Fillmore Glen State Park

Rick M

Senior Member
Fillmore Glen is a state park in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. The area is full of gorges, this one seems a bit less traveled and the area is not as commercialized as the more famous Watkins Glen. Due to this fact it is more Photography friendly (less people). The gorge has several trails around it, the best is the gorge trail which follows the water and gorge for 1.5 miles. Since this area is less traveled, the trail has not been stupid proofed, so caution is advised. At some points, the trail is level with the gorge, at others, it is perhaps 100 feet above it with a 4 foot wide trail hugging the shale cliffs with no railing. The foliage is somewhat dense, luckily it was a bright clear day so I had adequate light, but the risk of blown out highlights was an issue with the longer exposures.

This first shot shows an example of the trails and 8 bridges which criss-cross the gorge throughout the trail.

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I was able to climb in and hug the stream for about a quarter mile. The Thinktank belt system came in handy for climbing hands free of gear. These shots are from the stream bed.

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The next shot is the only single exposure in the group, the rest are all 3 shot HDR's at +- 1.7 EV. I liked how a few branches were "in the way".

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From the same spot, HDR

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This last shot is the tallest waterfall, on a short trail near the beginning of the gorge trail.

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I'm going to revisit this spot in July and will update here. I'm also looking for ward to a trip in the fall, all of that foliage changing will be fantastic!

Thanks for looking,
Rick
 
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