

Delta Lake State Park, east overlook looking west Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.0, 1/8sec, 19mm f/22, ISO 100

The last two pictures are back down on the beach and are my attempt at capturing the sunset using three exposure brackets.  I used Lightroom 4 to correct for lens distortion and exported the pictures to Photomatix.  I used the normal exposure image for the water to remove any effects of ghosting and then tone mapped the three exposures with detail enhancing plus a few adjustments.  I brought the finished image back into Lightroom for a crop and some minor tweaks.

Delta Lake State Park, beach looking west Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.0, 1/15s, 1/60s, 1/4s, 24mm f/22, ISO 100

Delta Lake State Park, beach looking west Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.0, 1/4s, 1/15s, 1s, 17mm f/22, ISO 100

I ended up not staying until the full sunset.  I had neglected to bring bug spray with me and was starting to get eaten alive.  I had captured enough pictures to keep me processing for a few hours.  I’m not sure the sunset and the time just after would have provided any better views of the lake.  But then, considering how close I am, there will always be another day.