Autumn 2025: The N.E. Region
EXCERPT: Amid the roar of gorges and slipping shadows of autumn, I found myself deep in the landscape of the Northeast. From the bear moss and wind-swept spruce of Babcock State Park in West Virginia, through the steep canyon trails of Ricketts Glen State Park in Pennsylvania, and ultimately to the tangling skyline of New York City. I tackled dawn light without the perfect gear, wrestled tide-timing at a forgotten pier, chased a missing tumbler and elusive waterfall alike, and framed orange-lit trees tipping into still waters or towering city structures. Every shot became a story of patience, glitches, thrill, and the simple joy of being behind the lens in a season where the world turns gold and the air sharpens.
DAY 00: Family Time
So, the Lyft to the airport smelled like B.O., we (my youngest, my wife, and myself) were crammed into the back seat, and the suspension was trashed, literally. I actually worried for our lives, and that’s saying a lot because I drive what I thought was the most unsafe vehicle in Colorado. I was wrong. This guy has me beat! It’s time for him to invest some of his earnings into his vehicle/business!
Flight deets
Security was busy, but a breeze. I love the scanners where you don’t have to empty your laptops, camera gear, etc. A quick airport priced $35 breakfast, and to the gate we went.
On this leg of the trip, my wife and my youngest, as previously mentioned, were joining me. We were visiting my middle son and his lovely bride. We’d yet to see their place, work locations, or surrounding areas. Later, we will be on separate flights home due to my staying behind, after the family visit, to photograph autumn colors in a few select locations.
Since the family and I were on two different flights during the return trip, we had two different flight confirmations. This complicated our current check-in process and put us boarding the plane at different times. I was boarding Group B number 41. They were boarding Group C numbers 07 and 08.
I considered upgrading my boarding position, but chose not to due to the high price tag. Regardless, I was confident I could hold seats for them even though the plane was full. My confidence would soon diminish. I wondered if boarding earlier would help me scheme a way to save seats for the fam.
Airline staff began calling for carry-on bags to be checked under the plane due to concerns of there being no space in the overhead bins. My wife volunteered her bag. I, for the life of me, didn't want my bag to go under the plane.
I asked the staff, "Hey, we volunteered one of our bags. Can I guarantee that I can hold onto mine in return?" The answer was that there were no guarantees. With my boarding position being the tail end of the B Group, there was a likelihood that my bag would have to go under the plane as there'd be no overhead room by the time I boarded.
Original Boarding Position
New Boarding Position
Now, the likelihood of me getting separated from my bag was low, but I didn't want to gamble with over $10k of photography equipment in my bag. With preboarding already happening, I got nervous, pulled out the app and upgraded my boarding position. My new position was A15. That cost me $76, but meant I could surely keep my bag with me. It also meant I could likely "hold" seats for my family. In the end, we all sat together; us and my bag. Yay!
DAY 01: New York
I visited my son, his wife, their new little home together, and a few of their friends. The weather wasn't very cooperative, but it did lend itself well to me getting to introduce them to the Bourne series; we watched them all. Good times! In addition, we were given a tour of the Base and their workplaces. It all reminded me a lot of when I was young, minus the fact that Crew Chiefs are superior to AGE. That's a dig that my son will understand, as well as likely all Crew Chiefs and AGE Troops. I say it in jest. I love ❤️ all of our Airmen, and they all have important roles. However, each likes to think the AF couldn't function without them, which isn't totally untrue.
After our visit, I dropped off the fam at the airport, said our "See ya laters!," and headed off to NY with one slight detour. I wanted to go to downtown Philly and see the museum steps from the Rocky movie, as well as the Rocky statue. Good times! Terrible parking! I'm sure I and about 30 other Philadelphians invented a parking lot extension. But, you know what they say, when in Rome, do as the Romans do...
Rocky Balboa and I
Rocky Reflected
The Italian Stallion
https://youtube.com/shorts/x2eP-RNZEgI?feature=share
FF>> a few hours/miles later and, poof, I'm in Watkins, NY. I caught up with an ole photography buddy named Don Savage. We've shot a lot together in the past and still like to do so when our lives permit. He was one of the small group that not only knew I spent the Summer of '23 in the hospital, but also came to see me.
We are both photography and space nerds. We watched the Starship 11 launch, made morning plans, set our alarms, and directed our attention to the morning's pending photoshoot.
