Tag Archives: pixley falls

Through the Mist & Trees

Posted by Mike on

Pixley Falls State Park

With the unusually long winter and cold spring it has been a slow start to my state park excursions. Pixley Falls is just 20 minutes up the road from me and Sunday was my first visit since it opened. I generally enjoy photographing the small tributary streams as they have a lot more character and interesting compositions for long exposures and silky smooth running water.

Yesterday though I was able to get a nice composition of the main falls through the trees and billowing mist. I had waited just long enough to allow the sun to pass far enough through the sky to not create the usual ‘hot’ spots when trying to photograph this waterfall. I have learned to better expose these scenes so I can get the image I want without having to bracket my exposures.

I’ll be sprinkling the other images into my blog posts as I work on them… 😉

Through the Mist & Trees Nikon D5100, Nikkor 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5, 1/8s, 24mm, f/16, ISO 100

Through the Mist & Trees
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5, 1/8s, 24mm, f/16, ISO 100

Rock Pool

Posted by Mike on
Rock Pool Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 2.5s, 28mm, f/18, ISO 100

Rock Pool
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 2.5s, 28mm, f/18, ISO 100

Just Past Prime

Posted by Mike on

My original plan was to get up early and try to catch the morning light at Chittenango Falls State Park but the below freezing temps convinced me to stay inside sipping my coffee. The cold weather wouldn’t have bothered me but I didn’t want to try to navigate the trail down into the gorge with any frost on the ground. It is suppose to be warmer tomorrow morning so if the rain holds off I’ll make another attempt then.

I decided to try processing this picture from last weekends excursion to Pixley Falls. I was a little late to capture the leaves on the trees but the color on the ground and in the water worked for me. I watched a webinar earlier in the week by Ali Elhajj for Topaz Labs on using the Denoise filter, beyond just the presets and I wanted to see if I could put what I learned into practice. It really did make a difference in my processing and I think it produced a better image.

Just Past Prime
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (1/4, 1/15, 1/60s bracket), 21mm, f/16, ISO 200

Divide and Conquer

Posted by Mike on

Divide and Conquer
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (1/4, 1, 4s bracket), 17mm, f/16, ISO 100

Secondary Falls

Posted by Mike on

I attempted to explore Whetstone Gulf state park just outside of Lowville, NY yesterday but ended up returning after finding out the trails close to the public at 3pm. I had arrived at 4pm in an attempt to get some nice sunset pictures, I guess the next trip will have to be early morning. I didn’t see any signs forbidding hikers on the trails in the early hours.

The day was not a total bust though as I stopped at Pixley Falls state park on my return trip. The ground was not as soft and wet as my previous visit so I was able to do some off-trail exploring. I managed to climb down a slope to get to this secondary falls. It was one I spotted during my last visit but was unable to get into position. Of course, the best view was from two thirds the way down the slope. Luckily there were some tree roots I could use to hold the tripod.

Secondary Falls
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/3s, 38mm, f/8, ISO 100

Pixley Falls

Posted by Mike on

We attempted to explore Pixley Falls State Park on Saturday but we were unable to beat the rain to the park. My daughter and I drove up hoping the rain would hold off. We entered the park just as the rain began. We waited for about 30 minutes but there didn’t appear to be a break coming, so we drove back home.

Pixley Falls is about 25 minutes from my house up Route 46 between Rome and Boonville, NY. There are numerous trails for exploring and quite a few secondary streams producing plenty of photographic opportunities. Obviously ,the main attraction is the big waterfall.

Pixley Falls Front
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (1/40, 1/10, 1/2.5s bracket), 24mm, f22, ISO 100

Pixley Falls Side
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (1/40, 1/10, 1/2.5s bracket), 17mm, f22, ISO 100

After some exploring we found this small stream which had a lot of potential. If it hadn’t just rained we would have been able to go farther upstream which had even more dramatic areas with small waterfalls. But, the rain had softened the ground and made navigating off-trail a little slippery. That will definitely be for another day.

Pixley Falls Tributary
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (1/8, 1/2, 2s bracket), 24mm, f22, ISO 100

I didn’t have a chance to investigate the area prior to driving up so I guessed at 4pm as the optimal time to photograph the waterfall. I knew from a visit last fall that the waterfall would be deep within the trees and very early or late day sun would be out of the question. As you can see from these pictures, there are quite a lot of shadows from the trees even at 4pm. My next visit this summer will be around 10am to see if I can get the sun lighting the waterfall better.