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Painting the Sky over Buffalo Main Light
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Lighthouse and Fire in the SkyBuffalo's Erie Basin Marina
What a beautiful roller coaster this night was! First, I received an alert that the American Mariner lake freighter was in Buffalo and after a brief hesitation I was out of the door, tired or not. Anxious and full of expectations I drove north on Route 5 heading downtown. Passing by the City Ship Canal I kept checking by the General Mills where the ship usually brings grain for more Cheerios. It was not there. That could be both good and bad. It could be good because there still might be a chance catching the Mariner on Buffalo River by the lighthouse. It could be bad because my information might not be good. It would not be the first time.
I crossed the Skyway, made my double left and a right and parked near the entrance to the Erie Basin Marina. Since there was still not a trace of the big ship that's hard to miss my doubts mounted. I pulled out my phone, looked up the e-mail, and started understanding why. In the excitement of the moment, I did not notice I looked at the UTC time and strangely enough, the alert came delayed by just about the 4-hour difference between UTC and EDT. And it was not an arrival alert but a departure alert.
No ship, what now? My initial hope of catching the American Mariner by the lighthouse at sunset time had its advantages. While the ship was MIA the sunset still had a chance. So I grabbed my camera bag and tripod and headed for a familiar territory, photographed many times in the past, in different seasons, in different times of day, in different weather. It's quite a view, so why not?
Painted LighthouseErie Basin Marina
As the sun started approaching the horizon the clouds were spreading around and everything was promising a great show. I took a few pictures with the sun still above the horizon and tried a few faster exposures as well as a few slow ones using my 6-stop ND filter. I repeated the routine every few minutes as the sun hit the water and then went under. The show kept getting better and better and there were others around enjoying the spectacle both with their eyes and cameras. Then, as the sun dipped below the horizon, everyone left. What is it about people? Impatience? Constantly being in a hurry? Why not hang around a little bit? For me, the actual sunsets are great but they barely mark the start of the show. Then, for about 15 minutes, nature picks its palette and a brush and starts coloring the clouds. The warm light and colors add up and eventually a wonderful piece of art is on display for just a few brief seconds. Than the painter fills a bucket with the lake water and splashes it over the sky. Colors gone, light gone, time to go to sleep.
Others might argue that even that is really just a prelude to what the upcoming night has to offer whether with a sky full of stars, planets or the moon. Night photography is increasingly accessible as the sensitivity of the digital sensors climbs higher while the resulting noise is more and more controlled.
Either way, why leave the second the sunset is over? Have they never stayed the extra 15 minutes to know better? One person even asked me whether I got any good photos and I told them the best was yet to come. Still, they left. So do me a favor and next time you're somewhere for a sunset, hang around for 10 - 20 minutes afterwards. Chances are you will not be disappointed. Sure, if it's way too cloudy or there are no clouds at all, the magic may not happen. In that case, just try again. Oh, and one more thing. As you're busy watching the spectacle in the west, turn around once in a while. Quite often, the more subtle glow in the east is the best part of the sunset.
Enjoy the beauty that surrounds you (#etbtsy)!
Do you enjoy reading my photography blog? Would you like to see more photographs from Buffalo and Western New York? Visit my Buffalo Cityscapes and Buffalo & Western New York Landscapes and enjoy! Are you a fan of black and white photography, whether digital, film, or pinhole? Feel free to explore timelessbuffalo.com then. Please, let me know if you have any questions about any photo products offered, or not offered, I will be happy to help! For a quick reference to all photo galleries and collections as well as all photo products currently offered through my site, please, visit the Products page.
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 at all. I truly appreciate each purchase, no matter how large, no matter how small. Thank you!
Lake Erie Lakeshore on Pinhole
Previously on pinhole photography: Seaside Pinhole Photography, Film Pinhole Photography, A New Chapter, a New Book - Pinhole Photography
A wonderful cloudy evening on the shore of Lake Erie like created for some moody black and white pinhole photography. I headed to a previously photographed location where I really liked the rock layers positioned perfectly to interact with the incoming lake waves. In many ways, photography there is just like along a rocky ocean coastline. I really liked how the horizon line was blending in with the sky even in color, in blue tones. I did not really know how the scene would turn out in black and white and and in a pinhole photograph on top. And unlike digital, I did not know how it turned out even after clicking the shutter, well, after opening and closing the wooden latch. I had to wait for several days until the roll of film reached its end and I had a chance to develop it. Such a great feeling pulling the roll out of the tank and hanging it to dry and seeing the right amounts of black and white tones!
