When I set out to take photos for a day I really like it if I can find a place where I can take a variety of different types of photographs all in one location. I love waterfalls and if I go to a place with waterfalls that is all I will probably photograph. So I need to go somewhere a little bit different. Someplace with a lot of space to move around. And one great place for that is Seneca Lake State Park at the north end of Seneca Lake.

There is a several mile long paved path that takes you all along the north shore of Seneca Lake. It makes for great opportunities to explore and see the scenery from different angles. You can casually walk around and see what you see and plan some interesting photos.

You might be lucky enough to be there on a day where people are out in the water having fun water sports recreation like I was in October of 2021. I was able to photograph the athletes off in the distance. I framed them with the horizon and the rocks along the near shore at the bottom. I did some post processing on the image to highlight the people having fun out in the water.

There are also a lot of trees in this park. And I love photographing trees. There are a lot of willow trees overhanging the shoreline and you can compose unlimited different images using different trees and angles to show off the landscape. I like how the branches of this willow tree are overhanging the shore. The diffuse backlighting creates and almost silhouette effect on the trees. but you can still see a little detail in the trees and the foreground.

Don’t discount a day of photography just because there isn’t “good light” cloud cover and low light can create opportunities to do a lot of creative photography. And you can get some interesting cloud formations above the water and horizon.

With the low light I was able to take some photos at a slower shutter speed than I would be able to on a bright sunny day. I could watch the waves moving in towards the shore and try to time my photos just right to snap an image as the waves were hitting the rocks on the shoreline. I was just trying to catch that perfect splash of water off of the rocks. I think this photo worked out pretty good.

At Seneca Lake State Park there are also areas where you can get right down low on the shoreline. This allowed me to set up my camera at a low angle and look across the rocks and wood and seaweed and see the clouds and far shoreline in the background. And once again the low light because of all those beautiful clouds you see in the image below I was able to shoot at a slow shutter speed even during the middle of the day.

The cloud cover drowns out the harsh light that is often associated with mid day light. You end up with natures own soft box so there are not as many shadows. And the decreased light allows me to capture the water flowing over the rocks at the shoreline.

These photos were all captured on the same trip to Seneca Lake State Park back in October of 2021. Find a place you love where you can explore and point your camera and a bunch of different things and look at things in different ways. Freedom to move and explore different angles really helps me be more creative. If I can just relax and look around. Let my eyes guide me from one photographic opportunity to the next it really helps me just flow and create images in a way that is really relaxing and enjoyable.

What is your favorite place to go and move around and create a variety of images?

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