Split Rock Falls

Split Rock Falls
Originally uploaded by UpstateNYPhototaker

I just got home from a long day of working in the Adirondacks. I stopped along the way to some of my favorite haunts and took a few photos. This one of Split Rock Falls on the Bouquet River is probably my favorite from the day.

Split Rock Falls is located in Elizabethtown, NY in the Northeast Adirondack Mountains. It is EXTREMELY dangerous. MANY young people have lost their lives jumping into the turbulent waters here. It is an extremely inviting set of falls for jumping but during the spring months the hydraulics of the falls can pull a person under and keep them there. Ledges exist under the water and if a person is pulled under one of those ledges it can be extremely tragic.

I took this one with the Nikkor 18-105mm "kit lens" and the D90. It was taken with an aperture of f/16 and a shutter speed of 1/2 second. The lighting was terrible and I used a Cokin polarizer and a Cokin graduated ND filter as well to get that slow shutter and blur the water. This photo will eventually make my Zenfolio page and for now it is on Flickr.

ZENFOLIO

The Long Shadow of Spring

The Long Shadow of Spring
Originally uploaded by UpstateNYPhototaker

I saw this great Highland Cow casting this long shadow on my way home from working near Thacher Park. This was a stop my car quick and grab a shot an then heavily crop it type of photo. This was taken at F/2.8 with the Nikkor 80-200mm. I would love to have a chance at photographing this type of cattle in a not so rushed scenario. They make great subjects.

Good Morning

Good Morning
Originally uploaded by UpstateNYPhototaker

April 3rd Sunrise on Galway Lake

Fat, Dumb & I Don't Want to Find Out

If anyone had told you a month ago April 1st would be like it was yesterday you certainly would have suspected "April Fool's". It was 70 in most places and I took the opportunity to boat on Galway Lake once again (you will notice that is going to be a recurring theme).

There is a cove on the eastern shore of the lake that a friend aptly named "Turtle Cove." It has an abundance of stumps and on sunny days there is never a shortage of turtles sunning themselves on these stumps. This fat snapping turtle was no exception. I used my old Nikkor 300mm F/4.5 and my 80-200 to snap photos of this guy. Although he looked like he hadn't moved in a week, I wasn't getting any closer to see how agile he was.

There was an abundance of birds on the lake, a few muskrats and various other creatures. I believe I saw an immature Bald Eagle but he was too far to get a good photo so the verdict is still out.

Hopefully I will get some more shots of yesterdays shoot posted on my zenfolio site.

Zenfolio

The Boat House

The Boat House
Originally uploaded by UpstateNYPhototaker

I had a chance to take a quick boat ride on Galway Lake after work today. The ice went off the lake sometime within the last few days. This is the earliest I can ever remember the ice leaving the lake. The weather was overcast, the temps were in the low 40s on the lake and I couldn't be happier to be on the water again!

I was hoping to get close enough to get some shots of the waterfowl that was coming back to the area but was not stealthy enough with my oars that creak like old floorboards and my rowboat held together with fiberglass patch and spare sheet metal. I did manage to see some bufflehead, mallards, common mergansers, hooded mergansers and more Geese than I have ever seen in one place.

The water was calm and this mustard yellow boat house with a beautiful reflection looked nice against the drab background. Hopefully this weekend will afford me the opportunity to get some shots.

This one was shot with the 80-200 F/2.8 - @ F/7.1, 1/160, 92mm (kinda random settings, I know)

Spring Has Sprung

Spring Has Sprung
Originally uploaded by UpstateNYPhototaker

After playing with my dog last night I decided to walk the banks of the Alplaus in Charlton. I was mostly looking for signs of spring and while it felt that way in the air there was still a lot of ice and snow clinging to the banks. I managed to get this shot, a 3 shot HDR (-2, 0 +2) without any ice or snow in the way. Hopefully it won't be long before the fiddle heads have appeared and some color can be added to the landscape.

Rock Soccer

Rock Soccer 1
Originally uploaded by UpstateNYPhototaker

Does anyone have a black lab that can't get enough of rolling a rock around at a feverish pace? He rolled this rock up a hill the other day and left it in the yard. Today he "kicked" the rock around the yard for about 20 minutes. He must have moved the rock about 150 yards in total around the yard. He usually does this in the water and gets very agitated with the rock. It is quite a site to see. I have never seen another dog take so much interest in playing with a rock.

These shots were taken with my Nikkor 80-200 F/2.8. I should have jacked the ISO to at least 400 and these would have been much sharper... next time.