Rocky Shore, Lake ErieZero Image Pinhole, Fuji Neopan 100 Acros
Rocky Shore, Lake Erie; A Black and White Film Pinhole Photograph
Enjoy the beauty that surrounds you (#etbtsy)!
Do you enjoy reading my photography blog? Would you like to see more black and white photographs from Buffalo, NY? Visit Timeless Buffalo and enjoy! It has galleries with black and white digital, film, and pinhole photography. Please, let me know if you have any questions about any photo products offered, or not offered, I will be happy to help!
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!
John Deere
Let's mix it up today with a whole different photograph. As you could spot from my blog over the years I like capturing rural areas in my photographs, whether it is a narrow road passing through an open landscape, a barn in the fields, or a farm house in a group of trees. Farm equipment has its charm too especially when it is clear it has been through a lot.
This photograph was not planned. On the way back from another location timing was right for a sunset and we turned up a hill for a nice view of it. We enjoyed the end of day show but before getting back in the car I noticed this John Deere tractor in the meadow next door. With the overhead clouds it looked commanding. I decided to combine the remaining daylight with a flash to render the clouds naturally dark and dramatic while helping the tractor stand out.
John Deere, A Tractor at Sunset
Enjoy the beauty that surrounds you (#etbtsy)!
Do you enjoy reading my photography blog? Would you like to see more photographs from Buffalo and Western New York? Visit my Buffalo Cityscapes and Buffalo & Western New York Landscapes and enjoy! Are you a fan of black and white photography, whether digital, film, or pinhole? Feel free to explore timelessbuffalo.com then. Please, let me know if you have any questions about any photo products offered, or not offered, I will be happy to help! For a quick reference to all photo galleries and collections as well as all photo products currently offered through my site, please, visit the Products page.
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 at all. I truly appreciate each purchase, no matter how large, no matter how small. Thank you!
Matted Prints at Picture Your Walls
Picture Your Walls WNY184 Buffalo St, Hamburg, NY 14075
Is the small computer screen not enough for you to enjoy local Buffalo, NY photography? It should not be! Despite the 21st century technology and most people using small mobile devices to quickly check photographs out, they only come truly alive when printed large and displayed prominently. If you enjoy my photography but would prefer to see the finished product printed and matted, you can!
The following twelve 8" x 12" signed prints matted to fix to a 12" x 16" frame are available for your viewing pleasure and purchase at Picture Your Walls Western New York in Hamburg, NY (184 Buffalo St, Hamburg, NY 14075 - Tuesday 11:00–6:00pm - Wednesday 11:00–6:00pm - Thursday 11:00–8:00pm - Friday: 11:00–6:00pm - Saturday 10:00–4:00pm).
Ask them about my photos. They'll be happy to show you around and point you towards this dozen as well as other larger framed photographs.
