Did you visit Ricketts Glen? If not, it’s maybe a 3 hour drive and well worth the visit if you haven’t and you get back to York.
-Tim
Samuli Vahonen wrote:
Hi Rich,
Nice waterfalls photos from Shenandoah. I still regret that I didn't properly visit Shenandoah while I lived in York, PA & later traveled tens of times there. I only drive through Shenandoah once when I decided to transfer myself to our South Carolina office by driving there instead flying (of course I used whole weekend, had time to take some photos in Shenandoah and other nice places, but it was in February so not optimal...).
Waterfalls are nice to look & shoot, but they are quite rare here in Finland. Almost always when I travel (for photography) I go places with mountains, and I quite often shoot waterfalls as well. My favorite place to shoot this kind of images is Smokey Mountains NP, NC - I specially liked that there were lots of scenes like this, where I could combine lush nature to streaming water, preferably also having mist or fog.
I feel that Leica 28 loses it's unique brilliance and focus plane rendering becomes duller when closing down to f/11 or more. If shooting requires f/11-16 range, then I have been happier to various Zeiss lenses (ZE 2/28, C/Y 2.8/28 & G 2.8/28) which don't seem to get any duller at f/11 and f/16 does not get as dull as Leica. For sure Leica still renders better at these small aperture than most lenses even diffraction reduces the special rendering style this lens is famous for.
One of the first picture taken with my new Batis 135. I know that I may strive against the stream buying a 135 f2.8 when the 1.8 Sony version hit the market.
Newborough Beach and Llanddwyn Island sit on the south east of the island of Anglesey in North Wales. The beach is wide and flat and backed by dunes and pines. The redundant light house - originally built to provide guidance at the entry to the Menai Straits - is a landscapers' hot spot as you can see in #4.
I spent a few days in Northern California, well, mostly at Point Reyes, a Nature and Wildlife Park about 1.5 hours north of San Francisco and 2 days in the City. Here is the first image from Point Reyes. The first day at Point Reyes was raining and cold basically the whole day and as such, it was not rewarding at all. Thankfully, the weather changed for the better on the second day and here is the first image on the second day was Nothing spectacular... but it is what it is.
AGeoJO wrote:
I spent a few days in Northern California, well, mostly at Point Reyes, a Nature and Wildlife Park about 1.5 hours north of San Francisco and 2 days in the City. Here is the first image from Point Reyes. The first day at Point Reyes was raining and cold basically the whole day and as such, it was not rewarding at all. Thankfully, the weather changed for the better on the second day and here is the first image on the second day was Nothing spectacular... but it is what it is.
Hi Joshua,
I haven't been to Point Reyes since 1991. Beautiful Seashore and area. Would love to go back sometime in the near future.
I haven't been to Point Reyes since 1991. Beautiful Seashore and area. Would love to go back sometime in the near future.
Rich
Rich, with me it was basically the other way around. It was my very first visit. Frankly, the wildlife part was a tad disappointing. It is fairly sparse t. Hiking up and down for a few miles with heavy gear and the reward was on the meager side, taking a toll on my old body . Well, it is not like Costa Rica, for sure.
AGeoJO wrote:
Rich, with me it was basically the other way around. It was my very first visit. Frankly, the wildlife part was a tad disappointing. It is fairly sparse t. Hiking up and down for a few miles with heavy gear and the reward was on the meager side, taking a toll on my old body . Well, it is not like Costa Rica, for sure.
Hi Joshua,
I wouldn't really consider Point Reyes as a great place for wildlife, but it isn't bad. For landscape and seascape images however, that is a very different situation. When I was at Point Reyes in 1991 I was taking a workshop with Dewitt Jones called Seeing Deeply.
San Fernando Cathedral captured early one morning recently. A bit of blue hour still remained in the clouds as the morning light illuminated the church wall. The original church of San Fernando was built between 1738 and 1750. The walls of that church today form the sanctuary of the cathedral and it is notable as one of the oldest cathedrals in the United States. I prefer shooting this at sunset since the lights around the cathedral are beautiful but I did enjoy shooting it in the morning with hardly anyone around.
Pretty unintrusive village construction, at 4500m below the Nyenchen Tanglha range. It was always a tough life, the nomads had yak hair tents and their animals in 40 below, using yak dung for stove fuel. Now, they still herd their livestock up the high valley but have electricity that never quits (hot water, heaters, tv, radio, etc.), solid wall insulation in flat tops (easy to heat, furniture), and a road into Lhasa (health care, festivals, shopping, etc.) and great mobility.
t. Hiking up and down for a few miles with heavy gear and the reward was on the meager side, taking a toll on my old body 
. Well, it is not like Costa Rica, for sure. 
