Category Archives: landscape

Solemn Gorge

Posted by Mike on

Watkins Glen State Park

Downstream from the iconic Rainbow Falls is a very picturesque area of the gorge. You can setup on the Central Cascade bridge and compose your image looking up the gorge as if you are in the middle of the river. The high walls, winding river with multiple little waterfalls all add up to a very serene view. At the top of the image, peaking through the trees is the section of Rainbow Falls that is sliding down the gorge walls. I processed this image to add a little more mood than what I photographed as it relays the feeling you get standing on the bridge.

  

MLCreations Photography: Watkins Glen &emdash; Solemn Gorge

Solemn Gorge
Olympus E-M1 Mark II, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 0.8s, 15mm, f/11, ISO 200

 

Let It Fall

Posted by Mike on

Watkins Glen State Park

I’m going to stick with the images I captured at Watkins Glen recently. Here is a different view of Rainbow Falls. This isn’t the classic take on this section of the gorge but a more personal look at the stone bridge as you look through the falls coming down the side of the gorge. I was trying to show how wet you can get when the water is really flowing…

  

MLCreations Photography: Watkins Glen &emdash; Let It Fall

Let It Fall
Olympus E-M1 Mark II, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, {2, 0.8, 1/4, 1/10 & 1/40s bracket}, 17mm, f/11, ISO 200

 

Iconic Watkins Glen

Posted by Mike on

Watkins Glen State Park

Originally I was supposed to make a trip to Watkins Glen State Park on May 31st but work got a little crazy and I ended up not taking the day off. I promised myself I would not let the next opportunity pass me by. Checking the weather earlier in the week this Friday was setting itself up to be my next opportunity.

I left early in the morning with the hope of starting my hike up the gorge trail before 7:30am. I beat my goal by five minutes. The day turned into a beautiful sunny day (not the best conditions for waterfall photography) and I knew if I didn’t get my images early the park was going to become crowded. Even though it was a weekday by 10am I was definitely not going to get many images without people in them. I even passed two bus loads of school kids on a field trip.

I grabbed this view of Rainbow Falls on my first pass. I was careful to keep the sky over the bridge to a minimum as it will create a “hot” spot in the image. Although the rains earlier in the week provided more water flow than I typically like to get good long exposure water images, the extra water definitely helped add definition to falls coming down the side of the gorge. I’m going to have to schedule a late fall trip back as I would love to grab this view after the leaves have changed.

  

MLCreations Photography: Watkins Glen &emdash; Iconic Watkins Glen

Iconic Watkins Glen
Olympus E-M1 Mark II, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 2s, 19mm, f/11, ISO 200

 

Sun Spots

Posted by Mike on

Sunrise along the Thruway

Once again I stopped on the Thruway as I drove to work yesterday. The conditions were right for some wonderful color and drama in the sky as I tried capturing the lonely little tree in the pasture. I decided to leave my 60mm macro lens on the camera and see what it could do for the scene. It definitely created interesting lens flare…

  

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Sun Spots

Sun Spots
Olympus E-M1 Mark II, M. Zuiko 60mm f/2.8, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 800

 

Hello Morning

Posted by Mike on

Bellamy Harbor Park, Rome, NY

Normally, each week day I follow the same routine to get myself to work. There might be slight variations but, in general, I stick to the plan. This was a tough week at work. Even though it was shortened by the holiday, by Thursday morning I was running on fumes.

As I drove through the city heading toward the highway, I felt refreshed by the color of the sky. I didn’t want to waste this source of energy. I ended up driving to Bellamy Harbor Park to photograph the sunrise. Totally worth with the detour!

I have an image with a wider view which brings in a few more elements of the sky but I like this focused image better. I shifted my location to the right to bring the water tower to a better spot. If you can enlarge the image and explore the improvements the city of Rome has been doing at the park.

  

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Hello Morning

Hello Morning
Olympus E-M1 Mark II, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 0.3s, 28mm, f/11, ISO 64

 

On the Canal

Posted by Mike on

Bellamy Harbor Park, Rome, NY

While I was exploring Bellamy Harbor Park the other evening I was able to capture a couple of the barge canal travelers docked for the night. The visitor in the distance on the left is a large luxury yacht from Chicago. The smaller sail boat on the right is from California. Amazing to see the different type of adventurers that explore the barge canal. It also didn’t hurt my image that there was beautiful color in the sky as the sun dropped below the clouds.

  

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; On the Canal

On the Canal
Olympus E-M1 Mark II, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/13s, 40mm, f/11, ISO 200

 

Rome Power

Posted by Mike on

Through The Glass – TTG08
Bellamy Harbor

There was an attempt to get an ice cream cone last night but the crowds were out of control. Decided to postpone that treat until later in the week. It was then I realized it was about an hour until sunset and the day was still great. I packed up the camera and headed to Bellamy Harbor Park for some images.

It was good to see so many people at the park enjoying the evening. There was a group of people bringing in their kayaks, quite a few people fishing and even more out for a stroll along the barge canal. I wanted to ask if I could grab a pic of the kayaks on the stony landing as I think I could have composed a nice image with the overflow and sunset in the background, but it was three younger girls and I felt awkward approaching them with my camera. I think I missed an opportunity…

Oh well, I did pull out the Lensball and I think I managed to capture a pretty cool image. It helps when there is already a reflection in the water. Even though the Lensball inverts the image, it is hard to tell with the reflection. 🙂

  

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Rome Power

Rome Power
Olympus E-M1 Mark II, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/25s, 24mm, f/11, ISO 200