The morning didn't come quickly as I thought it might after having been on the road all day the prior day. I don't know, something about sawing logs indoors. Glad I had a good e-book and some ear buds. The book I'm listening to is long, so I didn't even bother setting a sleep timer. I merely started the book on page 1 and let it go, knowing the guy would still be yappin' come morning. Sadly, my buds died before alarm time. I write all of this with a grin. Just logging the memories. ;-)
Once the alarm went off, Don and I were in full focus mode. We grabbed a quick and nasty coffee from the local BK and headed toward Watkins Glen. I hoped to meet another fellow photographer on location. Once we reached the parking area, trekked a few steps down into the gorge, we did indeed meet my other photog buddy, Hung Ton. He was a bit more prepared than I was in that he had his umbrella with him. No, it wasn't raining and wasn't going to rain, but an umbrella while shooting in Watkins Glen is a good idea. Me, I thought I had one in my backpack. I suppose it was one of the weight/bulk savings measures that I took before leaving. Oh well, I s'pose my gear and I would simply have to get wet.
My buddy Hung Ton and his companion
It’s Wet At Rainbow Falls
The morning light and the conditions were great. Sure, it was pre-peak, but not by a lot. Also, the recent winds and the fallen leaves looked great on the rocks down below. I thoroughly enjoyed my first-ever visit to WG and look forward to visiting again!
Rainbow Falls
ABOVE: Behind The Scenes at Rainbow Falls
BELOW: Under Rainbow Falls
Everything Eventually Got Wet
Gorge Trail | Prints Available
https://youtube.com/shorts/wNfHbyK5KcA?feature=share
After shooting in The Glen, Don and I took the opportunity to go see Taughannock Falls. The lighting wasn't what I'd hoped for, but I/we made the best of it. After, we hit a coffee shop for some brew and a bit of behind-the-scenes file organization. From there, we parted ways. I had 8.5 hours of driving to do to get to my next location, a location that I was excited for and was a close second when figuring out photo opportunity priorities for this trip.
My Ole Pal Don Savage and I at Taughannock Falls
Office-Time at Gimme! Coffee Trumansburg, NY
Day 02: West Virginia
I arrived at Babcock S.P. late, just before closing time. I drove in, familiarized myself, and then drove out. I'd be back first thing in the morning. For now, it was time to backtrack and do a bit of stealth camping.
This was my first night sleeping in the rental. This oftentimes makes renting a vehicle a bit like playing sleep-roulette. Will the vehicle be roomy? Comfortable? Who knows!? My dice roll landed me in a Hyundai Kona. Definitely spacious enough for my gear and I, tho, it gets zero stars for sleeping comfort. I didn't come on this trip to sleep. It's simply an unfortunate thing that I have to do every now and then.
As planned, the morning found me at the gates as soon as allowed and looking for a composition not long after. This particular location offers up a very popular, almost obligatory, composition when in the area. I avoided the typical composition at first, but found myself with it in my sights before too long as other photographers were now showing up. I didn't want to lose the opportunity to shoot the shot. Yeah, it's commonly shot, but I didn't have it, so I still needed/wanted it. It was the composition that drew me to this location after all.
Behind The Scenes in Babcock State Park at the Glade Creek Grist Mill
Myself and the other three photographers, who braved the predawn darkness, chit-chatted a bit before breaking off to either leave or shoot less traditional compositions. Me, I chose to shoot a few less traditional comps. Just by the looks of the images on the back of the camera, I may like one of the non-traditional compositions a bit better than the "normal" comp.
Glade Creek Grist Mill at Babcock State Park, WV | Prints Available
Glade Creek Cascade Under a Grist Mill in Babcock State Park, WV | Prints Available
Before long, the lighting was a bit too harsh for my liking, so I went into the gift shop to see if they had a patch depicting the place. I like to collect patches from places that my camera “brings” me. I have a collection of them covering the inside ceiling of the Five Billion Star Hotel, my 4x4 Mitsubishi Delica L300 Special Edition High-roof Starwagon. Is that a long enough name for ya? :)
Grist Mill on Glade Creek in Babcock State Park, WV | Prints Available
Swing outside the Visitor’s Center in Babcock State Park, WV
Not too far up the road, there was another composition that I was interested in. Upon getting to the general area, I grabbed my gear and headed into the woods. My hopes were that the falls that I wanted to shoot were shaded. I wasn't 100% sure if they would be or not, so I planned as if they were and carried all of my gear in.
