Spent part of the day hiking the gorge at Watkins Glen yesterday, after the 3 hour drive one way. We got there at noon so lighting was tough to deal with and because of our small children timing really wasn't an option. It's only about 1 1/2 miles long with many small waterfalls cut into a narrow but somewhat deep gorge. If you ever get a chance to see it, I recommend it, it's really beautiful. I apologize for the large amount of pictures, but I'll admit that what I show is only a small amount of what is there. I hope you enjoy these.

This was the falls at the entrance, you enter a small tunnel to the right with stairs that go up to this bridge.


















I think the wife and kids were tired already at this point:


If you want to view the entire set of pictures, they can be found here

[PeterAM]

A few years back (early '60's) I used to go to the races at the Glen, but never saw the real Watkins Glen. Looks like a nice outing with the family.

[Scottnorwo]

great series. a wonderful place to go. been a few years since I have been there. you did well considering the time of day. I like the fifth and ninth shot, the light seemed to cooperate well in those shots

[madmikess]

A few years back (early '60's) I used to go to the races at the Glen, but never saw the real Watkins Glen. Looks like a nice outing with the family.

If you ever get a chance I recommend it. I'm planning on going back in September for the US Vintage Grand Prix so our adventure on Saturday was a dry run to see how long the trip would be. I've never actually been to the race track so that will be fun as well. I need to learn a little about shooting cars racing in the meantime.

great series. a wonderful place to go. been a few years since I have been there. you did well considering the time of day. I like the fifth and ninth shot, the light seemed to cooperate well in those shots

The biggest problem I had was that the gorge is fairly narrow and has some thick forest around the top that you'd get spots of bright sunlight beaming down that would really wash out some spots. I tried to minimize that as much as possible and apart from a little temp adjustment to bring out the color and some cropping I didn't really PP these that much, so that I'm pretty happy about.

Thank you for looking and I appreciate the kind words.

[PeterAM]

Vintage car racing is the best, as far as I am concerned. The cars don't all look like they came out of the same toy box. You should see some really nice machines. I went to the Glen when I was a student at Syracuse University. The track was very informal in those days; I can remember sitting on the hood of a car (American) in the infield and watching the races.
Another interesting thing in that area is the gliding around Elmira. Elmira used to be a big sailplane center (I assume that it still is) because one of the sailplane mfgs was there and the wind currents/thermals in the area were excellent. If you go to whatever field they are using, you can watch the takeoffs (either towed or winched up) and landings. You can also get a ride with an instructor (for a fee) at most sailplane centers; if you haven't done this before, it's something you'll not forget. Not scary at all; like being a bird.

[madmikess]

Vintage car racing is the best, as far as I am concerned. The cars don't all look like they came out of the same toy box. You should see some really nice machines. I went to the Glen when I was a student at Syracuse University. The track was very informal in those days; I can remember sitting on the hood of a car (American) in the infield and watching the races.
Another interesting thing in that area is the gliding around Elmira. Elmira used to be a big sailplane center (I assume that it still is) because one of the sailplane mfgs was there and the wind currents/thermals in the area were excellent. If you go to whatever field they are using, you can watch the takeoffs (either towed or winched up) and landings. You can also get a ride with an instructor (for a fee) at most sailplane centers; if you haven't done this before, it's something you'll not forget. Not scary at all; like being a bird.

Gliding would be one thing I would definitely try, sounds so peaceful. As far as the race, since I can't go to a formula 1 race anywhere in North America this year I am settling for the Vintage car race, not that it won't be fun to watch. It's just my way of substituting for one of the only racing series I enjoy watching. Of course the politics going on in Formula 1 might drive me from that as well.

[Sailor]

Beautiful shots of a beautiful place - I have to admit Watkins Glen evokes mental images of Porsches, Bimmers, "vettes and others screeming around a race course.

Jer