Owls Head Peak Again

As I threatened I might in my last post, this morning I got up at 3 am and drove down to the mountains in time to catch the sunrise on Owls Head Peak. I climbed by headlamp and made it with only a few minutes to spare. The photo above was made from an open area on the way up. I didn't want to miss that lovely color over Giant of the Valley. When I reached the summit I went to the Northern end and made several overlapped images that I stitched into this panorama which would be roughly 10X36 if printed at around 300 pixels per inch.

I had the pleasure of having the mountain to myself for over 2 hours before people started showing up. In order to have a solitary experience on a mountain in the High Peaks area these days (even ones that are not High Peaks) you have to either climb or descend in the dark. When I arrived at the parking area, mine was the only car. By the time I returned to my car it was one of seven, plus a motor home and an extended van that had disgorged a group of about 16.

I photographed my way back down. I managed to rephotograph some subjects that I hadn't been able to get good photos of previously due to poor light. (Too bright, contrasty, etc.). My preferred light is bright overcast but nature rarely cooperates.

The actual sunrise (above). The ones at the top were made while the sun was still below the horizon.

A mountain ash and pine on the East side of the summit (above) and five photos of Ents below.

Another view toward Giant after the sun had risen. The cliff on the left is a popular rock climbing site followed by a detail of the cliff.

This view of Cascade Mt. is from the area below the climbing cliff.

More Ents, or at least parts of Ents who have 'passed on' in the case of the upper photo.

That will most likely be my last trip to Owls Head for the foreseeable future. I have quite a large collection of photos from there. I should put them in a book. I hope D.E.C. gets on the new trail project soon. I am going to miss Owls Head. Be sure and click on the images for larger views,  especially the panorama. Share by pointing your friends to this page. Do not repost elsewhere without permission.

My Last (?) Visit To Owls Head Peak

Summit view toward Cascade Mt.

I revisited Owls Head yesterday with very mixed feelings. It is unquestionably my favorite small mountain but they are closing the trail because of abuse. I was dismayed at the condition of the trail when I climbed it last year and it is even worse this year. In recent years it has become extremely popular, especially with families and casual hikers because the summit experience is huge relative to the effort required to climb it. 

But the real reason for the closure is not the condition of the trail, as bad as it is. The reason is that the trail crosses private land at the start and this year on Memorial Day weekend there were so many people climbing Owls Head that their parked cars blocked the landowners from getting to their homes. They hit the limit of their patience with inconsiderate hikers and immediately closed the trail on weekends with a permanent closure to take effect after Labor Day. The closure saddens me but I totally sympathize with the landowners having been through a similar situation myself.

When I arrived there were more cars there on a Wednesday than I had ever seen before but I found a spot near the trailhead that had been vacated. I was met by a couple just coming down who told me that there was a crowd on top along with numerous dogs. I was to see dog poo on the trail going up (bag it out people) and smell other leavings that were obviously human and much too near the trail. 

When I first visited Owls Head at least 20-30 years ago the trail was a single narrow path. No more.

Large sections are trampled to the point that no vegetation is left except the trees. As much as I hate to see the trail closed, Owls Head is in need of an intervention.

I took my time climbing, taking photos as I went and many people passed me on their way down. I had arrived at the trailhead and begun my climb shortly after noon and I find that most casual hikers tend to time their hikes to summit at noon or shortly before so they were already on their way back down. I took a couple of side trails to photograph the views and woods.

A side trail that hasn't been trampled to death.

An oak sprout.

A venerable pine.

Gnarled roots of a fallen pine.

View toward Giant of the Valley from a lower outlook.

A glacial erratic, a remnant of the last ice age.

Somewhere along the trail (the boundary isn't marked) you cross from the private land to state land which includes the summit. 

An open rock stretch before the summit.

The last stretch skirts the left of a cliff that is popular with rock climbers.

Life is rough on a mountain anyway and hordes hikers make it rougher. 

This tree looks more like an oversized bonsai.

