Category Archives: landscape

Spring Falls

Posted by Mike on

Chittenango Falls State Park

Sunday was the day. The day to take a short trip for a waterfall image. The cloudy morning that started at Bellamy Harbor, was going to continue for a while and the diffused light through the clouds is exactly what I needed for a waterfall.

Which one?

I have already visited Pixley Falls this spring. Chittenango Falls is the obvious next choice. It would have to be near midday so the light will illuminate the gorge.

Will the clouds last until then?

Let’s see. What else are you doing? It will be worth the drive.

And it was…

Spring Falls
Nikon Z6 II, Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 S, 1/4s, 33mm, f/16, ISO 100

I’m enjoying the spring green. After winter and the muddy thaw, seeing the landscape come alive with the green is refreshing. Although it was overcast, the clouds still presented a challenge and a risk of over exposure. I bracketed each shot with the thought of having to merge them into an HDR image. Surprisingly, the two thirds under exposed image was workable.

Now, I like the above image, but I also like a good monochrome image. My waterfall images generally convert well to monochrome. Did this one? Let me know…

Spring Falls – B&W
Nikon Z6 II, Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 S, 1/4s, 33mm, f/16, ISO 100

Cloudy Bellamy Blues

Posted by Mike on

Bellamy Harbor, Rome, NY

I suppose it is time for something that isn’t Disney related. It has been a week since I returned from my trip. I wish I could say I have been busy creating new images, but this morning was my first opportunity to get out with the camera. I wonder if a whole week off from work is actually a vacation?

Although sunrise was full of clouds I wanted to capture a few landscape images that were not muddy looking. It feels like we have pushed past the winter melt portion of spring into the everything is green and new. As much as I love “naked” trees, having them full leaves is wonderful.

Collecting
Nikon Z6 II, Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 S, 5s, 24mm, f/8, ISO 100

Cloudy Blues
Nikon Z6 II, Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 S, 1.6s, 39mm, f/11, ISO 100

Blue Harbor
Nikon Z6 II, Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 S, 1.3s, 70mm, f/11, ISO 100

Small Falls
Nikon Z6 II, Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 S, 2s, 32mm, f/11, ISO 100

Cloudy Start
Nikon Z6 II, Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 S, 1s, 70mm, f/16, ISO 100

Beach Club Floating

Posted by Mike on

Beach Club, Crescent Lake, Walt Disney World

Beach Club Floating
Olympus E-M1 MK III, M, Zuiko 12-100mm f/4, 4s, 34mm, f/11, ISO 200

Midday Pixley

Posted by Mike on

Pixley Falls State Park

It was finally the end of the work week. It had been long. On Tuesday I chose to do the morning for me and captured the sunrise. Yesterday, I chose me again and left work during lunch (already had the 40 hrs in). Although it was slightly raining/snowing I drove up to Pixley Falls for pictures. It was worth it.

As I was capturing views of the waterfall I was planning how I wanted to process the images. I could see them already as nice monochrome images. Knowing this would be the result I wanted, influenced how I captured each scene. Not only was composition important so was tonal quality and textures.

The greens of spring have not started to show here in Upstate NY. Add in the overcast day (perfect for waterfalls BTW) and you can see how monochrome processing works for these images. I did want to show a few other variations for this first image. This is essentially straight out of the camera.

Midday Falling – SOOC
Nikon Z6 II, Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 S, 0.5s, 47mm, f/11, ISO 100

The wet conditions of the day enhance parts of the scene. Tree trunks are darker. The rocks to the right of the waterfall are also darker in tone. These will be enhanced by converting to monochrome. I also play with the saturation of the separate colors (mostly orange, yellow and blue) to highlight different areas of the image. Which brings us to the monochrome version.

Midday Falling
Nikon Z6 II, Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 S, 0.5s, 47mm, f/11, ISO 100

To be honest, not a big change from the original. I made one more version of this image. I applied a vintage preset I created years ago. There is a matte overlay as well as tweaks to the highlights and shadows (adding yellow and blue respectively). For me it changes the feeling of the image. Not sure I prefer it over the monochrome version but I think it “fits” the view.

Midday Falling – Vintage
Nikon Z6 II, Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 S, 0.5s, 47mm, f/11, ISO 100

The snow started to increase and the wind kept swirling the mist/snow onto my lens. It was getting difficult to keep the front clean. My hands were getting cold too. Why I didn’t use the gloves I keep in the car is beyond me. There is a good chance the weather will be favorable this weekend. I’m looking forward to venturing out again with the camera.

Pixley Spring
Nikon Z6 II, Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 S, 0.4s, 70mm, f/11, ISO 100

Pixley Profile
Nikon Z6 II, Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 S, 0.8s, 30mm, f/11, ISO 100

Pixley from the River
Nikon Z6 II, Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 S, 1/3s, 38mm, f/11, ISO 100

Harbor Glow

Posted by Mike on

Bellamy Harbor, Rome, NY

Tuesday morning I fought through any guilt about getting to work late (still before most employees) and diverted down to Bellamy Harbor. The sunrise with the clouds were combining to create a beautiful color show in the sky. Wednesday’s image was a panoramic view of the harbor before the sun started to dominate the morning.

Before I left the harbor, and trudged my way to work, I climbed down the river bank to get this waters edge view of the clouds. The reflected colors were amazing. For a few seconds I thought about calling in sick and spending the morning watching this view of the harbor.

Harbor Glow
Nikon Z6 II, Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 S, 1s, 24mm, f/11, ISO 100

See it All

Posted by Mike on

Wordless Wednesday
Bellamy Harbor, Rome, NY

See It All
Nikon Z6 II, Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 S, 2s, 24mm, f/11, ISO 100
{7 image panoramic}