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Different Look of Shenandoah at Big Meadow
The Big Meadow PaintingShenandoah National Park
To me, Shenandoah National Park is mostly about its seemingly never-ending supply of waterfalls and about the stunning distant views of the mountains and valleys down below from Skyline Drive.
Waterfall chasing in Shenandoah is outstanding, with most of the trails to waterfalls leading along the streams and their cascades that serve as appetizers for what is to come. Most of the hikes are rather challenging. Despite their seemingly short distance of three to six miles for a roundtrip, the challenge comes from the elevation drop on the way out and gain on the way back since the hikes start at the top of the mountains. And the drop is a thousand feet or more based on the hike you choose. All in all, that makes the final sight so much more rewarding and provides a chance to enjoy the creekside. It also filters out the crowds, maybe with the exception of the very popular Dark Hollow Falls Trail.
Sunsets and sunrises are wonderful from Skyline drive as it offers views in both directions, east and west. And daytime views can also be wonderful, depending on the air quality. For that, I prefer the edges of the day since the often hazy view works really well with the mood then.
And then there is the Big Meadow. The only area in Shenandoah National Park that is now wooded. Its wide open area bursts with colors and patterns in the fall and I really enjoyed looking for those. Unlike all of my other photography in the park I switched lenses and used my 80 - 400mm telephoto scanning the land and looking for areas that represented the wonderful natural painting. It seemed so chaotic on one hand, with random grasses, bushes, and a few trees. It also all seemed to makes sense, with every element playing its role.
Have fun!
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PS: Other Shenandoah National Park photographs
The Fading Fall on Smoke Creek, Orchard Park
Fall at Smoke CreekDose of Color before Winter
As the colors slowly fade around us in Western New York and we enter the gray period between fall and winter I am going to stay in denial for a little longer and enjoy the colors at least in photographs, whether my own or taken by others. That's a great thing about photography. It can preserve the moments you enjoyed for times when you miss them.
I like the seasons, whether the bold colors of fall, the clean look of snowy winter, the emerging subtle colors of spring, or the lush greens of summer. Somehow though, the grey season lurks in between, and that is a period I like to cheer up to pass quickly.
This was a fairly chilly fall day and I really enjoyed having the colors for the main course and breathing the chill in for a side. I spent about half a day out and about Orchard Park, a suburb of Buffalo, NY. I returned to the library to document it in yet another season, wondered over to the train depot just across the parking lot, and then moved on to Green Lake to see if I could get inspired and capture something new.
After a brief time along the shore I moved closer to the dam and thought I'd check out the waterfall that I had photographed before. To my surprise, the water level was significantly higher than back then. Why the surprise? Just a few days earlier I went to Emery Park to check out the waterfalls there and was met with almost no water.
First, I made a few predictable moves, climbed down to the base of the falls and enjoyed finding interesting angles. I probably stayed on 4 square feet for at least half an hour, moving the tripod and the camera an inch at a time and looking for what I thought would be the strongest composition.
Once I was satisfied that I had the shot I came for I was ready to leave but something kept me there. I climbed up the side of the waterfall, took a few photographs from the side, and then had fun creating abstracts from the flowing water and the foliage around the creek, as well as the leaves taking a ride in the stream. Then I finally turned around and the rest you can see. Definitely a new angle for me!
Have fun!
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Shenandoah Sunset
Shenandoah SunsetSunset from Skyline Drive
This post is almost real-time. That is if a whole year does not count. I just had another opportunity to witness and photograph couple wonderful sunsets and a sunrise from the Skyline Drive of Shenandoah National Park. This photo, however, is from my 2013 visit. Since I did not have an opportunity yet to share this wonderful painting by Mother Nature with you I thought this was a great opportunity.
in 2013, fall was a little behind compared to 2014. The last week of October colors peaked and the difference between the beginning and end of the week was huge. This year, Shenandoah Valley and the lower parts of the mountain range are at or slightly past peak already and the first glimpse at the northern portion of the Skyline Drive clearly showed the peak was way past. Most of the oak trees in that area had very few leaves left and were almost bare.
The good news was that almost all hikes from Skyline Drive lead down the mountain side, and significantly. Our waterfall chasing hikes had us descending 1,200 feet or more. And that drop was enough to find plenty of color. The southern part of the park with lower elevations, and different trees, also still offers more color as well as the views down into the valleys. It's another great outdoors trip that I hope to share with you soon in photos. Since I have not managed sharing the 2013 expedition yet in full I am not sure when that will be though. In the meantime, enjoy this view and go check your back yard to see if there are any colors left. They won't be there for long!
