One of my favorite things to do is explore new to me places out in nature. And that experience only gets better when I bring my camera along. Or in this case cameras. Using my cameras to explore the natural world helps me pay more attention to details that I would likely never notice just walking and looking around.

As most photographers I have multiple different camera bodies and different lenses. And I use certain lenses and camera bodies for specific things. While I explored each different place I chose to carry with me and use specific setups of camera bodies and lenses for specific purposes.

Tinker Falls

I absolutely love photographing waterfalls. They may be my favorite subject in photography. They are always different and unique. Each waterfall is different from the next and each waterfall is different depending on the circumstances surrounding when you visit.

The first place I explored was tinker Falls. I had heard of this waterfall, but I had never been there. And I knew basically nothing about it. I may only have even known about it because it is mentioned in a guidebook I have for seeing waterfalls in my area.

The guidebook indicated that water levels were likely to be low due to it being mid summer. But, I decided to try and check it out anyway and see if it would hold interest in future visits. Spoiler alert, it definitely does.

It is only a short and flat walk to get tot he point where you can see the falls. The falls sit at the back of a deep magical valley that has been carved out by the flowing water. Once you get to the falls, at least this time of year you can easily walk among the stream bed ot get closer for more photos and better viewing. I imagine in times of year with more water flow it will likely require getting your feet wet.

If you travel far enough upstream you you arrive at a series of makeshift steps that will take you up to be eye level with the falls. And then you can walk around the edge of there the water falls off the cliff and even go behind the waterfall. I used two different cameras here to photograph the waterfall.

I only even ended up visiting this waterfall because my plan was to go to the Labrador Hollow Unique Area and in researching that area, I learned this waterfall was contained in the area.

Labrador Hollow Unique Area

The Labrador Hollow Unique Area was a very interesting place. Aside from Tinker Falls there is also several hiking trails and surrounding state forests. There is also a section of the Finger Lakes Trail that extends through this area.

After the waterfall, the place where I spent the most time was on the boardwalk that leads on a nice loop through a portion of the wetlands at Labrador Hollow. There were many different things to look at hear. I was hoping to see some birds, so I dropped off my small SONY camera I had used at the waterfall and picked up my Nikon and 200-500mm lens to pair with my other Nikon body and 18-200mm lens for landscapes.

The landscape held a lot to see even in a relatively small area. A variety of trees to look at and photograph. Small things like flowers and a surprising amount of what appeared to be large wild blueberry bushes. I did not eat a berry to verify. There were also dragonflies zipping about. And I did get to see some birds. I was surprised at how many Eastern Kingbirds there were. I seldom see more than one at a time. There appeared to be a small flock of them here chirping and flying about. I got a few decent looks at them but nothing I loved.

After the wetland I hiked down a part of the Finger Lakes trail that passes through the area. It appeared heavily wooded so I once again traded in my telephoto lens for my small SONY camera body and wide angle 20mm lens to better photograph the woodlands. This section was nice. The large vines hanging among the trees caught my eye.

Lime Hollow Nature Center

The next step of my plans was to start the drive home and stop at other places on my way. I wanted to stop at Lime Hollow Nature Center. I had only been here on one occasion thanks to participating in the Finger Lakes Running Club, Finger Lakes Challenge where the goal was to introduce participants to running routes in different parts of the area. And one of the route was here. And it seemed like a beautiful place with lots of trails to explore.

I imagined that I would hike around a lot and explore a variety of the trails, but it ended up being quite hot by the time I arrived and I did not want to hike and sweat and be hot I really wanted to relax and enjoy some nature and take photographs. So I picked out the flattest and straightest trail to hike. I walked out and back almost the entire distance of the trail. IT was a nice very relaxing, but still hot hike.

During this hike I used my mirrorless Nikon Z camera body paired with my 40mm f2 lens. What I like most about this lens is that wide open f-stop that allows for photography in the dark understory of the woods. I also often enjoy shooting a close up of one subject with the background completely out of focus because of the shallow depth of field allowed by the wide open f2.

Stewart Park

The next stop on the return trip home was Stewart Park in Ithaca, New York. This is a great place for all sorts of photography and I don’t get here nearly as much as I should. On this trip I was looking for birds to photograph. Specifically I was looking for Osprey after my dad has repeatedly talked to me about the next that has been very active here.

On this trip I unpacked my Nikon D500 and my 200-500mm telephoto lens and immediately saw Osprey flying around. I actually think I saw them before I had even gotten parked. I photographed the osprey flying out over Cayuga Lake. There were at least three different Osprey in flight over the lake while I was watching. Then I walked over to the Osprey nest and photographed what appeared to be the lone juvenile that had yet to fledge. The entire time I was in the parka and walking around I kept hearing Osprey calls that I could not identify the source of. They sounded like they were nearby. Perhaps in one of the many beautiful and large tree sin the park, but I never say an Osprey in the trees. While I was watching the nest a fellow photographer who was interested in the Osprey was talking to me for a bit. Then after photographing some other subjects and still hearing the nearby Osprey calling I was finally in just the right position to see the Osprey high up in a tree eating a fish. After taking a few photos I walked over to the other photographer and let her know where this one was. And as I was walking over with her to show here the birds location I apparently stepped on a ground hornet nest and got stung many times. And it was really difficult to keep my composure in public and not start cursing furiously as this other woman was following me to see the Osprey. I guess no good deed goes unpunished after all.

I was really happy to have a chance to see and photograph some other birds as well. Over near the Osprey nest I sat on a bench at the border of the woodlands and the waterway that leads to the lake I saw woodpeckers and other songbirds. Then over at the small pond I was able to photograph a Green Heron multiple times from different angles in different spots. This was really fun because I hardly ever see them or have an opportunity to photograph them. And then at one point a huge Great Blue Heron appeared out of nowhere and burst into flight and flew right by me. Luckily I reacted quick enough to capture a few nice images.

I also sat at one of the picnic tables near the lake and enjoyed a nice lunch of homemade vegan chili our of my thermos.

Buttermilk Falls State Park

My last stop before truly heading home was Buttermilk Falls State Park. And my favorite way to photograph this park is to skip the large waterfall at the bottom of the gorge that the park is probably most well known for and drive to the upper park entrance and then walk down the gorge trail backwards until you get to where the fenced in area starts. This way you get to see the most waterfalls with the least effort which is exactly what I wanted after a long hot day. I was hoping to cool down in the gorge with flowing water.

For this hike to make it as cool as possible I carried only my small SONY Alpha camera body with the 20mm lens attached to a small flexible Gorilla pod tripod. I love this combination for the flexibility it provides. Different angles than with traditional larger cameras and tripods. And the Gorilla pod can grip onto places at points where you couldn’t really shoot with a regular tripod.

The weirdedst thing about this trip was that shortly after I started walking down the gorge I got to one of my favorite spots. It is a location where the water flows relatively smoothly but it has also carved out this perfectly round hole in the stone over which it flows. But when I got there today there was a very scantily clad woman submerged in the water hole in front of her phone clearly making videos of some sort. So I photographed the surrounding area then quickly moved on and returned to that spot on my way back and she was thankfully gone so I coudl get some photos.

I really love this part of the park. There are so many waterfalls in such a small area and there are so many different angles to shoot from. There was pretty good water flow so I often found myself shooting intentionally under exposed so the whites of the flowing water would not be blown out. And this created an interesting contrast between the whit rapids of water and the darck stone and foliage.

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