Turns out, the falls weren't shaded as I'd hoped. With that, I climbed out of the gorge and went to their gift shop; they had a patch! Yay, I’d be able to add another to my collection! :)
Behind The Scenes at Elakala Falls In Blackwater Falls State Park, WV
BELOW: Elakala Falls
https://youtube.com/shorts/cngFf2p206k?feature=share
After letting a bit of time pass, I was confident the sun had slid toward the horizon enough that the falls would be evenly lit. With that, I gathered my gear again and tromped off into the woods.
I had the falls to myself, which was nice. I wanted to do a bit of long exposure photography, which tied me to having to use a certain lens or two from my arsenal. The reason for this is that I needed a certain width for the composition that I had in mind. Unfortunately, I needed to add a filter to the front of my lens to block out light. Think sunglasses. This allows me to hold the shutter open longer without overexposing the image. The problem is, I didn't have a filter for the lens that I wanted to use. With that, I had to shoot a less preferable composition with a lens that was a bit narrower than I'd hoped for. I've been saying I'd buy the filter for my wider lens, but that hasn't made the money magically appear. I suppose if I wanted it badly enough, I'd make it more of a priority.
I ended up shooting the composition with my 24-70mm lens at its widest setting of 24mm. The shot actually set up better for my 14-24mm lens. With that composition, however imperfect, in the bag, it was time to move on.
Elakala Falls Autumn Swirl | Prints Available
I worked my way to Blackwater Falls. If all went well, I could make it there prior to sunset. Getting to the falls was easy. Well, I should clarify; getting to the parking lot was easy. The falls, on the other hand, would prove to be a bit more difficult. I was already whooped. Happens a lot lately. IYKYK. Regardless, I pressed on. Down, down, down I went. Downhill is pretty tough on the old skeleton. Going back up is a bit hard on the heart, lungs, and thighs. I wouldn't have it any other way. The sunset, however, wasn't all that. I'd definitely have it another way. Regardless, the evening was definitely well spent!
Blackwater Falls
Day 03: Pennsylvania
Like most of the stops on this road trip, today found me at a location I've wanted to lay eyes on for quite some time. I found myself wandering around Ricketts Glen State Park. I had two locations that I wanted to photograph that I knew of. Knowing me, I'd likely shoot 5x that. There are 24 named falls within the State Park.
Oneida Falls, Ricketts Glen State Park, Autumn
My first composition was easy to find, compose, and shoot. Even with that, based on the way the gorge was positioned, I'd be out of shootable light before long. I quickly shot and scrambled my way downstream in search of my second composition. I never found it.
A bit bummed, I crawled my way out of the canyon and straight to my awaiting vehicle. I needed some rest, some food, and some info.
Over breakfast, I reached out to a fellow photographer concerning my unfound falls. He confirmed that I was in the correct canyon, on the correct trail, and wished me luck. With that, I returned to the gorge only this time sans gear. I purely wanted to scout.
I wandered down the gorge's trail in search of the elusive falls that I had in mind. Nothing. I must've missed them again, somehow. For sanity's sake, I climbed out via a different gorge. I wanted to verify that the falls weren't there. If nothing else, I needed to ease my mind.
"What a gorgeous gorge!," I often found myself repeating. Regardless of whether or not I found the falls, climbing out via this path was worth it simply for the sights! Nearing the top, and without having found my missing falls, I had a decision to make. The trail Y’d with one path being a shortcut back to the parking lot and the other continuing along the creek. I was very exhausted, but sure of one thing: there was zero chance that my falls were located on the shortcut. Despite every bone in my body wanting to zig, I zagged. I followed the creek.
Down I went toward the creek. After crossing yet another bridge, one of many in this particular gorgeous gorge, I saw a waterfall ahead. It was it! Yay! I'd found my missing falls!
I hopped down to check them out. It seemed I'd need my 14mm lens again. Once more, I wished for an ND filter or circular polarizer for my wide lens. It appeared I’d have to shoot with a less-than-ideal lens. This was a bit frustrating as I’d traveled across the country but couldn’t shoot what I wanted due to gear limits. Fixable, but annoying.
