two of them
On the south rim, Fillmore Glen, New York State Park, Moravia, Cayuga County, New York
unframed…..
…and framed.
Southern Exposure
“Happy Birthday” to Grandson Samuel Jack Wills who is seven today
Category: Fillmore Glen
High Dynamic Range
Moth-like I was drawn to the bright light
Geek Warning
A challenge in photographing Finger Lakes Gorges and the potential for an interspersement of bright light against shadow. A strategy I used in this series from Fillmore Glen is to choose the time of day carefully. The gorge is anything but straight forcing me at time to forego a shot or to carefully compose. Here I was drawn in by the golden reflection of Slippery Elm leaves on the flowing water of Dry Creek.
without…..
Moth-like I was drawn to the bright light. Using the tripod, I took two shots. One exposed to the gorge depths, a second more to the bright light beyond — while still not fully adjusted to it. Using a High Dynamic Range (HDR) tool, the two exposures were combined into the following.
…and with HDR.
Copyright 2022 All Right Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Slippery
Fillmore Glen Autumn
Ulmus rubra
The Slippery Elm (scientific name Ulmus rubra) gives Fillmore Glen this characteristic golden glow. The species has various traditional medicinal uses. The inner bark has long been used as a demulcent and is still produced commercially for this purpose in the United States with approval for sale as an over-the-counter demulcent by the US Food and Drug Administration. Sometimes the leaves are dried and ground into a powder, then made into a tea.
Reference: Wikipedia “Slippery Elm”
Copyright 2022 All Right Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
To the Brink
Take the Leap, or Not
On to Cowsheds Waterfall
The bed of Dry Creek bends before the fall. Fillmore Glen, New York State Park, Moravia, Cayuga County, New York
around the bend…..
…and over the brink.
Fillmore Glen New York State Park, Cayuga County, Moravia, New York
Copyright 2022 All Right Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
River Bend
Fillmore Glen Autumn
waiting for the people to leave
Patience was a virtue as I set up along Dry Creek where it bends before approaching Cowsheds waterfall drop-off. Fillmore Glen, New York State Park, Moravia, Cayuga County, New York
with…..
…and without hikers.
I say “without” with reservations. A moving hiker was blurred out in this 3.2 second exposure at f/22. I hid the blurred figure with a cut and pasted pristine pixels from the second exposure. The “without” take is earlier than “with.”
A minute and 50 seconds transpired between exposures. In that time, Pam rested her hiking pole against the wall.
Copyright 2022 All Right Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Wonderland
Fillmore Glen Autumn
Do you have a preference? If so leave me a comment. Thanks!!
The bed of Dry Creek bends before approaching Cowsheds waterfall drop-off. Fillmore Glen, New York State Park, Moravia, Cayuga County, New York
with…..
…and without cascade.
Copyright 2022 All Right Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Gorge Exploration
Fillmore Glen State Park, Moravia, New York
Late August last I captured these photographs and videos on the fly using an Iphone7 while Pam and I walked Fillmore Glen State Park, Moravia, New York. Click me for “The Space Station and the Waterfall,” another glen exploration.
Metal Intrusion
Spring thaw washed away the gorge wall, this functional metal bridge will outlast all but the most catastrophic gorge wall disruptions.
Flora
All parts of all Baneberry varieties (red and white) are highly poisonous, the bane of Baneberry. The berries are deadly. Ingestion of as few as two berries by children will cause death from cardiac arrest. Six for an adult.
Landscape Features
Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
Blue
A personal mystery solved
Capturing photographs and videos on the fly using an Iphone, we visited Fillmore Glen State Park, Moravia, New York with our granddaughter, Nia. This is the eighth post of this series. Click me for “The Space Station and the Waterfall,” the first post in this series.
Click any photograph for a larger view.
Chaos Resolved
Among this jumble of fallen, cut trees is the solution to a personal mystery.
I had often seen these green berry-like fruits of summer, these were growing among tree fall on one of the few almost level places of the gorge. The green turns bluish when ripe. This photograph I used today, along with dogged determination, to identify this plant. It was in neither reference on my desk.
The green berry color threw me off, using the growth pattern of the fruit, the leaves and where it was growing (moist forest with little light) to identify Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides). The leaves are similar to meadow rue and the species name ( thalictroides) is taken from the genus name of meadow rue (Thalictrum). The two are related, belonging to the order Ranunculales.
Blue Cohosh has pharmacological properties. Another name for the plant, Papoose Root, is from the Native Americans who used preparations of the root to induce childbirth, ease the pain of labor, rectify delayed or irregular menstruation, and alleviate heavy bleeding and pain during menstruation.
Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
Turned Back
Trail closed at bridge seven
Capturing photographs and videos on the fly using an Iphone, we visited Fillmore Glen State Park, Moravia, New York with our granddaughter, Nia. This is the ninth post of this series. Click me for “The Spaceship and the Waterfall,” the first post in this series.
Click any photograph for a larger view.
Seventh Bridge
We laughed at the trail-head sign, “Caution Muddy Trails.” White shorts beware. Somebody complained and demanded immediate resolution to the situation.
Another sign advised the Gorge Trail was closed after the seventh bridge. In my post “Bridge Views” these bridges are described. We could cross the seventh bridge, a barrier and a strongly worded sign, “Proceed no further, you will be prosecuted,” blocked the way. Here is the view, looking upstream.
The blocked path climbs the steep northern glen wall. This is the south wall, from the bridge. There was a young mother with two children, a girl, 6 or 7, and her 7 or 8 years old brother, each well equipped for the expedition with appropriate clothing and backpacks.
The family proceeded while I lingered to gaze up the blocked trail. I was tempted to crawl over the barrier, the ascending trail was clear the entire visible length. Being more cautious with age, or growing wisdom, I suppressed the urge and took in sights on the return trip.
On bridge number six the girl has her entire backpack contents spread over the path, a naturalist examining her kit. So sweet. Nia and Pam, at this point, were far ahead of me.
Moss is another plant proven valuable to humankind.
An Orchid
This strange orchid, the species name references a similarity to hellebore
With is we left the Gorge trail for this day, with a plan to return to approach the eight bridge from the north.
Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved
Glen Shadows
Among the chaos
Capturing photographs and videos on the fly using an Iphone, we visited Fillmore Glen State Park, Moravia, New York with our granddaughter, Nia. This is the fifth post of this series. Click me for the first post in this series, “The Space Station and the Waterfall,”.
Click any photograph for a larger view.
Moss and soil held in place by roots, it is unsettling to pass this place. This entire section is unsettled and unsettling to someone with an overactive imagination, who notices nothing growing below this place, in a gorge otherwise covered in greenery.
This decade some exceptional trail stabilization work was completed. Here is a portion of the trail, near the above photograph, the bank of loose soil held in place with a stepped retaining wall crafted from wood 8×8 posts. Higher in Fillmore Glen a portion of the trail is closed where the hillside gave way 14 years ago.
Fallen
Gravity working toward disaster is seen as a constant infall, a slow rain of trees, left in place to rot over the course of a century.
Dying trees on unstable creek bank are cut before falling.
Beneath the infall, chaos, this wood sorrell took root on a shin high shale shelf among mosses. The taste of the plant is sour, leading to the name from the greek for “sour.” The family Oxalidaceae comprises 570 species. I till not venture to guess this one.
Also known as sourgrass and false shamrock, these grow on a thread of hope in a glimmer of sunlight.
Michael Stephen Wills Photography 