A climber setting the route for his companions in the woods below.

In spite of the negativity of the situation and the condition of the trail, it was an awesome day to be in the woods and to stand on top of a mountain. D.E.C. has proposed to create a new trail up the other side of the mountain but bureaucracy moves slowly. I don't expect that it will be in place by next year or even the following year. I'd be pleasantly surprised if it happens within 5 years based on past experience with D.E.C. action while I was a lean-to adopter. 

A panorama looking East from where I ate a late lunch.

 A pair of young ladies who were joined by the rest of their family a few minutes later.

A broad panorama looking South including (left to right) Giant of the Valley, Porter, Cascade and Pitchoff Mt.

On my way down I shot one last view of Giant framed by a pair of boulders. I had spent nearly 4 hours on the mountain, climbing enjoying and then descending. The time spent on top was a wonderful escape from the current turmoils of our sorry excuse for a civilization. When I got back to the parking area only 4 cars remained including mine. I have two more weeks. I may be back but I am thinking of arriving and climbing in the dark to see the sun rise over Giant then leaving when the crowd starts to arrive.

As always the photos are copyrighted. Be sure to click on them to see a larger version, especially the panoramas. Share by referring your friends to this URL. 

WayBack Sunday: I have been looking over my Lightroom catalog from when I first began using digital regularly with a 4MP Olympus camera. This is from the spring of 2002, a photograph of Roaring Brook Falls as seen from Rt 73.

The original JPG color version was never printed because it was flat. I realized looking at it today, that at that point I was still shooting as a B&W photographer, which was the way I had seen the world up until then, but I didn't know then how (or have the tools) to manipulate digital images the way I did with film. This morning I changed it to monochrome and then modified the tones that way I would have a print from B&W film. Then it came to life for me.

I tend to keep exposures that a lot of photographers I know would delete in a first edit of a shoot but I find that some images require a second or even third look with fresh eyes, even if it is years later.

Click on the image to see it larger. I plan to continue my review and updating of old images from 2002 forward. I will post them here as the review continues.

Automated Photography?

Tamarack seed cones

In a stark contrast to my June 6th post I saw a crowdsource ad a couple of days ago that was promoting an artificial intelligence add-on for your camera. It is supposed to connect to your smartphone via Wifi or Bluetooth and control the camera remotely. Not unusual. There have been devices to do that for some time now. In fact, one of the earliest has folded due to the increased competition.

But this one is different. *You* don't control the camera via your phone, the AI does. Apparently, it is programmed with what a good photograph of each type looks like and uses AI to make whatever is in front of the camera look like that 'ideal' photo does. If you are shooting a still life, you choose "still life" from the menu, the AI sets the exposure, DOF, etc. to the formula and takes the photo. It requires neither technical know-how nor creativity on your part. You just have to point the camera, the AI does the rest. I didn't read it all. Maybe it even advises you on where to point the camera.

This trend isn't new of course. George Eastman started it with the Kodak Brownie, "You trip the shutter and we'll do the rest". And I'm not opposed to advancement. I was a fairly early adopter of digital, jumping on board when 4MP came out but I do think this is carrying things too far. When we surrender the technical decisions that determine the way our images look to a computer that simply applies a formula we will get nothing but imitations of someone else's photos from the past. It is bad enough that some photographers flock to 'the iconic locations' to repeat photos they have seen in Outdoor Photographer or other publications, now they can take a tool that will remove the variable of their own skill and personal vision.

How to take really great photographs in a nutshell:

1. Learn how photography works, the nuts and bolts of it, shutter speeds, f/stops, etc.
2. Learn how your camera(s) work. Read the manuals and practice using the controls.
3. Spend time "developing your eye", your personal way of seeing the world around you.
4. Find subjects that interest and excite you where you are.
5. Make photos, lots of photos, hundreds, thousands. Examine them critically. figure out what works for you, don't copy others and don't get caught up in other people's formulas for what makes a good image. To paraphrase Duke Ellington "If it looks good, it is good."
6. Have fun!

