Entranced

Under the Spell of Treman Gorge

First timers to Enfield Gorge realize it is special when a corner is turned and this faces them.

Treman Gorge Trail from the Old Mill enters a narrow gallery looking here southeast along Enfield Creek, passing over a stone footbridge.

It is 9:30 am on a July morning Robert H. Treman Park, Ithaca, Tompkins County, Ithaca, New York,

Here is another photograph featuring the ephemeral winter theme, “The Cave.”

Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Oak Creek Reflections

early one still morning

The fault of Oak Creek changes direction, here it turns east/west through Schnebly Hill Formation red sandstone for which Sedona is famous.

West Fork (108) Trail, Sedona, Yavapai County, Arizona

“Hello” from Oak Creek Canyon, “Photo by Pam Wills”

Click this link for my Fine Art Photography gallery. You can find Oak Creek Mandala in the Arizona gallery.  The gallery description gives more information about the site.

Click this link for another Arizona post, “Cochise Dawn.”

Sandstone Gallery

early one still morning

The fault of Oak Creek changes direction, here it forms a north/south gallery through Schnebly Hill Formation red sandstone for which Sedona is famous.

West Fork (108) Trail, Sedona, Yavapai County, Arizona

“Hello” from Oak Creek Canyon, “Photo by Pam Wills”

Click this link for my Fine Art Photography gallery. You can find Oak Creek Mandala in the Arizona gallery.  The gallery description gives more information about the site.

Click this link for another Arizona post, “Cochise Dawn.”

Big Bend

A tripod and Neutral Density filter

Winter 2020 I posted “Winter People Watching” featuring the Sony F828 and candid street photography.

What I love about this place, a unique feature, is the size and different vantage points making it possible to view the same place from different angles. November 2019, readers were shown “The Bend,” a place with Taughannock gorge makes a 90 degree turn, changing from a southeastern to an eastern flow. Here are photographs from spot overlooked by that post.

Here the camera faces away from the sun, the graduated neutral density filter allowing me to capture the cloudless blue sky, a little milky the way it is here February with a hint of spring.

This little one is studying the information placard with rapt attention, learning how the African continent, pushing against North America, across the eaons, formed the right angle fractures mirrored by this dramatic change in Taughannock Gorge. For the Big Bend photographs I was standing behind them, along the stream bed.

Here is a broader slice of that sky.

Can you see the tiny figures of hikers, dwarfed by the frozen cliff?

Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

A Little Water Fall…

…and Gorge Cliffs

Purling of the water beneath this foot high waterfall was enhanced by reducing ISO to 100, tamping down the aperture to f/22 resulting in an shutter speed of 1/10th second. I set the graduated Neutral Density filter to shade the left side.

On the cliffs ahead is where the observation platform is cut into the rock. It has a great view of the waterfall, in some ways the experience of the falls is enhanced, compared to hiking the 3/4 mile path and standing below.

A marvelous forest grows on talus from the high gorge walls.

A sign on a disused pier warns waders to leave the creek bed. Ahead the gorge walls tower above the creek. Rocks dislodge and crash down unexpectedly, crushing foolish waders. It is appalling to see, in warmer months, people walking below those cliffs gathering the fallen rocks to make delicately balanced cairns.

Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Our Sally II

Thrifty

We continued down the half mile “Sallyport” footpath, marked in red on the Google Earth view provided at the end of this post, along shoreline cliffs to find these croppings of Sea Pink on jagged rocks.

Oddly, the jags being perfect places for Sea Pink to perch. Scientific name, Armeria maritima, and also known by Thrift or Sea Thrift, a reason these evergreen perennials are found on the obverse of the British Three Pence coin issued 1937 – 1952. Thrifty can mean to buy a lot for a little money — three pence is very little money.

Click any pic for a larger view, in a new tab, or a slide show. When using WordPress Reader, you need to open the post first.

Another sign informing hikers of the view.

Reference

Armeria maritima” – wikipedia

Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Keuka Lake Winter I

Keuka, the crooked Finger Lake….

Sunday, Pam and I travelled across the peneplanes, past three Finger Lakes, to reach the Dr. Konstantin Frank winery where we subscribe to the “Wine Club,” a quarterly release of three 750 ml wines along with a newsletter with information and recipes.  For 2018/2019 we elected to “pickup” our selections, looking forward to these drives through the country and villages between Ithaca and the winery perched on the west side of Keuka Lake, just below the “branch.”

Preeviously, I posted “Glacier!!” and today there is this photograph of glacial topography 10,000+ years after the melt.  Keuka Lake is shaped like a “Y” chromosome, here we are looking northeast across the “foot” of the “Y” from the west lakeside.  Above the evergreens, to the left, is the headland separating the “arms” of the “Y”. 

 Spread out below our viewpoint are row upon row of grapevines, enjoying the microclimate surrounding the deep lake.

Click this link for my Fine Art Photography gallery.

Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Lighthouse Point 5

Sundry elements

Uncategorized details from our Lighthouse Point adventures.

Seen from a resting place, a bench just off the trail and before the causeway.

A humble and fertile weed.

On a bright early November day Pam and I walked to Lighthouse Point. Ithaca, Tompkins County, New York

Before the parade of mast-like iron poles was this wooden one where it was apparent there could be no light on the white tower without power.

On top and under the surface

Look closely, children

One

Two

Three

A demon greeting

Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Lighthouse Point 4

The Views are the Reward

Here is the south end of Cayuga Lake on a bright November afternoon. Stewart Park is enjoyed by Ithacans year round.

Everyone is a fan of the Willows framing the lake views.

Can’t get enough of Stewart Park..

An unzoomed view, to give an idea of the distance across the water.

Pam and I have great memories of sailing this stretch from our years of membership in Cornell Family Sailing.

The east lake shore.

The West Lake Shore. This photograph captures the electric line that powers the Red Tower light. Seagulls enjoy that causeway…I’ve never seen humans walk it.

Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Lighthouse Point 3

At the White Tower

The quarter mile jaunt over the causeway yields the reward of this view up the White Tower…..

…and this vantage of the Red Tower, the west shore of Cayuga Lake leading down to Crowbar Point in the distance, colored by Autumn.

The shore is privately owned, some lake houses are visible. To the right are moorings of the Ithaca Yacht Club.

A closer view of the Red Tower.

On a bright early November day Pam and I walked to Lighthouse Point. Ithaca, Tompkins County, New York

White Tower graffitti.

My thoughts exactly…

Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved