Watkins Glen in New York, July 2008

[Roanoker]

If pictures are missing, find them at http://www.flickr.com/photos/115393943@ ... 070603504/.

We left Hershey, PA on 7/31/08 and made our way to Watkins Glen, New York. There is more to this place than meets the eye. I believe it is a slot canyon, on a mountain of sorts. Cascading falls abound.


My son is standing on the bridge you see in the above picture.


Now I am on the bridge, getting a shot of from whence we came.


Others are coming down as we are going up.


Notice the people at the top.


Another shot of the bridge, from slightly above it.


Yet another bridge view from further up.


Somebody went to a lot of trouble to put in those stairs, and I'm glad.


The views kept changing as we climbed higher.


Interesting lighting around these falls.




My guys.

[Midtownkid]

That looks like a really cool place!  Thanks for posting those pics

[kclofter]

There really is a glen in Watkins Glen.  Lovely pictures Roanoker - do they have any of the old road racing course still marked?

[kucer]

Great pics.

My family has had a summer cottage on Canandaigua Lake (2 finger lakes West of Seneca Lake) for several generations.  Some of my favorite memories as a kid were hiking the gulleys/streams that fed into the lake.  It was always more adventurous the day after a big rain. Basically they were smaller versions of what you would see at Watkins Glen State Park. 

[Roanoker]

That looks like a really cool place!  Thanks for posting those pics

You are welcome! Thank you for the feedback.

Lovely pictures Roanoker - do they have any of the old road racing course still marked?

Thank you. I asked my son if he remembered any race course markers, but he did not. I did a brief search and found the following: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watkins_Glen_International. It must have been a rather treacherous course.

My family has had a summer cottage on Canandaigua Lake (2 finger lakes West of Seneca Lake) for several generations.  Some of my favorite memories as a kid were hiking the gulleys/streams that fed into the lake.  It was always more adventurous the day after a big rain. Basically they were smaller versions of what you would see at Watkins Glen State Park.

I wish we had checked with you before we went on this trip. We did okay all the way to Niagara Falls, but we got pretty lost on the way back to Roanoke when we tried to visit the Finger Lakes area. What we did see was beautiful. I'll eventually post some pictures.

[AllThingsKC]

Thanks for the cool pics, Roanoker.

Wow.  Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Virgina, New York - was this all one big vacation? 

[NDTeve]

I thought this was gonna be a thread about Nascar. 

[Roanoker]

Something about waterfalls draws people.


This is what you could see from behind the falls.


















Had to sneak in some flowers of sorts.

[st steven]

What a gorgeous place. My kinda nature. Thanks for sharing.

[Roanoker]

Thanks for the cool pics, Roanoker.

Wow.  Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Virgina, New York - was this all one big vacation?   :P

I guess, interrupted by months at work. 

I thought this was gonna be a thread about Nascar.

It was, sort of. 

What a gorgeous place. My kinda nature. Thanks for sharing.

You are all welcome! Thank you for your kind feedback. Nature can do some pretty impressive things.

[Roanoker]

It is still 7/31/08, and we are still walking in Watkins Glen.

No shortage of trees here.


I get tired of boring ovals to accommodate portrait-oriented pictures.


Now we pay attention to flowers in Watkins Glen. Definitely wild.


Okay. It's the same flower.


I didn't notice the bee butt until I cropped this picture for you.


Not really flowers, I guess. But still pretty.




I think this little flower is stunning. It looks like crepe paper.


I'm including this one because of the hard-to-believe, natural steps in the creek bed. (If it is indeed a creek. I don't know the definition of "creek.")


Another flower sample.


Notice the bridge in the middle, just above the falls. There are people on it.


One last flower. And fern. Let there be color and light!

[Roanoker]

More scenes along the Watkins Glen trail.

Notice the hole in the bottom of the creek bed.




The token wild flowers.


Nature sliced this cliff better than I can cut anything.


Another angle of the same phenomenon.


Picture in itself.




You can see I didn't have anything productive to do last night.






