English River on Buffalo RiverGLF Grain Elevator / Buffalo RIverworks Sometimes, it takes a lot of research to learn more about the subjects of my photographs. Other times, the information comes to me. It's not that often but it did happen on this specific occasion.

I am going a while back here, August 2013 to be specific. I was chasing the English River cargo ship (cement carrier) as I wanted to photograph it with some of Buffalo's landmarks. I arrived just in time to catch it backing up the final part of it's journey up the Buffalo River as it was within a stone's throw of Lafarge North America, it's destination right by the Ohio Street Bridge.

Once the ship passed this location between today's Riverfest Park and Bufalo Riverworks on the other side of the river I headed out and this house across Ohio Street caught my attention. I was facing it head on, as you can see in the below photograph. I did not even realize at the time how far back the building actually went. Anyway, I was really curious what the building initially was, spoke with a friend who usually had some good leads, and did some internet research. It did not yield anything.

New York Central Freight HouseOhio Street, Buffalo Then, about two years later, I came upon an article by Western New York Railway Historical Society that revealed the original purpose and name of the building: the former New York Central Freight House at Miami & Moore Streets (by Ohio Street), the oldest railroad structure in Buffalo, NY built in the early 1850’s.

Enjoy the beauty that surrounds you (#etbtsy)!

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References: WNY Railway Historical Society

Buffalo Milk CompanyNiagara St. & Massachusetts Ave. Corner There are many ways a location ends up on my photo op list. This time around, when I saw the news and online articles that this beautiful building might soon be no more, or at least not at its current full form, I put it at the top of the list to make sure I beat the demolition crew.

Weather reports for an early morning looked good with no rain at least until noon. When I got into my car well ahead of sunrise it was completely overcast with a drizzle. It was too late to abort plus rain and architecture often mix well. By the time I arrived on location there was no rain and the cloud layer thinned out a bit.

Capturing the architecture of Buffalo is definitely something I enjoy a lot. I like the look of if and I like learning more. Every time I bring back some architectural photographs I hit the internet, and sometimes more old-fashioned printed resources, to learn more about the history behind.

Knowing the building might not be around for much longer also pushed me towards more than just a standard shot. I wanted to get a high resolution photograph  with plenty of pixels to be able to correct the perspective and to have abundant detail even for large prints. I photographed 4 overlapping rows of 5 overlapping photographs each that I later stitched together for 150+ megapixel photographs of both the corner perspective as well as the frontal head-on.

While this stitching is relatively easy these days, it's not as easy on the DSLR as it is on a smart phone. I certainly don't leave the location with one giant raw image but rather a series of images that have to be processed and stitched, then the perspective corrected. That adds a lot of overhead and sitting in front of a computer, not a favorite activity of mine - too much of that already. I am actively considering more old-fashioned alternatives that would allow me to spend more time on location and less at the computer, but more on that at a later time.

Buffalo Milk CompanyNiagara St. Front Facade

Buffalo Milk Company, Niagara St. Front Facade, Buffalo, NY

Enjoy the beauty that surrounds you (#etbtsy)!

Did you enjoy this post and the enclosed photographs? Would you like to see more? Visit one of my Photo Galleries and enjoy! Please, let me know if you have any questions about any photo products offered, or not offered. Looking for a present? I also offer ready to hang solutions like canvas gallery wraps and matted and framed ready to hang photographs.  Those are available within the Customize function as you add photos to your shopping cart.

Using my links to do your shopping keeps me sharing more photographs and writing the stories behind them and costs you nothing. You can also use the Amazon search box in bottom left for anything not mentioned here. I truly appreciate each purchase, no matter how large, no matter how small. Thank you!

References: Preservation of Face: 885 Niagara Street on Buffalo Rising - Preservation Ready: 885 Niagara on Buffalo Spree

Daybreak Glow over Niagara RiverBlack Rock Canal Park, Buffalo, NY

How about seeing the makeover of the Black Rock Canal Park? How about seeing it early in the morning before the sun wakes up? Isn't that backwards you ask? Shouldn't I go there at sunset instead? Well, not really. Not really for at least two reasons I can think of right now.

First, the subtle sunrise glow in the western sky can have its own magic. And with plenty of clouds around the last few days the glow should have potential, right? Another reason? Sunset locations draw lot fewer people at sunrise. And not too many people tend to get up early, especially on a weekend. This combination happens to create much better conditions to enjoy the moment and just stare into the distance in awe at what Mother Nature can do.

It's always a bit of a mystery and patience practice too. Will the magic happen? Are there going to be enough clouds? Aren't there going to be too many clouds? If it happens, am I going to be able to get even close to capturing what nature comes up with?

It was the same this morning, with clouds everywhere and the whole scene over Niagara River shrouded in cool blue tones. Then I noticed a little bit of a sparkle in the eastern sky as the sun was getting its paint brushes ready.

I walked about the Niagara River banks for a bit looking for the right angles. I tried a few horizontal compositions but was not happy with what I was seeing in the viewfinder. I either did not have enough water or enough sky to get both my foreground in along with the important part of the sky. So, the camera went vertical and things started falling in place. A little dance in many different directions and tilts and I found what I was looking for. Just add some filtering to balance the sky and the water and I was ready.

It was just in time too as the sky over Canada started glowing. Wait, wait, wait, click, wait, wait, click, wait, ... and the hues started disappearing as quickly as they appeared. That's the thing about these moments. Not only does one not have a clue whether they will happen but then you can't ever be sure what the next second will bring. Are the colors going to intensify or are they going to start fading? Patience and attention are really needed here, not fiddling with the camera.

Everyone has their own approach to solving this problem. Some take advantage of the digital technology and keep shooting a frame after frame to choose one later. Others approach the same situation much more like back in the film days when every click cost money. I struggle between the two worlds, being more and more drawn to the selective approach, to truly catch the peak moment. It adds to the excitement, the anticipation, and really frees one's attention to actually enjoy the moment. And so it happened, two frames, that's it. The first one was a keeper, the second one had colors already fading. And yes, less time on the computer later on is not a bad thing either!

Enjoy the beauty that surrounds you (#etbtsy)!

Did you enjoy this post and the photograph? Would you like to see more of them? Visit one of my Photo Galleries and enjoy! Please, let me know if you have any questions about any photo products offered, or not offered. Looking for a present? I also offer ready to hang solutions like canvas gallery wraps and matted and framed ready to hang photographs.  Those are available within the Customize function as you add photos to your shopping cart. And don't forget to get some aMazing Bookmarks for the readers in your life!

Using my links to do your shopping keeps me sharing more photographs and writing the stories behind them and costs you nothing. You can also use the Amazon search box in bottom left for anything not mentioned here. I truly appreciate each purchase, no matter how large, no matter how small. Thank you!