And while I am totally enjoying this fall blast of color and warmth before they're gone for 6 long months, I am already plotting plans for winter additions to my Western New York gallery and the Winter Collection.
Have fun!
PS: Composed and published thanks to the wonders of technology. Ever since my camera got two SD card slots I stopped dragging the computer on our trips.
Partial Solar Eclipse
Partial Solar EclipseOctober 23, 2014 - Buffalo, NY
Yesterday, a lot of us had a special opportunity to observe and photograph a partial solar eclipse. It was around sunset, making for a more challenging visibility in some areas, however, providing for an opportunity for an "enlarged" sun that low on the horizon. I headed to the Erie Basin Marina in Buffalo, NY, to see if I could incorporate some landmarks in front of the eclipse in my photographs. For today's post, I am sharing a straight telephoto shot of the sun, moon, and a hint of clouds. It's close to Halloween so the look of it seems appropriate.
Have fun!
References: TimeAndDate for Buffalo, NY - NASA
The Fall Concert at Birdsong
The Birdsong SwampSubtle Colors
I have done surprisingly little fall photography this fall. Despite its arrival pretty much on schedule it seemed to have caught me by surprise. And it's not the first time this happened! So when this particular morning was free of any other plans I was happy to set the alarm and head out. And I did not even have to set the alarm for too early. First, even a sunrise is not really that early this time of the year being around 7:30 AM. And second, this was not a sunrise photo outing, this was just a hunt for some special fall photographs. The forecast the evening before called for heavy cloud cover and rain showers, which helped me form the game plan. I wanted to get some seasonal colors accentuated by the rain. When leaves are wet it really brings their colors out nicely, especially when a polarizing filter is used to cut the glare and focus on the surface itself.
As soon as I entered the woods of Birdsong Park in Orchard Park, New York, I was greeted by the scene in the first photograph. It was still very dark and hard to see and I was going mostly by the dark silhouettes of the trees visible against the little bit of light in the sky. This was definitely an instance when the camera could see way more than I could, thanks to the extended 20-second exposure. I really loved what I saw on the LCD once the exposure completed. No, I did not get wild saturated colors but I got a photo full of subtle greens and yellows that I thought complemented the crooked trees and creek very well. I often struggle capturing the character of a swamp as the scenes are usually very busy and finding order in the chaos is a challenge. This morning, nature took care of all of that for me and threw this beautiful chaotic, yet organized scene right in front of me posing and begging to be photographed. I captured this vertical composition, followed up with a horizontal one, and decided to move on as the rain was starting to come down more and it became clear dealing with water was going to be a big part of this morning's photography. While I had a raincoat for my camera with me I am not a big fan of using it. It seems to get in the way and prevent more creative compositions, and it seems to have me rush to the next spot too much. I decided to take my chances and pressed on without the cover on, trying to protect the camera with my body when on the move and wiping it here and there when on the tripod. Last fall and my visit to Sinking Ponds was running through my head (It's Raining, It's Pouring … at Sinking Ponds, East Aurora) as I remembered the same camera refusing to function there under the inflow of water.
Birdsong BoardwalkColors in the Rain
I made my way around a few ponds at the heart of the park and struggled finding additional compelling compositions in the rain. As I looped around and emerged to the final section of my hike, I looked back and saw what you can see in the second photograph here. A wonderful lush vegetation, still a lot of greens, and a burst of yellows and oranges in the branch hanging over the entrance to the boardwalk. I just stood there and watched for a while and was soaking it all in (literally). Then the tripod went down, camera up, and the photo was in the box.
The final photo in this series was not too far. As I continued my morning hike I walked through the beautiful tree tunnels I enjoy a lot and have photographed many times. I tried a few new approaches but did not like any of the images more than the previous ones so out to trash they went.
The Music of Fall at BirdsongScreaming Colors
However, when I faced the leaning trees with their dark trunks visually accentuating the colorful foliage of theirs I could not resist. It seemed like the perfect exclamation mark after a great morning outdoors. It helped me capture the different moods of the park on a single fall rainy morning, with areas of only subtle colors, some areas already bare, and some screaming fall at full blast.
I really liked that while there was plenty of color in the scene it really played a secondary role, unlike most fall photographs. To me, it really was mostly about the trees leaning over the path winding through.
I finally got my dose of the 2014 colors before they're gone, and I can tell you that by the time you are reading this I managed another one, also very local over the weekend. That's for another story though.
Enjoy your week and have fun!
PS: If you enjoy fall / autumn photography, feel free to visit a collection of photographs I have dedicated to the season: Autumn.
Using my product links to do your shopping keeps me going and costs you nothing. You can also use the Amazon search box in bottom left and buy literally anything. Thank you very much, I really appreciate it!