Watkins Glen State Park
- Alfred Eisenstaedt.
Watkins Glen is one of the most beautiful destinations to visit, east of the country, if you are a landscape photographer. The place is gorgeous, almost right out of a medieval movie set. It’s a narrow glen with a hiking trail, and that means some essential architecture elements like railing and bridges. Now, this is where the park shines. Every single humanmade detail at this park is designed to go well with the aesthetic of the glen. It adds to the natural beauty rather than distracting from it.
I took this shot on my first visit, and at the time, my goal was to not include any human element in my nature shots, so I tried to remove the trail as much as possible from my compositions. I didn’t think of posting this image because it had a bit of the trail showing at the top right of the picture. Now, when I look at the photo, I feel how well the trail elements fit into the scene and wish more gov agencies take the aesthetic of the trail into account when hiking trails are designed in pristine nature.
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
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When we decided to move to California, I decided to hit all my bucket list trips in the northeast area. I had one month to wrap up most of my things before driving across the country. The first trip I planned was to the stunning Watkins Glen State Park. I have been to the park about a year or two before, but that trip did not yield the results that on par with expectations set for such a beautiful place. So when I planned the second trip I knew, I had to make adjustments.
The main problems I encountered during the first trip were due to a lack of preparation. First, I was late to arrive, so I had to deal with a lot of foot traffic and strong shafts of daylight. Secondly, I didn’t have a strong enough ND filter to deal with the stronger light. This caused a lot of frustration, effectively taking away any chance of thoughtful compositions.
But I was prepared for the second visit, I had the Lee big stopper with me, which helped take care of any extra light issues. I also made sure that I was the first person to be at the park as it opened that helped with the foot traffic allowing me to compose the shots in relative peace. The big stopper was also a tool that helps with composing in busy areas, by giving exposure times in minutes, it allows people to walk across the frame without ruining your shot. It also forces deliberate compositional techniques due to the amount of time involved with each shot. So it worked out well, and I came out so many amazing shots that this trip was the first time I learned about adjusting my photography to the conditions. Also, this trip showcased how much a repeat visit helps you prepare to understand a location and help you adjust.
Taken at Watkins Glen State Park, NY.
3xp HDR
Rainbow Falls, Watkins Glen, NY
Looking forward to fall.
Taken at Watkins Glen State Park, NY.
3xp HDR - Photomatix - a little digital xpro on the pool - curves - sharpen
The gorge has over 800 steps on...
- Victoria Holt.
Watkins Glen, NY.
I watched this tiered falls during my trek of the Watkins Glen gorge in the Finger Lakes region of NY. I really wanted to capture a wider angle view of the falls and the pathway but the sheer number of the people on the pathway made it nearly impossible to get a clear shot so I had to use a tighter angle of view to achieve this shot I was a little disappointed but still think it’s a gorgeous view and this is one place which I am sure I will return to in the near future.
This was one of the most stunning locations I have ever visited and also one of the most difficult places to photograph. The place is swarming with people and you will have to reach here very early or in winter to get the solitude you need for landscape photography. Another problem is that the pathways are very narrow and setting up your tripod and waiting is gonna earn you a lot of angry looks. Also the gorge itself is so narrow you will need your widest wide-angle to capture the true sense of scale (I’ll suggest taking a 10 or 12 mm lens for DX users). Also the constant dripping and spraying of water makes it a constant struggle to keep your lenses and filter clear.
And what do you get for all these troubles, well stunning vistas all around and where you point your camera you are going to get rewarded by awesome photo opportunities that will make you forget all the aforementioned troubles.
![Water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was...[explored]](https://cdn.phoide.com/Thumbs/8d46e8e5-7bdf-4380-89cb-63de993b7bb0.jpg)
-Toni Morrison.
-Aristotle.
Rainbow Bridge and Falls in Autumn, Watkins Glen State Park, Watkins Glen, New York, USA.
**This is a copyrighted image with all rights reserved. ...
Autumn color at Rainbow Falls, Watkins Glen State Park, New York.
Despite the title, this place was far from tranquil. About every 10 minutes or so...
Autumn in Watkins Glen, New York.
**This is a copyrighted image with all rights reserved. Please don't use this image on websites, blogs, facebook,...
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Another capture from my last trip to Watkins Glen state park at upstate NY. The first time I visited here the day was rainy and it was full of visitors and it was almost impossible to get a clean shot, so this time I picked a sunny day during the middle of the week but the place was still packed and inside the glen is still wet and dripping.
The biggest challenge was to not get any water drops on the front element or the filters I was using. I also found that the Lee Big stopper which I had with me came in handy at removing people from the frame. The filter gave me such long shutter speeds that it looks like no ones in the frame. This place is an amazing destination for waterfall lovers with so many of them cramped into such a short distance. I really enjoyed my time here and hope to be back one day. Thanks for visiting my photostream...
-Anne Frank.
Watkins Glen Gorge, NY
Another capture from the Watkins Glen State Park. Before the trek I was talking to couple of photographers at the entrance and one of them gave me a tip about getting tighter crops and looking back at waterfalls as some of those vistas are as good as the more popular ones. I am glad he gave me that advice. I liked the grooves and texture in this part of the gorge and wanted to capture it in an interesting way. I love the crop and the way the stream is sneaking across the jagged rocks. Hope every one like it…
I thought I would be the only person insane enough to hike Watkins Glen in a total downpour. But there she was, standing on the bridge checking out...
Rainbow Falls in early autumn, Watkins Glen State Park, New York.
Not quite happy with this. I might play with it more later. I play with many of...
Thanks to all Phoide contributors to Watkins Glen State Park!
Most notably Sandeep Thomas.