Buttermilk Falls State Park

The Pools
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 2s, 15mm, f/16, ISO 200

Buttermilk Falls State Park

The weather forecast predicted a beautiful Saturday here in Central NY so I decided Friday night I was going to make a run to Ithaca for some waterfall action.  There has not been a lot of rain recently but my thought was the lower levels would produce some interesting cascades in my “go to” state parks.  I gathered up my equipment, packed extra clothes and headed out around 5:30am.

My first stop was Taughannock Falls on the western edge of Cayuga Lake.  Much to my disappointment the gorge trail was closed which only left me the falls overlook location.  I grabbed a couple of images and explored around the new visitor center before reluctantly leaving for my next stop, Buttermilk Falls.

I was at the northern end of the gorge trail before 8:30am.  The change in plans due to my first stop probably worked to my advantage.  The trail was fairly empty and the sun had not reached into the gorge in a lot of the locations.  I spent a good hour and a half photographing the upper portion of the gorge.  I have never been very impressed with the namesake falls.  I have found much more interesting images in the upper portion of the park.  The image for this post is one of those locales.

Buttermilk Creek
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 2s, 19mm, f/16, ISO 200

The next stop (which ended up being my last stop) was Robert H. Treman park.  By the time I arrived a little after 10am the park was already starting to get crowded.  I didn’t think it would matter too much though as there are over 5 miles of trails along the gorge.  What I didn’t think about was the number of people ignoring the signs about not playing in the water.  I lost count of the images I walked past because there was someone in the water.

This park ended up kicking my butt!  The next time the little voice in my head says “it is only a couple hundred stairs up to the top” there is going to be a fight.  It is only a five mile round trip from one end of the park to the other.  What the park map doesn’t explain is the huge changes in elevation.  I will put together a post later in the week with a better look at this great state park.

For now, I am going to relax and recuperate… and probably head out for some sunset action.  🙂

Chittenango Falls State Park

I was not about to give up on my plan to photograph Chittenango Falls.  After my shortened trip on Friday afternoon I woke the next day with a plan.  The weather appeared to be in my favor so I set about getting myself to the park to capture my favorite waterfall.

With the main view of the falls obstructed by the gorge walls I knew I had to wait a few hours after sunrise in order to get some light down into view.  I also knew I did not want the sun to get too high in the sky or the water would reflect too much light, changing my plan to a late afternoon visit.  I had other activities I needed to get done before the weather turned south on me this weekend.

I started off with my laundry.  Everything was washed and out on the clothesline by 7am.  Next up was an oil change for the car.  My normal garage was not open this weekend so I opted for one of the quick change garages over in Rome.  I chose Rome so I could go straight to the park when I was done.  This worked out perfectly as I arrived about 5 minutes after the park opened.  If I remember correctly I was the third car there.

Not wanting to miss my window for images on this morning I worked my way down to viewing area at the base of the falls.  I normally climb under the walkway bridge to get the best view but today I thought I would go for a bigger view.  I ventured downstream a little farther so I could include the bridge and the sunlit trees in my grand vista.  As luck would have it a small family had arrived to take in the same view but they were nice enough to wait for me to get my picture before they went out on the bridge.  To be honest, I would have liked having them on the bridge.  It would add a sense of scale to my first image.  As it is you can see them as a blur on the right in the trees near the water.

Just Over the Bridge
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 0.6s, 14mm, f/16, ISO 200

Of course I had to capture an image of just the waterfall.  The amount of water flowing over the falls was perfect.  You never want to visit after strong rains as there is too much water and you miss the cascading effect.  Also late in the summer is tough as there is general less water creating a smaller waterfall.

I didn’t climb under the bridge for this image but I did setup in the viewing area just at the end of the bridge on the left in the image above.  The area in front of the bridge and before the falls is a protected area so shooting through the fence was my best option.  Zooming in to let the falls be the entire view allowed me to bring out the detail in the gorge walls as well as the water cascades.  This is the Chittenango Falls I fell in love with back in 2012.

Cascade Falls
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1s, 30mm, f/16, ISO 200