Saturday, January 30, 2010

Week 40, Day 280, January 30, 2010 "Taughannock Falls in Winter"

It was cold today, but the sun was out.  So Judy and I had an Ithaca type day.
  We started by going to the Moosewood Restaurant for lunch.  The food was fantastic, and the service was great.
Next we went to the Taughannock Falls Overlook for a view of the falls.  These falls are incredible any time of the year, but the ice helps to make them spectacular.  A sense of scale is difficult, but these falls are 215 tall.  They are among the tallest falls East of the Rockies.  Plus a year long photo blog in this area wouldn't be complete without at least one photo of Taughannock Falls.
  We ended the day getting supplies at the the Shops at the Ithaca Mall and were elbow to elbow with Cornell University and Ithaca College students who have returned to Ithaca. 
A cold day in Ithaca is not necessarily a bad day.

Lessons Learned:
  • It's always interesting to go to a site seeing spot with lots of people with cameras.  Many assume I'm a professional (probably because I'm old, and have a tripod.)  Little do they know.  But I find it a great place to talk to people, as well as take photos.  I find that many times there are others that are there that also know something about photography.  I learn by watching what they find interesting in ways that I haven't considered.  I also tell them what I'm trying to accomplish, and I like to hear their responses.
  • I find that if I attempt to blur the water in the falls by using a longer exposure that it begins to look like ice.  I like having a distinction between the ice and the falls.  So, for me I don't tend to blur the water in these types of photos.
Photo details: Exposure time 1/25 sec, Aperture f/20.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 70 mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, tripod.

6 comments:

Gary's third pottery blog said...

HA! We did much the same :) T. Falls is something else alright...

BSOB said...

i didnt even go outside! But the photo looks fantastic

Andrew said...

Stunning photo! Breathtaking in monochrome. I wonder what it would look like with the Max Ash effect applied actually... if you do ever decide to try that, make sure you do what you can with your RAW file to HDR it first.

Nicki said...

This is beautiful! I haven't been to T Falls in years. Beautiful!!

Yolanda said...

Wonderful textures in the ice - I love photographing waterfalls, especially when they are frozen like that! It's nature at its extreme! Good for you for braving the cold!

Rune Eide said...

I think you m,managed this very well, and monochrome suited it admirably. I have found that a shutter speed of between 1 sec and 1/10 of a second works find, but that of course depend on the speed of the water and your own preferences.

PS Thank you for the comment. I have no dog and was just passing by - luckily with my camera.