Christine mentioned to me last week that a new lot for Green Lakes was now open off Pearson Road. There is a trailhead that comes out of the park at the road and the lot is now located on the opposite side of the road, across from the trailhead. I confess to not knowing that trail at all; I have always avoided it, because I consider it a trail to nowhere if it just abruptly ends at a road. But with a new parking lot being nearest to the house (not that an extra mile necessarily matters), I decided to start my morning here. By the time I rolled out of bed and arrived on location, it was already 7:30, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. With the light already leaning toward harsh, I elected to set the JPEG engine to monochrome and go for a walk. The […]
Two weeks ago, I planned on spending the morning packing for Florida, but this morning I awoke with few plans for the week and the sun still below the horizon, so I got dressed, picked up my camera and got in the car to see what the morning might hold. As I turned north on Bolivar Road, the clouds to the wast seemed to have some interest, so I pulled in the field and took out the 75-300. First, I captured an image of the clouds behind the hill and cell tower with intentions of making a black and white picture, but the light was low and the image noisier than I wanted at 6400 ISO. Then it occurred to me to switch to Handheld High Resolution (HHHR), which (by averaging a series of exposures) has a cleaner file when the conditions allow, and they did. Then, as the sun […]
While the kids were at Taekwondo, I drove to Mill Run Park to walk the upper field and practice taking pictures of birds. Aside from a robin or two, the experience was otherwise unremarkable until I walked down to the creek, where I know a couple cardinals can often be seen. Yes, I was able to locate a cardinal, but it was too high in a tree to capture a meaningful image. As I was walking along the creek, I stopped to compose a couple of images with the digital ND in the camera, but neither were worthy of much attention. As I was beginning to return to the car, though, I was surprised to see a heron come to rest behind the trees and downstream from where I was standing. I crossed the bridge and slowly made my way in the cover to try to see the bird through […]
I had taken the day off to travel home after the eclipse, in the event that we had traveled, and I had no intention of giving back the day. So, instead of going to work, I took the car to Romano for spring maintenance and then proceeded to drive the loaner vehicle to Green Lakes for the morning. There were no clouds in the sky and the light was already a bit harsh, but I had committed to walking around with the camera nonetheless, so that is what I did. The campground lot was open when I arrived (it would be closed when I departed a few hours later and I would need to move the barricades to exit without driving on the grass), so I drove to the Rolling Hills Campground to park. I saw a harrier that would fly away before I could even get my camera our […]
Earlier this week, I decided that winter was over and that I was going to get out with the camera no matter what, even if for short periods of time and even when the conditions weren’t quite right. It proved to be a good weekend to make that decision. Last I had looked on Thursday morning, we were forecasted to receive approximately 4 inches of snow Friday evening into Saturday morning, but when I awoke, six inches of snow had already fallen and the radar indicated that there was more on the way. I got dressed, grabbed my camera gear, cleaned off the car, and proceeded to Green Lakes. The roads were slick, but I found my way to the park nonetheless, only to find that none of the lot was yet plowed. Preferring to not have to dig my car out after getting plowed in or to inconvenience the […]
I had no intentions of going out to capture any images this day. I went to sleep the night before with plans to take Austin to Darlene’s before school, same as any other Friday. I was surprised the next morning when my phone rang at 0538 to notify me that school was closed and I already knew that Austin was going to take the opportunity to try to sleep in. Throughout the night, I had been woken by strong winds that were making considerable noise as they rushed and whirred past the house. They left me wondering what the conditions might be like at the Sodus Point Lighthouse. The lighthouse at Sodus Point is a subject that I have been waiting to capture. It is approximately 90 minutes from Chittenango, so I have been hesitant to drive for the sake of photography alone unless I knew with confidence that the […]
To be honest, it is really hard to underachieve when you go out with no expectations. I had no plans to even go out this morning until I learned that it was supposed to rain this afternoon and the day would prove to be a washout if I didn’t get out in the morning. I elected to put the fisheye lens on the camera and go for a walk in the woods at Green Lakes. I suspected the park was going to be full with people near the lakes (the temperature would climb to 62 degrees and the cold is returning overnight). I parked in the Erie Canal lot and walked into the back entrance to the park with plans to remain topographically below the Rolling Hills throughout the morning. I knew that the fisheye was a bad choice for the subject matter, but I decided to give it a […]
I sorta remember feeling the same last year. Unmotivated. Down. Lazy. Uninspired. Dare I say a little more depressed than usual? It only occurred to me when I had to get blood drawn for my annual physical this week and the Doc had asked them to check my Vitamin D; I was reminded that my levels were horribly low last year. I began to recall that I was placed on a mega-dose for 2 weeks followed by a supplement that I stopped taking once summer arrived. I also remembered the PA explaining away some depressive symptoms last year through the lens of low Vitamin-D and telling how much better I would feel with supplementation. I was skeptical, gave it a try, felt no better, and (frankly) forgot about it until now. So, maybe I have a little seasonal-thing that happens, I dunno. Or maybe it gets cold and I just […]
I had all intentions of making one more trip. Maybe to Finger Lakes or Letchworth. Maybe the Pocono Mountains. It wasn’t meant to be this year, and I have no complaints. It wasn’t for lack of trying or consideration. I did my due diligence and looked at the weather forecast. I looked at the fall foliage forecast too. Everything was pointing toward me staying home as the weather wasn’t going to be great and the leaves were seemingly past peak nearly everywhere. So instead of traveling, I stayed local. I still took my 2 days off from work, but I slept in my bed instead of a tent. Instead of driving hours upon hours over half a day, I would drive no more than an hour to any location. On Thursday, I went to Carpenters Falls to see what they have done to the area since I last visited a […]