Letchworth State Park

[Matt]

did you check out the arts and crafts festival while you where there? I'm guessing it was really busy.

[backpacker]

I droped my wife and daugather off at the show then went over to the east side to take pictures, I was heading back to my van when they called and said they were done. Thus I didn't make it to the lower falls

They got some xmas shopping done at the art and craft show

[Mark J]

I have to come down on the side of the park rangers regarding creek walking and other forms of trespass at Letchworth or elsewhere for that matter. The place gets a lot of people and lot of water. I was there for a week in August, 2006 and saw some pretty stupid stunts. It is really best to obey the rules, even when they seem stupid. Most rules are there for a reason. I've read enough stories about people getting stranded after creekwalking illegally, about getting a rock on the head or falling in a gorge after stepping over a fence or barrier "just to take a picture" etc. I do not wish to star in such a story in the future. There are plenty of places to take a lawful and safe creekwalk, and absolutely no reason to do it where it's prohibitted.

One post (I think it was in this thread) asserted that a landowner can't post a stream unless he owns both banks. I wonder if anyone has a source for this. I've investigated trespass laws fairly extensively and never come across this point before.

[LWalsh]

I took these this past fall. We were on our way to my husband's rugby tournament and only had about 30 minutes to spend at the park. I can't wait to go back!




There were people walking on the trellis when we arrived, and about a minute or 2 later a train crossed over. I don't know what would possess someone to walk over it!

[Brenda]

Wow Lisa, beautiful shots!

[Matt]

An HDR taken at the hogsback bend.

[cbobcat49]

Has anyone ever been to Dishmill Creek Falls? It's on the east ("opposite") side of the gorge. I've got it on my to do list and hope to get there some time this spring before it dries to a trickle.

Here's a link:

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/560621690pbjNdv

[Matt]

I didn't even know it was there.

[JSchihl]

Hello - I'm thinking of visiting Letchworth State Park May 23rd and 24th to view waterfalls. I've read (somewhere) that in the spring some dams are closed so some falls aren't worth viewing, does anyone know if that is true? Also, will the trees have leaves on them in late May? If not I might wait until September but how will the water flow be in September?

Thanks,

Jerry

[Matt]

Hey Jerry,
Welcome to the board. I see you shoot with an Oly c-8080. I used that camera to shoot most of my photos for this site.
There's one major dam in the park (the Mt Moris Damn) and it shouldn't be backed up at this time- It usually backs up the river during the snow-melt and after heavy, heavy rain. It's quite a site to see when it is. Late May should not be a problem.
If it does rain a lot when you visit, the trails that lead down close to the river may not be accessible. - But that amount of rain would certainly keep you busy checking out all the tributary falls from the cliffs.

The trees will have green on them and leaf color will be a little more yellow than in summer- should make for some great photos.

are you coming from out of state?

[JSchihl]

Hi Matt - Thanks for your reply. I like the C-8080 but I wish it had a better (longer) zoom... I live in Michigan, just north of Detroit. My wife and I like to go Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to view waterfalls but we're looking for new scenery and Lectworth will be a shorter drive .

Looking at some photos the scenery at Lectworth State Park is beautiful so I'm looking forward to this trip.

The shortest route for me is to go through Canada, any idea if there are long lines at the boarder going back into the States and vise-versa?

If interested you can view some of our photos at our site http://www.weekendphotography.com

Thanks again...

[JSchihl]

Matt - After looking more at this site I found you are the founder. Very nice site and very nice pictures...

Jerry

[Matt]

True about the 8080 focal length- though you can't beat that quality. I bought the 1.4x extender for it but haven't used it much. In my line- it's all about wide angle anyways.

I wouldn't expect long lines for the time you are crossing. Will you be hitting Niagara Falls too?

Will you be staying in Letchworth park?

I see you shoot lighthouses too. There is one in Rochester (Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse- 30 minutes north).
You may be able to check out Akron Falls on your way over. I find that one of the more interesting falls on the west side.

