Tag Archives: letchworth state park

Letchworth State Park – Before the Falls

Posted by Mike on

Letchworth State Park

I know I have said this before but New York State has some incredible landscape. I dream of traveling out West to visit our more famous national parks, but I am still impressed with these state parks. This park was voted the best in the nation for state parks with good reason… it is beautiful.

The GPS brought me into the North East end of the park. I had a good 15 mile drive to reach the more reachable scenic areas in the lower end of the park. Before I get to the three waterfalls, I thought I would show off the views of the gorge.

Tea Table Nikon D7100, Tokina 12-28mm f/4, 1/20s, 17mm, f/16, ISO 100

Tea Table
Nikon D7100, Tokina 12-28mm f/4, 1/20s, 17mm, f/16, ISO 100

Looking Back at Tea Table Nikon D7100, Tokina 12-28mm f/4, 1/125s, 19mm, f/16, ISO 100

Looking Back at Tea Table
Nikon D7100, Tokina 12-28mm f/4, 1/125s, 19mm, f/16, ISO 100

Great Bend East Nikon D7100, Tokina 12-28mm f/4, 1/20s, 12mm, f/16, ISO 100

Great Bend East
Nikon D7100, Tokina 12-28mm f/4, 1/20s, 12mm, f/16, ISO 100

Great Bend South Nikon D7100, Tokina 12-28mm f/4, 1/125s, 12mm, f/16, ISO 100

Great Bend South
Nikon D7100, Tokina 12-28mm f/4, 1/125s, 12mm, f/16, ISO 100

Great Bend Overlook Nikon D7100, Tokina 12-28mm f/4, 1/100s, 12mm, f/16, ISO 100

Great Bend Overlook
Nikon D7100, Tokina 12-28mm f/4, 1/100s, 12mm, f/16, ISO 100

Great Bend Selfie

Posted by Mike on

Letchworth State Park

I started the summer with a few visits to New York’s state parks. My plan was to explore more as the summer progressed. As you probably can tell from my posts I did not succeed. Labor Day did afford me an opportunity for an adventure and I made the most of it. I left the house before 5am to make the 3 hour trip to Letchworth State Park. There is a reason this park was voted the best in the nation… it is gorgeous!

My first trip a few years ago (see posts here) was fantastic but this time I made sure to get to the park early enough to capture the morning sun. The morning was wonderful but as the sun traveled toward apogee I could feel the warm air rising from the canyon below.  Not to sound a little whiny but I wish I had picked a day that didn’t reach 90 degrees to make this trip. lol

I’ll be posting more images later but I wanted to get this selfie out first. I took the time to enjoy the park and not just run from one photo opportunity to the next. There are an almost unlimited supply of benches scattered throughout the park with amazing views of the canyon. No need to bring a camera. Just pick a bench, sit down and enjoy…

Great Bend Selfie Nikon D7100, Tokina 12-28mm f/4, 1/60s, 28mm, f/16, ISO 100

Great Bend Selfie
Nikon D7100, Tokina 12-28mm f/4, 1/60s, 28mm, f/16, ISO 100

The Upper Falls

Posted by Mike on

I finally have processed the last of the waterfall images from Letchworth State Park. The Upper Falls were a short walk from Middle Falls and although not as large in size they are visually impressive due to the sky high train bridge straddling the gorge right above them.

After capturing a few images I heard a low rumble as I was breaking down the tripod to walk to the very edge of Upper Falls. It had to be a train! I quickly got everything back in position and was rewarded with a very slow moving train across the bridge. I don’t think I could have timed it better if I tried.

Upper Falls Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/13s, 24mm, f/25, ISO 100

Upper Falls
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/13s, 24mm, f/25, ISO 100

The Crossing Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/13s, 28mm, f/25, ISO 100

The Crossing
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/13s, 28mm, f/25, ISO 100

It Points to the Fall... Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/30s, 17mm, f/22, ISO 100

It Points to the Fall…
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/30s, 17mm, f/22, ISO 100

The Middle Falls

Posted by Mike on

I think what I enjoyed the most about my visit to Letchworth State Park were the amount opportunities within the park. I only explored the upper half of the park from one side of the gorge. Granted it was probably the most frequented areas of the park (which I can attest to at Middle Falls) but I also had no problem finding areas to explore by myself with almost no one else around.

This is the Middle Falls…

Just one of you Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/6s, 21mm, f/20, ISO 100

Just one of you
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/6s, 21mm, f/20, ISO 100

Floral Flow Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/10s, 28mm, f/20, ISO 100

Floral Flow
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/10s, 28mm, f/20, ISO 100

On Edge Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/15s, 17mm, f/22, ISO 100

On Edge
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/15s, 17mm, f/22, ISO 100

The Fall Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/6s, 17mm, f/22, ISO 100

The Fall
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/6s, 17mm, f/22, ISO 100

Inspiration Point

Posted by Mike on
Long View Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/10s, 28mm, f/20, ISO 100

Long View
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/10s, 28mm, f/20, ISO 100

Lead In, Middle & Upper Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/10s, 32mm, f/20, ISO 100

Lead In, Middle & Upper
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/10s, 32mm, f/20, ISO 100

Stacked Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/10s, 70mm, f/22, ISO 100

Stacked
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/10s, 70mm, f/22, ISO 100

Middle Falls Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1/5s, 72mm, f/25, ISO 100

Middle Falls
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1/5s, 72mm, f/25, ISO 100

The Lower Falls

Posted by Mike on
The Alley Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (1/40, 1/10, 0.4s bracket), 17mm, f/18, ISO 100

The Alley
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (1/40, 1/10, 0.4s bracket), 17mm, f/18, ISO 100

Lower Falls Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (1/30, 1/8, 0.5s bracket), 70mm, f/29, ISO 100

Lower Falls
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (1/30, 1/8, 0.5s bracket), 70mm, f/29, ISO 100

Grand Canyon of the East

Posted by Mike on

I have some training for work this week just outside of Buffalo, NY. The start of the day on Monday is 8:30am and although I am usually up in plenty of time to drive out that day I decided to come out early Sunday so I could stop off at Letchworth State Park. This area along the Genesee river has been called (not sure if it is just self proclaimed) the Grand Canyon of the East.

It really is sad that I have lived in New York state for 47 seven years and this is my first visit to this state park. I have been thoroughly impressed with the natural wonders of my home state since I started exploring with my camera and this park was no exception. It was beautiful! It was an overcast day with off/on rain but that did not slow me down. The cloud covered sky added some drama to my images and help cut down on the glare when photographing the water falls.

Did I forget to mention the waterfalls? There are three! Each one amazing by itself and from a spot called Inspiration Point you can view both the middle and upper falls together. I spent 3.5 hours exploring the gorge and the walking trails before my hunger got the best of me and I headed out in search of food. I will be coming back to this park.

This is the view from the first overlook area just after the Castile entrance.

Big Bend - South Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/13s, 24mm, f/18, ISO 100

Big Bend – South
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/13s, 24mm, f/18, ISO 100

Big Bend - North Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/10s, 26mm, f/18, ISO 100

Big Bend – North
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/10s, 26mm, f/18, ISO 100