Over the years of photography I have added a few new photography tools to my kit. Each time I add a new tool it is because it serves a specific purpose. A purpose that will hopefully be able to capture new images.

I often don’t get out to take photos as much as I would like during the colder months here in New York. So, whenever I have a chance I try to make the best of it. Recently I had an unexpected opportunity to go out and create some photography. No time to plan. Not as much time as I would like.

The way to make the most of this opportunity was to grab the simplest gear and go to an area where I knew I would have plenty of photography opportunities to create photos. I garbed my small Sony Alpha 6000 and my mini flexible Joby tripod. This gave me flexibility and maneuverability and the ability to move fast to make the most of my time.

Then I headed to photograph the state parks in and around Ithaca, New York. So much beautiful nature there. You can’t go wrong and I could maximize my time with a few short drives.

I started at Buttermilk Falls State Park. My initial thought was to drive to the upper part of the park and walked part way down the gorge to photograph the waterfalls. I like the upper part of the gorge more for photography than I do the lower part of the gorge.

I am glad that I decided to start at the bottom and hike up after all. One reason I don’t like the lower half of the gorge as much is because there aren’t really many good spots to set up a full size tripod in order to photograph the waterfalls in that section of the park. There is a lot of fencing to make sure people don’t get too close to the edge or don’t go where they are not supposed to be.

However, my choice of gear for this trip worked out perfectly. The flexible legs of my Joby tripod allowed me to wrap the legs around the rail of the fence. That allowed me to perch my camera there. And then I could take longer exposures of the waterfalls in that area. This allowed me to capture those silky white streams of water in motion over the falls.

If I didn’t have this specific camera and this specific tripod with me on this trip I probably would not be able to create these images.

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