Night over the South End Marina Cargill Pool Elevator The South End Marina Cargill Pool Elevator begs for attention on the Outer Harbor of Buffalo. It's a pretty dominant structure with a lot of history behind it and it's one of a kind directly on Lake Erie. As such, it works really well with my passion for revisiting locations I photographed before. Some say the first time is the best with the most creativity happening at that time. Maybe. But many times, the satisfaction of capturing something for the first time is not really because the results were the best but simply because as photographers, we finally get those first images. We have something from the location vs. nothing. And many times, planning for time of the year, time of the day, weather, etc., really results in impressive first time results.

I like returning though, over and over. I feel it gives me the opportunity to get more familiar with the subject, with the location, with weather patterns, with light, with everything around. The conditions always vary too, so the things that did not work as wished for the first time around may work the second, or third, or the next time.

My previous photographs of this grain elevator (1: South End Marina Cargill Pool Elevator, 2: Grain Elevator at Dusk) were at sunset and at dusk shortly after sunset. This time, I arrived pretty much at night, long after the sun went to bed. First, I wanted to try this shot at night for a long time, and second, I was coming back from sunset and dusk photo fun at the Squaw Island. It all worked perfectly. And I am glad I did stop here. The grain elevator was so dominant catching light from the street lights on the shore setting it off the night sky. And as I've learned over and over, the cameras can see more than our eyes can at night. The long exposure is like magic, showing colors in what seems like a pitch black night sky. I liked how that added depth to the photograph.

I also changed my vantage point and went down on the beach and lowered my tripod low to make the foreground, the rocks and the reflection, more prominent.

And finally, every time I go to a location I try to research it for my own knowledge and to share along with my photos and here in my blog. And every time I return I look up and remember more. That's a great driving force for me!

Have fun re-discovering the opportunities of familiar locations!

Equipment used:

• Nikon D600
• Nikon 24-85mm Nikkor Lens
• Manfrotto tripod (055MF3) and head (496RC2)
• Think Tank Speed Demon Waist Pack
• Exposure delay mode of 2 seconds, no remote release
• Nikon Capture NX2

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Flickr Banner of Niagara Falls Do you use Flickr? You've probably noticed the recent change. There's much discussion about whether they got it right or not and I will not pour gasoline into that fire. I will just say that I was not clear on how to size my banner to work well in the new framework. I've also found quite a few blogs that did not help me much. But The Barefoot Businessman's blog post helped and while I did not use the templates provided, it helped me size things right.

Have fun!

Intimate American Falls I arrived at Niagara Falls, Canada, in the late afternoon and enjoyed the views over Horseshoe Falls, including the signature rainbow. However, the gorge was in deep shadow by then so I did not photograph much until the sun set and the illumination kicked in.

The illumination was actually what I came to photograph on this occasion. Living so close to this wonder I had photographed there several times, however, could not find any photos of the color show other than one 4th of July shoot on the American side.

After enjoying the Horseshoe Falls with my wide angle lens I moved on and captured some views of the so different American Falls too. the horseshoe vs. the straight edge are so different, each providing its own beauty.

Then I decided to zoom in (getting closer might not be wise here) and see if I could find some more intimate depiction of the waterfall and its illumination, the natural and the man-made in tandem. In this view, I liked the combination of the falling water, the illumination, and also the rocks below, which offer a subtle look into the past, present, and future of this waterfall. As more and more rocks collapse, is the waterfall going to transfer itself into a series of cascades or even just some really wild rapids?

Have fun exploring natural beauties all around us!