The photos with this post are from the Paul Smiths Visitor Interpretive Center of Paul Smits College AKA "the VIC". It was originally built by NY state but was turned over to the college (a forestry and hospitality school). It is about 45 minutes from my house and I go there several times per year to photograph and participate in the art shows that are held there. On this trip I was doing what is lately called a "forest immersion", just walking the trails and experiencing nature and of course, making photographs of the experience.

Pitcher plant flower

Insect trails on a standing dead tree

Deadwood on the ground

Lady Slippers AKA Moccasin Flower

Dragonfly on the boardwalk over the marsh

Tamarack greenery in the sunlight

Pitcher plant flower

"Something" growing through the boardwalk

New ferns in the woods

I enjoyed my morning in the woods and the marsh. I hope you enjoyed the photos. As always the contents of this blog are copyrighted. Do not repost or reuse without permission.

Flowers - I Love Flowers

Orange Hawkweed

Every year about this time I go out and wander the back 40 (it's really only about 6 acres) and photograph whatever I find that inspires me. When I finish the tour the flower beds in the yard (I am an amateur gardener) and photograph my successes there. The wildflowers are gifts. The only credit I get for their presence is that, unlike my neighbors, I don't brush hog the field every June and I allow the flowers to grow and go to seed.

After an hour or two or three of rambling about the field and yard reveling in the floral  beauty, kneeling, lying on the ground, fussing with the tripod to get the best angle on each bloom, I come into the house, download the 50-100 files, cull the exposures that don't satisfy me and adjust them to share my "beauty break" with others. This is yesterday's 90-minute break from the news cycle and whatever personal concerns that would otherwise have occupied my mind, a nature meditation of sorts. Enjoy, linger and take your own break as you view them. If you click on a photo, you get a larger view.

Common Pinks 

Red Clover 

Japanese Iris 

Pink Peony 

Japanese Iris - Two Colors 

Iris Closeup 

Peony and Opening Bud 

 Potentilla - Yellow Cinquefoil

Miniature Lilac - Late Blooming 

Columbine - A "Volunteer"in my Flower Bed 

 Chives in Bloom

I hope that was as nice a break for you as it was for me. All were made with a Canon EOS M3. I used a 24mm macro lens on a few. Most were made with extension tubes and either the 18-55mm zoom or the 55-200mm zoom. Editing was done in Adobe's Lightroom.

Please remember that all the photos are copyrighted. If you wish to share them, share the link to this page

Large Format

Over the years I have shot photos with cameras all the way from half-frame 35mm to 8"x10". This is one of those 8"x10" photos. The subject is LeRay Mansion on what was then 'Camp' Drum, now Fort Drum. I believe the year was 1966. While rummaging around in the storeroom I found an old wooden 8x10 camera. One of the routines we did in the Army labs was to 'exercise' the shutters of stored equipment to keep the springs from getting weak. I decided to exercise this camera by photographing some scenes around the post.

The mansion was the home of the LeRay family, early settlers to the area, long before the army built the camp (initially named Pine Camp) to train troops for WWII. In the '60s the mansion was guest housing for visiting brass and dignitaries. There was a dammed stream in the yard that was stocked with brook trout and the post commander held an annual fishing derby with barbless hooks and catch/release for the children of officers.

Judging by the photo, I think it must have been orthochromatic film because of the blank white sky. Orthochromatic film was not sensitive to blue, so skies photographed with it were almost always white. As I recall the shutter had limited speeds, T, B, 1/4th, 1/10th, 1/25th, and 1/50th second. The lens was a monster but gorgeous glass that produced contrasty crisp images. I have done no digital sharpening to this scanned copy of my contact print. Needless to say, grain is not an issue in that print. Exposure was by rule of thumb. We had no light meters. I wish I had that camera and lens today. I don't recall what happened to the others I shot with that camera. There weren't many and they probably stayed at Camp Drum but I made a print of this one for my personal files.