With renewed energy, I headed back to the parking lot. Recall, I’d gone out without gear, too exhausted to carry it. On the way, I realized I had time to grab my gear and try the shot again in the evening. Though I lacked energy for the round trip, I had time and was here to shoot, not rest. No guarantee I'd succeed, but I was determined to try.
I quickly ate, grabbed more snacks, and hit the trail chasing the last daylight. Hopefully, I'd capture the final composition and free my morning schedule the next morning. Honestly, I didn't know my next shooting location, but I raced on anyway.
After a few miles, I reached my spot and quickly set up as the light faded. I needed my 14mm lens—not a problem—but also a circular polarizer filter, which I don’t own and haven’t bought.
This isn't a new problem. In the past, I've thrown the filter attachment, as well as the proper-sized ND and polarizing filters, into an online shopping cart...., and just stared at it. I've always been able to get by without the proper equipment. It's kinda like using the wrong size screwdriver. Oftentimes, you can get the job done despite not having the proper tool.
Image shot with 24-70mm at 24mm
Disgusted, I shot what I could, packed up my gear, and headed back toward the parking lot. Along the way, I kept beating myself up. No, not literally, but it was difficult to tell. “When I get home to Colorado,” I thought to myself, “I simply have to address this gear issue.” While I was kicking myself, I also came to a separate and very unrelated realization; I hadn't seen my tumbler in a while. Maybe it was back at the car. Nope. After getting my backpack off my shoulders, priority number one, I turned the vehicle inside and out looking for my tumbler. Gone. Dang...
I know I had it when I ventured out earlier this morning. Only now, I couldn't recall where I last had it. All night, I kept thinking of where it was. I wasn't sure, but I did have an idea. Looks like I'll not be moving on in the morning after all. I was going back down into the gorge after my tumbler. The only question was, was I merely going after the tumbler or did I want to shoot as well? If you think about it, there never really was a dilemma; I was going to shoot. The problem was, the composition that I wanted wasn't in the same gorge as where I suspected the tumbler was. I’d have to climb down into two different gorges in the morning! Eeek, tho par for the course. Time would tell if I actually could pull it off. Currently, I was beat!
Day 04: The ReAttack
So, after a less-than-stretched-out night of sleep, I headed off into the darkness. I was walking in the dark in the hopes that my eyes would adjust enough not to need my headlamp. In an effort to reduce bulk/weight for the trip out, I decided to go with only one headlamp. I chose a small rechargeable one. It's not the brightest light that I own, but it is the most compact and lightest. Now, if only I could charge it.
Now, of course, I thought about this scenario before I left home. I had everything that I needed, kinda. The cord that I brought to charge the lamp simply wouldn't work. No matter how/where I plugged it in, nothing. This put me in a super conservative mode as far as using the light went. With that, I'd be hiking in the dark, in an effort to save battery power, knowing that the sun was soon to rise.
My first destination, and priority for the morning, was to revisit the composition that I had settled for the evening prior. This time, I hoped that the sky wasn't reflecting as badly off the water's surface.
Here I was, again, doing the job with the wrong tools. This time, I was determined to use the 14mm vs cowering down to the 24mm and its filters. I attached my 14mm, composed, and then got a bit creative.
I divided the composition into quadrants in my mind. With the quadrants visualized, I held my undersized polarizing filter in front of my lens, spun the filter into position, held it still the best that I could, and I squeezed off the first shot. Doing my best to remember where in the composition had been polarized and where hadn't, I shot the remaining three quadrants. This method would have to work until I could address my equipment shortcomings. The four quadrants ended up taking six images to cover looked like this (see images below). You can see that the area outside of the filter has much more glare than the area inside the filter.
Combining the portion of the image that I actually wanted ended up looking like this:
Wide angle pieced together with handheld Circular Polarizer (CPL)
The morning was still young. The previous day, while searching for my 2nd composition, I took note of a couple of other potential comps. If I were able to find my tumbler in time, I figured I'd potentially hit them up.
The trek back to where I suspected my tumbler to be seemed longer today. By this point, I was gassed. Despite that, off through the woods, I could hear my target falls roaring.
With my target fall in sight down below, I began scouring the scene from above. It didn't take me long to spot it. I wondered how many others had ventured down below and saw it. It should be noted that venturing down to the bottom is quite the chore. With that, coming back up isn't exactly what I'd call fun. Regardless, knowing the canister was below, down I went.
