Chittenango Falls State Park

It was another questionable day for the weather. Clouds came and went, the sun making itself known throughout and rain, if only a quick sprinkle, ever possible. Still, it was worth a trip to Chittenango Falls State Park. I wasn’t positive if the trees lining the gorge had fully turned to their autumn pallet, but considering how close the park is, it was worth the drive. There was definitely the start of the colors I seek and I’m guessing by next weekend it will be the full blown pallet.

My favorite section of the creek above the main waterfall held more color and I spent quite a lot of time exploring the possible views. I really liked this section which allowed my to fill the background with color while capturing the swirling bubbles below the small ledge waterfall. Capturing the right image involves a lot of patience. It is easy to get the right exposure, timing the pattern of bubbles can be frustrating. This one was probably my sixth or seventh setup of the tripod and the third change of exposure to get the swirl the way I wanted it.

Autumn Swirl
Olympus E-M1 Mark III, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 6s, 17mm, f/16, ISO 100

Forestport Dam

As I returned home from Old Forge on Sunday I took the opportunity to stop in Forestport to photograph the dam. The colors of the leaves had not completely changed over to the autumn colors I sought, but there was enough to make the view a little interesting. There is a nice out cropping of rocks next the bridge over the river and this allowed me to get an unobstructed foreground to capture some of the reflection.

Spill a Little
Olympus E-M1 Mark III, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1s, 20mm, f/11, ISO 200

Moose River, McKeever, NY

My original plan was to go to Old Forge on Saturday morning to see what autumn colors I could find. I was hoping to start the day with a sunrise from the docks in Old Forge and then work my way into to forest. I woke with a headache and by the time I wrangled it away I would miss the sunrise. No worries, there was still another day to the weekend.

Sunday did not go as planned. I drove up the winding roads through the foothills of the Adirondacks arriving in Old Forge roughly forty-five minutes before sunrise. At least this time there was no fog (see ‘the best laid plans…‘ from seven years ago). My weather app had predicted partly cloudy. I think I need to ask them exactly what that entails. I was fairly confident the cloud cover would eventually give way to the sun but I wasn’t positive how long that would take. Again, no worries, I’ll be back.

The drive back home did yield me a great autumn image. Along Route 28 there is a bridge over the Moose River. I have always wanted an image of the abandoned building visible from road. With the low water levels in the river and the leaves almost at peak color, I decided to to stop and explore the area even though the sky was still overcast.

This first image is from the end of the steps leading down into the river bed. This side of the river is all but dried up which allowed me to do more up-close inspection than normally would be possible. Not a bad image…

First Look
Olympus E-M1 Mark III, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/15s, 26mm, f/11, ISO 200

I almost walked back to the car but why was I in a hurry to get back home? There had to be another image here. I walked upstream a little bit and found a pool of water. Ah, time for a reflection. Everyone know me and my reflections. There was no breeze and no movement in the water, this was going to be good. Getting the camera as low as possible on the tripod allowed me to capture both the trees and the clouds in the reflection. OK, an improvement over the first one. Was there more?

Color Reflection
Olympus E-M1 Mark III, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/15s, 15mm, f/11, ISO 200

From the pool I could see the river before it took its turn and diverted down the other side of the river bed. It appears to be directly across from the building. This is it! This is the reason I stopped. You can see the entire structure. The colors of the leaves are directly behind my subject. More of the everything is reflected in the water. And I found one lone rock to use in the foreground. Yep! This image is what I wanted.

McKeever Pulp Mill
Olympus E-M1 Mark III, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/15s, 12mm, f/11, ISO 200

Even though my drive to Old Forge did not end as I expected, I came home with a beautiful autumn image. I came home with an image of a building I had stared at every time I drove North. I came home with a definite keeper. By the way, a little research on the intrawebs and I found this structure is the remains of the McKeever Pulp Mill. From where I was located to capture the last image there was a damn on the river to allow the floating of the logs to the mill. You can see some of the old pictures on the Adirondack Experience website.