I have to rotate many of my pictures because I can't seem to hold the camera level. Sometimes I tilt it on purpose so I can get all of a particular feature. That may be the case here.




Watkins Glen is a good place to visit if you like falls. The water kind.

[GRID]

Your photography is excellent.  I’m not even sure how you do it so well.  Most of these photos you post have very challenging lighting that would normally have very dark areas.  Do you have a special technique?  There is no way you are using a point and shoot for these photos.  Are you?

[Roanoker]

Your photography is excellent.  I’m not even sure how you do it so well.

Since you are a real photographer, and a superb one at that, your compliment carries great weight. I am indeed flattered. Thank you!

Most of these photos you post have very challenging lighting that would normally have very dark areas.  Do you have a special technique?  There is no way you are using a point and shoot for these photos.  Are you?

I'm embarrassed to say all I do mostly is point and shoot. However, I'm pointing and shooting with what I consider to be the absolutely best camera for me. It's a Nikon D70 and I've had it for four years. I pretty much set it to automatic and let it do its thing. It's a whole lot smarter than I am. Once in a great while I will turn off the automatic flash. I will occasionally fuss with a manual setting because the camera may try to focus on something I regard as incidental. But I don't do that so much anymore because I forget to put it back to the automatic setting. I had to throw away a bunch of people close-ups I took in Hawaii because of that.

The only manipulation of the actual images in this thread was in the picture where I said "No shortage of trees." I selected the people and then brightened them via the Levels slider.

Any techniques came through trial and error. I take about a thousand pictures a week while on a serious vacation. So I have learned what works and what doesn't. I will frequently lie on the ground if I think I can gain a better vantage point. I have no shame. I also like to take pictures of varying distances, from miles to inches.

I regard myself as more of an artist than a photographer, but photography offers a veritable world of opportunities and tools. And I don't have to wash my brushes. 

One other thing... I just talked with my son, who was on the Watkins Glen trek with me. He said the sun came out now and then on that day, but it was mostly overcast, so there shouldn't have been too much trouble with contrast.

So much for my "technique."

[GRID]

Well, your photos always turn out good.  You probably just have a very good eye and know what will turn out well.  As soon as you see a shot, you take it, like when the sun pops out between the clouds and is too your back.

You may not be out there with an SLR in manual mode, but you have an excellent photography eye.

And you make me want to travel.  I'm gearing up for the summer, we have big plans!

[Roanoker]

Well, your photos always turn out good.  You probably just have a very good eye and know what will turn out well.  As soon as you see a shot, you take it, like when the sun pops out between the clouds and is to your back.

You may not be out there with an SLR in manual mode, but you have an excellent photography eye.

And you make me want to travel.  I'm gearing up for the summer, we have big plans!

Thanks again! Let us know where you go this summer. I'll be in Branson the first of June.

Now for this week's pics. These are along a very nice stretch of the trail. Each focuses on a nuance different from the others.

[Roanoker]

Still on the Watkins Glen trail.




Son, reviewing Watkins Glen brochure, I guess.




Odd rocks, no?












Son, providing scale.


I asked this little girl's mother for permission to take her picture. Isn't she cute?

[Roanoker]

Same day. Same place. Just ran into more flowers.

Notice the black bee or whatever it is.


I don't know either.


Nature's pin cushion.




See the grasshopper?




We finally reached the top of the long trail after many steps. We could buy food and have lunch! Hot dogs and chips, but that was fine with me.


After I finished taking this picture, I stood up and noticed a man staring at whatever I was photographing. I said, "Just because it is tiny doesn't mean it can't be beautiful." He agreed.




That's my son down near the creek to get a better shot of something.


Only 10 pictures permitted? Okay. I'll reply to this and post the other two.

---

And here they are.



My son knows what this rock thing is. I don't.


Sheesh.

[Roanoker]

It is still July 31, 2008.


Notice the unusual colors on the winged bug.


Notice the path floor, not my shoe.




Who'da thought you'd find strawberries in this environment?


A casual glance at this place would not make obvious the many different kinds of flowers on display.

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[Roanoker]