I was pretty happy to see the tumbler. I don't recall sitting it down, but I definitely do not doubt that I did. I'm sure I took pics, began thinking about finding the next composition, grabbed my gear, and was off. Long story short, I went downstream for a little while, shot a couple comps, and then set a course back to the parking lot. I.Was.Whoooped!
It was finally time to leave Ricketts Glen. I had mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I wanted to stay as there were 100s of compositions I'd yet to photograph. On the other hand, I didn't want to go home with 80% of my images being too similar. I'd seen the park, which in and of itself was a win. It was time to move on, but to where?
I was on the tail end of my short trip out to see some of the N.E. U.S.A. Compared to what I'm used to out west, everything here is relatively close and equally fair game. My curiosities led me toward D.C, N.Y.C., and Philly. I figured I'd hit Philly on my last day, as that's where I would be catching my flight home. Would the weather cooperate? Who knows? It'd be a stop I'd merely have to shoot regardless of conditions. With that, I pointed toward D.C./N.Y.C. and began thinking of compositions that I wanted. In the end, N.Y.C. won my battle of curiosities. This is likely because I'd seen D.C. twice before. Once when I donated bone marrow and once when visiting Don when he lived there. With that, I set a course to N.Y.C. and a sunset skyline.
The drive was uneventful tho definitely beautiful...! Oftentimes, I'd find myself wanting to pull over and shoot, but the lighting/composition/lack of convenience always kept me driving. It felt like I was seeing the city skylines on the horizon in no time. Everything is pretty close here as compared to out west.
I reached the evening's destination without issue. Tho I quickly learned that the voice in Google Maps is a bit slow for individuals like me who don't know their way around Jersey City. I expected this trend to continue tomorrow when I visit Brooklyn and N.Y.C. With that, I began peeking ahead at the next route change. This is something typically not so important in CO/UT/AZ, where things are more spread out. Here, I'd be in a turn and have another merely a few feet ahead, followed by another. Anyhoo, back to the composition...
I had my focus set on seeing the "Teardrop Memorial," as I like to call it. I pulled into the parking lot of the "To the Struggle Against World Terrorism," a sculpture in Bayonne, New Jersey, honoring the victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Gifted by Russia, it features a large, 40-foot nickel-surfaced teardrop inside a 100-foot bronze-clad tower. Its location offers a view across the water to the site of the former World Trade Center, and its granite base is inscribed with the names of the Bayonne victims.
The “Teardrop Memorial”
I found the memorial quite fascinating, tho difficult to photograph. Besides being quite reflective, it's also quite tall, with not a lot of room to use to scoot away from the memorial in an effort to put a skyline or other point of background interest into the composition. With that, I read the plaques, took some shots, argued with the first person that I met in Jersey City, and was on my way. The sun was sinking low, and I wanted a sunset skyline image!
Nice park. Liberty Park, I believe. Scoped a stealth camp spot on the way. Lots of joggers, bike riders, and walkers are out enjoying the evening. The water was full of activity. Boats and ferries everywhere! I had a nice perpendicular view of the city. My view of the Statue of Liberty was less than optimal as I was photographing her from behind and slightly to the right. Tho the composition does lend itself to having the viewer maybe wonder what she's looking at off into the distance.
Behind The Scenes Looking From NJ to NY
I didn't have the best of light, but it likely wouldn't matter. As for clouds, well, I'd hoped for more there as well. When I envision compositions that I travel to, I tend to envision them in perfect conditions. When I get on location and the conditions are less than I'd envisioned, well, it only leaves me wanting to return until I get the shot that's in my mind. This one may be one that I keep on my List-O-Places-To-Shoot.
Evening From NJ Looking Toward NYC
If you are following along via a map, the beginning-to-end track looks something like this: NJ, NY, PA, MD, WV, MD, PA, NJ, NY, NJ, and finally PA.
Day 5: Wall Street & NYC
Had to get a bit creative and stealth camp last night. Not being familiar with the area can oftentimes lead to less-than-optimal sleeping locations. However, I've never failed to find a place to rest.
I drove down to an old pier that I knew of via my research before flying out. The drive took about thirty minutes, and I still needed to find and scope out my composition. Sunrise was just after 0700. With that, the morning's alarm went off pretty early.