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(8" x 12" photo - 12" x 16" mat) |
This is a beautiful small waterfall that in my experience not too many people know about, short of those living in Colden. A lot of people pass by it on Rte 240 without ever knowing it is there, since it is not visible from it. You can get a nice and easy view of the waterfall from the Heath Road bridge over the West Branch Cazenovia Creek though. This head on photograph, taken down in the creek gorge as day was turning into night, shows a more intimate experience compared to the high view from the bridge with the water rushing down the rocks and straight at you. Can you hear the water humming? |
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This view and a photograph are now an annual tradition. For the past 14 Memorial Day weekends Letchworth State Park has been hosting the annual Red, White & Blue Balloon Festival. With the launches scheduled at 6 AM and 6 PM, part of the tradition for me became watching the sun rise over the Big Bend on the Genesee River. Same location, just a little bit up the hill from Archery Field, almost the same time, but always different, yet always beautiful! This early morning was cloudy to the east. And even though the sky eventually cleared and there was not a cloud the rest of the day it happened a bit later. That provided a unique and moody tone for my 3rd annual ballooning sunrise. With the sun hiding behind the clouds the light was diffused and even opening up the otherwise shadowy gorge and river. Add a little bit of a breeze and birds chirping and you have a perfect spot! |
Daybreak at Great Bend of Letchworth (8" x 12" photo - 12" x 16" mat) |
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(8" x 12" photo - 12" x 16" mat) |
So long winter! A moody photograph captured shortly after sunset at the Wilkeson Pointe on Buffalo's outer harbor. The ice between the breakwater and the shore has mostly melted but a thin layer still remained at the very shoreline. And here, a piece was floating in the open as if symbolizing the last moments of winter, a winter that was long and strong. Welcome, spring! |
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The nature turned the music on, it put on a concert, a visual concert of colors I was lucky enough to witness and capture in this photograph from Birdsong Park in Orchard Park, NY. It was a rainy morning with different sections of the park taking on wildly different looks. Here, the path zigzagged between trees showing off their autumn foliage proudly. The rain brought the colors out exquisitely and the dark trunks leaning over the path further highlighted the show! |
(8" x 12" photo - 12" x 16" mat) |
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The Birdsong Swamp (8" x 12" photo - 12" x 16" mat) |
A very early morning one fall day in Birdsong Park. A creek through a marsh. Lots of clouds overhead and some rain. And a photograph of it all. I really liked the stark dark trunks of the crooked trees crisscrossing over the creek, and the intense mood of the whole scene. While fall usually means bold colors, this photo has subtle greens and yellows heightening the feeling of being in a remote swamp. |
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Papermill Falls is a beautiful waterfall located on the Silver Lake Outlet in Letchworth State Park in New York State. It has an upper and lower section and both have their beauty. This photograph shows the graceful look of the upper portion from an elevated vantage point up above the stream. I really enjoyed watching what nature did here as the increased slope of the creek bed creates several rushing streams of water that create a beautiful waterfall as they reach the drop off point. What a marvel of nature that most of the visitors to Letchworth never get to see staying in the main areas around Lower, Middle, and Upper Falls. |
Upper Papermill Falls (8" x 12" photo - 12" x 16" mat) |
 Spring at the Buffalo History MuseumPYWWNY Matted Selection
Spring at the Buffalo History Museum (8" x 12" photo - 12" x 16" mat) |
You're looking at a morning photograph of the Buffalo History Museum reflected in the Mirror Lake at the Japanese Garden in Delaware Park in Buffalo, NY. Spring and morning light provided the colors for this photograph. The willow tree on the right was already in a yellow dress and the cherry trees on the left were fluffy with pink and white tones. There was barely and wind and the pond's surface was a perfect mirror. |
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The view was beautiful, once I found it. The blossoms dominating the scene with the Buffalo History Museum providing context in the background. The morning sun was finding its way through the clouds and through the trees, spotlighting the grass below and lighting up the white stone of the building. I can still smell the air! |
 Through the BlossomsPYWWNY Matted Selection
Through the Blossoms (8" x 12" photo - 12" x 16" mat) |
 Delavan - Caniscius EscalatorsPYWWNY Matted Selection
Delavan - Caniscius Escalators (8" x 12" photo - 12" x 16" mat) |
Often, subway tunnels are viewed as dark, dirty and unwelcoming. There is quite a bit of effort going into brightening the experience, whether it is the use of special reflective wall siding or other decorative elements, light systems, or the inclusion of artwork. This photo represents a subway classic, with escalators taking people in and out of a deep underground subway station. The strong symmetry and blue tones make for a rather eye catching presentation elevating the experience well beyond a walk in a hole in the ground. |
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Sailing by the Buffalo Main Light at sunset, a summer tradition in Buffalo and its Erie Basin Marina perfectly situated for sunset enjoyment of many kinds - walking or jogging along the lake shore, boating, photography, or just kicking back with a drink and enjoying the magic. This night was special though, despite many not having a clue. And while it is not obvious from this photograph the sun was partially eclipsed on October 23, 2014 and a sliver of it was blocked by the moon when observed through a very dark glass. Without it, the brightness was such that it overpowered the small blocked area. It all came together very nicely at this moment with the eclipsed sun setting over the lighthouse and the sailboat moving to the sun's reflection on the water. That is when the shutter clicked and the moment was preserved. Now, set your reminder for August 21, 2017 when the next solar eclipse will be visible towards the west from Buffalo and it will be a full one! |
 Sailing under EclipsePYWWNY Matted Selection
Sailing under Eclipse (8" x 12" photo - 12" x 16" mat) |
 Kiss of Light on Buffalo Main LightPYWWNY Matted Selection
Kiss of Light on Buffalo Main Light (8" x 12" photo - 12" x 16" mat) |
Winter sunrise at Buffalo Main Light photographed as the first rays of sun kissed the top of the lighthouse. A beautiful freezing morning, temperature hovering just over 0°F |
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This photograph shows the Gallagher Pier on Buffalo's outer harbor from the other than the usual side. The pier, as well as Buffalo waterfront in general, are popular destination for sunsets across Lake Erie. This photograph looks the other way though, in the morning at sunrise. |
 Sunrise over Gallagher Pier RoofsPYWWNY Matted Selection
Sunrise over Gallagher Pier Roofs (8" x 12" photo - 12" x 16" mat) |
I hope you've had fun scrolling through these. Stop by the Hamburg, NY gallery if you live in the area and enjoy them in their physical form.