[JSchihl]

My plan (I haven’t presented it to my wife) is to see about 4 or 5 lighthouses around Lake Ontario, and maybe Akron Falls, then head down to Letchworth and then stopping at Niagara on the way home. We will be in the area for 4 days and staying at hotels along the way…

I’m thinking about the Olympus SP-570 UZ mainly for the 20x lens but I need to do more research on it.

[cbobcat49]

My plan (I haven’t presented it to my wife)

uh oh, you're living dangerously.

Welcome to the forum, Jerry.

-Chris

[JSchihl]

uh oh, you're living dangerously.

Lol. This only thing she will be concerned with is the drive through Canada. I just read at US Department of State that we don't need a passport just a photo ID and probably a birth certificate.


And I thank you for the welcome…

[Matt]

A story of great beauty

Portageville, N.Y. -
Letchworth State Park today is 17 miles of natural beauty and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the state.

It wasn’t always that way.

The acres surrounding the Genesee River as it drops down three waterfalls between spectacular canyon walls once were home to a wide range of human activity. Forests were stripped of trees, and a logging operation perched at the brink of Middle Falls. Homes could be found on both sides of the gorge, and villages dotted the river bottom where farms thrived despite the occasional flood. A canal, and later a railroad, ran along one side.

The story of Letchworth today, and also that of yesterday, comes to life through a photographic journey in the latest offering from Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America Series. Authored by Thomas A. Breslin, Thomas C. Cook, Russell, A. Judkins and Thomas C. Richens, “Letchworth State Park” gathers 128 pages of photos and artistic images taking readers on a journey through the gorge area’s most natural state when the first Native Americans roamed the land through recent human development and finally to restoration due to the efforts of William Pryor Letchworth.

According to Cook, a resident of Nunda and history teacher at Keshequa Central School, planning for the work began last year as the park celebrated its 100th anniversary and continued through 2007. But really, “Letchworth State Park” has roots dating back to 1978 when Cook formed the park’s history program. Working summers with former park manager Breslin, the park history effort grew into development of a Website, letchworthparkhistory.com in 2000, where many photos found in the book also can be viewed.

The real challenge, Cook said, was going through thousands of images to find those that best tell the Letchworth story.

The authors began meeting to review items in their personal collections and those found in park archives, local historical societies and individuals, and then outlined chapters. From there, the four determined what images might be available that they didn’t have but were necessary to help tell the story. As a result, the book includes several images that have never been seen by the public.

“It was really a group effort. Each of us brought our own expertise and experiences to the project,” Cook said. “Tom Breslin and I had the most experience with the park, Russ Judkins is a professional anthropologist, and Tom Richens had previously worked on an Arcadia publication. Although we had individual chapters and some differences in style and approaches can be found between the chapters, I believe the images and captions reflect the perspectives of all five of us.”

The fifth, uncredited author, Cook said, is Leonora Brown, interpretive programs assistant at Letchworth whose work in selecting photos and reviewing and editing chapters was “instrumental,” Cook said.

“Letchworth State Park” now can be found at Barnes and noble and Amazon.com, and should be available soon inside the park and at local bookstores.

http://www.eveningtribune.com/homepage/x1658003414

Link to book on Amazon

[JSchihl]

Well I'm finally going to visit Lectworth State Park later this week after my previous plans were cancelled. I have a question about photographing waterfalls. I recently experimented with the f stop on my C8080 to get the "cloudy" look so many people use when shooting waterfalls. It did the trick as far as slowing the shutter speed to get the cloudy-fuzzy look but the photos were over exposed. Do I need to adjust the ISO also? Or are there other settings?

Any advice will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jerry

[backpacker]

When shooting waterfalls and to get the silky look you need a tripod, ND filters, and a slow shutter speed. Best days for waterfalls are cloudy and overcast also try shooting in the golden hours.

[Matt]

For the Oly C8080, which has a very bright lens, you definitely need a Neutral Density filter. I used to use a C8080 and sometimes I would have to stack a 4ND and an 8ND just to get the lens to slow down enough. I then moved on to using a ND filter and a slim polarizer, which worked just as well and helped get rid of glare.

I would recommend getting an 8ND and seeing how that goes. Set the aperture to what you need for the scene - and keep the ISO at it's lowest (80 for that model I think).