The place that I planned on parking was...empty! Nice! I expected cars to be there already. Not only was there nobody parked in the lot, but after a short walk, there was nobody at my planned shooting location either!
I had a certain composition in mind and, no matter how I lined up, I just couldn't seem to make it work. Then, I realized why: the tide. There was a certain set of pylons that I was looking for and I couldn't find them. Well, that's because they were underwater. I'd have to shoot the composition I was given and then return for sunset and hope for the best. Worst case, it's a pretty comp regardless.
The morning's composition found me shooting sunrise just like I like it, with the sun at my back! I much prefer this arrangement vs shooting into the sun, and I often encourage those whom I instruct/advise to do the same.
Behind The Scenes: Sunrise on Wallstreet as seen from an Old Pier in Brooklyn, NY
https://youtube.com/shorts/lN89uVXGDrk?feature=share
The sky lightened up nicely, and the rising sun played well off the opposing Wall Street skyline. All of the buildings are quite reflective, so it doesn't take a lot of light to make them shine. In addition, for you photographers out there, you'll definitely have to shoot the scenes in either an automatic or manual High Dynamic Range (HDR) mindset. Personally, I did a combination of auto/manual HDR, mostly because I was trying to calm the water a bit with long exposure shots. This led to blown-out city lights. I merely reshot, exposing with the lights in mind, and blended the exposures.
Need help learning to do this?
Now what?
I really needed to ditch this vehicle. There were a few different garages around to choose from. All of the online ratings for any of the garages were terrible. With that, I simply chose the one most convenient to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) as indicated on Google Maps.
Maybe it was due to the online reviews, but I was a bit sketched out when taking my vehicle to the garage. The app that I reserved a spot with said to drive in and park in a spot marked "reserved." This sounded easy enough. However, when I pulled in, I was greeted with a sign telling me to stop and wait for a valet. A guy approached me and began asking details about myself and the vehicle. I'd already paid via an app. My concern was that he'd try to charge me again when I came to get the vehicle, or not give me the keys. I tried verifying all was good, as there was a slight communication barrier between his NY accent and my ability to only understand every other word. In the end, I was eventually satisfied enough that I handed a stranger the keys to a vehicle that I didn't own, and I walked away.
Leaving the garage, I immediately felt naked. I suppose the car was a bit more cozy than I realized. Suddenly, I was lost in NY; well, Brooklyn, to be exact. I still had to hop on the subway to get to NY. Speaking of the subway, where was the subway? I was going in circles. Am I standing on it? My map program said I was all over it, but I couldn't see an entrance. Finally, I asked a few dog owners as their dogs chased after a ball in the park. They were nice and gave me the rundown. I needed to be looking for the green/white balls on stands, she said while pointing the balls out to me.
So, now that I can ID the subway entrances, how do I pay to ride? Thanks, ChatGPT. Samsung Wallet to the rescue! Easy peasy!
I stared at a map on the wall for a few minutes. Now, I'm no Jason Bourne, but I think I figured it all out easily enough. Tho the true test was about to come. I hopped onto the Blue C-line, took a seat, and crossed my fingers. According to the timeline, I'd make it to Circle/59th in eleven stops. It was a long way, and involved going under the river, but that was the beauty of it all; I didn't have to drive, pay tolls, or hunt for parking.
I definitely popped out where I'd hoped, but I'm not sure what I expected. However, what I got seemed to be some version of organized chaos.
I needed food. After my incident in the summer of '23, I don't make it far without a snack of some sort. Looking at my map, there seemed to be an interesting breakfast place a block away. On the way, I passed a Sbucks, make that two, but I wasn't in the mood for overpriced coffee and a slice of lemon cake. Instead, I wanted overpriced coffee and a bagel.
The place I ended up was called Broad Nosh Bagels. There was a line out the door and down the road. All of a sudden, that lemon cake wasn't sounding so bad. However, what's going on here? What would I be missing out on? The FOMO was real. I'm in NY, experience it, and whatever other excuses I could think of compelled me to stand in line. Little did I know, the line I could see was merely half the line, as there was also a line that snaked through the inside of the establishment. "Why," I wondered?
