Chittenango

On our way from Syracuse (where we stayed last night) to Vermont, we took a detour and stopped at Chittenango Falls. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. I really like taking pictures of waterfalls; I'm addicted to slowing them down with my neutral density filter. It's almost as bad as my addiction to lots of really soft bokeh.


This was shot from the observation point halfway down the wall of the gorge.


Off to the side, before turning to cross the stream on the footbridge they'd set up, there was this smaller cascade. In a way, I like it even better than the main falls.


Here is the main falls, seen from the footbridge. I almost didn't take this picture: when I got to the bridge, there was a lot of fine spray blowing down from the falls. But after a couple of minutes, the wind shifted and I figured I could get the picture before my filter got too wet. Glad I stayed!

Niagara

Our trip to Niagara resulted in some impressive photos, albeit of a very different sort than people typically associate with the falls. There was heavy mist in the gorge from both the American Falls (pictured above) and Horseshoe Falls (the source of most of the mist) that never allowed a very clear view of the falls. The sky was generally leaden, with only a couple of breaks later in the afternoon.

I tried to play with the mist, rather than fight it, and make it as much of a subject of the photos as the falls.


The mist made for some fairly dramatic (if soft) pictures. Here, the casinos and hotels on the Canadian side of the falls appear to be floating in the clouds.


A Ferris wheel emerges from the mist.


The source of the mist was Horseshoe Falls. In this picture, you can see the mist gathering at the left of the frame. It travelled down the gorge in patches, periodically obscuring and revealing the Canadian side. At the right of the frame, you can see the previous patch of mist moving out.


The American Falls are even more dramatic seen from the East, looking back to Horseshoe Falls.


Unfortunately, the mist churned up by Horseshoe Falls was so thick and constant that we were never able to really see them. This is the best view we had of them. Even later on, when the sky started to lighten and the sun peaked out, the mist was still as thick.


Here's a "detail" of Horseshoe Falls.

P.S. The sensor on my 5D appears to be really dirty.... I forgot to touch up these photos before posting them.

Lake Erie

We stopped briefly on the bank of Lake Erie on our way from Codorus State Park (PA) to Niagara falls. I took this picture of the cliffs there. Lighting was generally poor, since it was so overcast.