Thanks for visiting today, and in the future! Enjoy the beauty that surrounds you (#etbtsy)!
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!
Crescent Moon & Big Dipper over Buffalo Botanical Gardens
Buffalo Botanical Gardens under Crescent MoonSouth Park, Buffalo, NY
My digital camera came back from the shop and needed testing. Rather than some straight test shots I decided to put it to use during the blue hour. It's been a while since I went for a dusk outing chasing colors. And believe it or not, I have not really captured this night's destination other than in a few snapshots during a few past visits. Yes, I visited Buffalo Botanical Gardens several times and we even had a membership for a while but I never took the time to capture this beautiful building without crowds in a way that would allow it to shine. And wow, is it a beautiful building! As I get a chance to visit botanical gardens in other cities I also get to appreciate the gardens we have here in Buffalo more and more. Quite an architectural beauty that also needed a lot of luck and dedication from many people to survive through its many challenges since it was built in 1900.
The earlier sunsets and later sunrises are a good thing in general. One does not have to get up so early or stay so late. However, the sunsets around 7:30 p.m. are so early that they simply sneak up on me every time. Even this evening, I was afraid I would miss the light but decided to go for it anyway. Good that the tripod and camera are always ready and on standby. I spent several minutes walking around looking for an angle I'd like the most. Once I realized nature threw a nice bonus my way with the crescent moon suspended just over the gardens' roofs I also wanted the selected angle to work with the moon nicely. You see my final perspective in the first photo here. Once the tripod head was locked down and an establishing shot captured I had to wait a few more minutes for the light to balance. It's always fun to watch how quickly the sky darkens and artificial illumination becomes relatively brighter. For me, this easily replaces all possible thrill rides of amusement parks.
Big Dipper over Botanical GardensSouth Park, Buffalo, NY
Since I came here this night for some blue hour photography I was not done yet, I had to wait for the light to further change. In the end, it was not the main building with its illumination that I selected for my blue hour shot. It was a building off to the right currently under construction. The reason for that choice was unexpected but clear. Another surprise bonus went my way. The big dipper seemed to be parked right on top of that roof! It only took some minimum perspective tuning and a little bit of wait for the blues to be just right.
Enjoy the beauty that surrounds you (#etbtsy)!
If you're reading this post on your cell phone, click on the photo to go to the gallery and then one more time to go full screen, otherwise, the stars may not be visible.
References: History of the Gardens
Do you enjoy reading my photography blog? Would you like to see more photographs from Buffalo and Western New York? Visit my Buffalo Cityscapes and Buffalo & Western New York Landscapes and enjoy! Are you a fan of black and white photography, whether digital, film, or pinhole? Feel free to explore timelessbuffalo.com then. Please, let me know if you have any questions about any photo products offered, or not offered, I will be happy to help! For a quick reference to all photo galleries and collections as well as all photo products currently offered through my site, please, visit the Products page.
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 at all. I truly appreciate each purchase, no matter how large, no matter how small. Thank you!