The menu was amazing! I wasn't sure of what I wanted, but I was sure it was up there, somewhere. In the end, I got a turkey, egg, and cheese bagel, walked over to the edge of Central Park, sat under a neat monument, watched a skateboarder do skateboarder things, and ate my badelwich. It was too big to merely call it a bagel. Update: I ate 1/3 of my bagelwich. Refer to the summer of '23.
Menu from Broad Nosh Bagels
Y'all, I'm going to skip waxing poetically about Central Park other than to say I thoroughly enjoyed my visit! I only walked 1/2 of it. It is huge! Regardless, I'd have walked more, but the leaves weren't changing in the vast majority of the trees. I came mainly for the juxtaposition of autumn trees with skyscraper backdrops. With that, I ended my visit here and found my closest subway entrance and set my destination back to Brooklyn and my hopefully awaiting parked rental.
Hey, leaves in Central Park; why are you so green!?
I'll skip telling you about dead phone batteries, lack of familiarity once departing the subway, and my lack of ability to request my rental due to the aforementioned dead phone battery and the hoopla that ensued because of it. Let's just say that I learned a lot on this day, got my vehicle, and was off to a spot on the map that looked to line up well for a Statue of Liberty (SOL) sunset!
Well, that parking lot on Google Maps with the SOL view, yeah, it was not publicly accessible. Let’s just say, the security guards looked at me like I had three eyes. Well, on to plan B; the problem was, I had no plan B, yet.
I drove back to the old pier, the one from this morning’s composition, in the hopes of getting a glimpse of and photographing the pier columns that were previously underwater during the morning's shoot. Sadly, this time, the parking wasn’t so easy. However, I was eventually able to get a spot. With that, I parked and headed off toward the evening’s destination, fully expecting to be joined by quite a few photographers. I wanted to be early so I could get a decent composition framed up before it was unavailable. I traveled too far for composition crumbs.
ABOVE: Awaiting sunset near an old Brooklyn pier facing Wall Street.
As I’d hoped, the center rows of columns were indeed visible. The problem was, I really had no idea what the tide was doing, and there was quite a bit of time left until sunset. In order to try and figure this out, I snapped an image of my composition, waited a few minutes, and then snapped another image. Flipping back and forth between the two images, I saw what I hoped I would not see; the tide was rising!
Luckily, I’d snapped a decent image of the city’s lights during the morning shoot. This evening, I’d simply focus on the setting sun, the center rows of pier columns, and not concern myself with the interior building lighting.
Note: There is probably somewhere near a billion percent more boat traffic in the evenings vs in the mornings. Ugh!
Old Brooklyn Pier and Wall Street
The tide did indeed cover the center columns, and well before the city lights were visible. Here’s where local photographers have a huge advantage. Me, I was stuck with the tide that I was given during the days that I had. With that, I decided to wrap up my photoshoot and begin working my way back toward Philly. I am sure the other photographers thought I was crazy, breaking down my composition and leaving before the city lights shone. Little did they know, I’d bagged that shot earlier in the day with what I think is much better lighting. Tho, this place will stay on my List-O-Places-To-Shoot until I get my center pier columns, city lights, and a nice sunrise sky.
I enjoyed my short visit to the NYC area, but I must admit, I was ready to put it in the rearview mirror. Seeing the city grow smaller into the distance didn’t sadden me at all. And, tho I had no idea where I was going on this particular evening, I was excited to get there; I needed some rest!
Day 06: Philly and TSA
Turns out, you can be too early for your flight, but I'll get to that in a moment. After stealth camping just outside Philly, I ventured into the downtown area for some sunrise photography.
I had a very productive morning downtown. I knocked three compositions out before sunrise.
My main composition that I wanted involved a Philadelphia skyline at sunrise, reflecting in the Schuylkill River below. I'd not previously planned this shoot, so that left me scrambling around searching for a composition. Along the way, I saw a neat set of "houses" all lit up and reflecting in the water. I felt I had time, so I stopped, scampered my way around in the dark, composed, shot, and scurried my way back to my vehicle. Recall, this wasn't my priority image, and I didn't want to miss my other shot by playing around. The sun, as I've sarcastically learned, waits on nobody. With that opportunistic shot in the bag, I began making my way toward my river image.
This purple really stood out with most everything surrounding it being a warm light.
Along the way, I passed by the museum. I previously shot here on Day 0 of the photography portion of this trip. However, the lighting looked especially neat on this particular morning, so I did it; I pulled over for another opportunistic photographic opportunity. I had to shoot the Italian Stallion in silhouette against the lit museum. Okay, now I was off to my intended morning shoot location. Tho, I was beginning to cut it close!
Champions watch sunrises
Google Maps left me hanging a little bit on this particular destination. I planned to go to a parking lot near my shooting location and make the short trek to where I planned to set up. Well, from a bird's eye view, that was all fine and dandy. In reality, the parking location was way below where I needed to be perched, and I was unsure of how to actually get to the parking lot and, once there, climb my way up to what I'll call surface level. With that, I paid $23 for an hour's worth of parking in the garage at Penn Med. FF>> a bit and I'm "that guy" set up taking pictures on a bridge as people zoom by doing their normal morning routines.
Philadelphia reflecting in the Schuylkill River.
My composition wasn't exactly as I planned. I'd obviously based my plans on images that I'd seen, which must've been sunset shots, as the building reflections weren't exactly where I wanted them. Nor was the lighting. Regardless, I was here, and these were the conditions that I was given. With that, snap, snap, snap. The morning's shoots were done!
I felt I had a productive morning. In addition, I was exhausted! I decided to hit the airport a bit early. There was no rush, after all, it was only just after 0700. I could still shoot a sunset somewhere, maybe another Philly skyline, but my exhaustion was getting the better of me and was heavily influencing my decision-making. I really wanted a sunset version of the skyline from this morning, but I was too whooped! With that, I hit up a coffee shop, called Good Karma Cafe, for some breakfast and some office time. Three hours later, I was feeling a bit guilty for occupying a seat for so long and decided to leave despite there being seats/tables available. I decided to begin making my way to the car rental place just outside Philly International. With that, I needed to offload some temporary gear.
One Last Breakfast in Philly: Good Karma Cafe
I'd purchased a sleeping bag, a pillow, a cooler, and a tote from Walmart for this mini road trip. I decided I'd give the gear away. I pulled up to a downtown park and made a stack next to one of the park trash cans. Either someone who needed the gear was going to have their pick at the equipment, or the park custodial staff was going to take it away. After dropping the gear off, I was airport-bound.
They make returning rental vehicles and getting to the airport pretty easy here in PHL. I dropped the car off, hopped onto a shuttle, and was off to Terminal E and SWA. After downing as much of my coffee as I could stomach, I rinsed out my tumbler and headed for security.
It always feels a bit silly snaking your way through the line prior to security. The line is particularly weavy in PHL. That's bad enough. Try doing it the wrong way. I had to do just that.
Turns out, TSA will not let you in if you are more than 12 hours early. Me, I was 15+. Yeah, I could've kept my rental and shot that evening's sunset before going to the airport, but I decided to simply get to where I needed to go and use the time to get caught up on the mountain of behind-the-scenes office work that I had piling up. All was going well until they scanned my boarding pass.
"You can't come through more than 12 hours prior to your flight." He wasn't kidding, I know; I asked. You'll have to go back out the way you came in. "There's no shorter path that I can take?" I asked. “Nope, and I can't leave my post to escort you either.” I'm sure he could tell by my non-verbals that I was less than thrilled. I could also tell by his non-verbals that he couldn't care less. With that, my luggage and I snaked backward through the line like a traveling salmon. Needless to say, this wasn't fun.
I found a nice soft spot on the hard floor and pulled out my SWA app. I wondered if there was a flight I could hop on a bit earlier than my current flight. There was, but it was going to cost me $380. Forget that! I'll just begin my office time on this side of TSA. But first, let me check with the ticket counter and see if they can work some magic.
Turns out, the lady at the ticket counter could get me on a flight out this afternoon, for $380. "Negatron, I remarked," as I fluffed up my hard spot on the shiny floor. "I'll wait."
DAY 07: Alone
I grabbed a quick bite. Realistically, I'm supposed to eat small meals often. Really, I've found grazing all day works best, but it's simply not always or even often realistic.
USO in the back corner: Closed
I don't often sleep a lot on the plane. However, when I opened my eyes, we were flying over a large city in the dark. It'd been two hours, so I suspected it was DFW. However, it was CHI. I ate the other half of my breakfast sandwich and went back to sleep. Figures! :-)
What do you think I found when unpacking after I got home? If you guessed a working headlamp charging cord, you'd be correct.
