Ray Palmer Photography's photostream  

Adirondacks, NY

The west branch of the Ausable, as it cuts northward making a notch between the mountains near Wilmington, runs quite a distance between Lake Placid as a meadow stream before narrowing into series of rapids and falls. I was here at nearly the peak of autumn on an early morning after storms, with great cloud formations blowing through. Highlights and shadows played tag as the clouds blocked areas in degrees of light; I have many combinations of this scene, areas lit up as if concert soloists were featured. But I liked the subtle backlight in the closer gray areas that seem to emanate out of the spotlit center of this frame. One of these days I'll put up the color version, but black & white was more what I wanted when I first started editing, drawn to the contrast of the scene, especially as it played out in the water. Although a somewhat dark picture in color, I actually darkened it more in black & white processing, and very slightly lightened the nearer (right) forest back towards the original exposure, and applied an orange filter to slightly darken an already deep blue sky.

Lake Arnold Trail, Adirondacks
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Sometimes you hit one these days, after a few snow qualls have come through, and coated the forest with a nice frosting, then dissipated to blue skies and retreating clouds. I had spent more time than anticipated on Mt Colden, basking in sunlight on the ice encrusted peak. After several stops at vantage points coming down, it was now late afternoon and the trail was colder, in the shadow of a ridge here. Ahead of me the light seemed to gather against the far wall of mountains, and a promise of an opening in the woods. I almost hated to stop and set up here, when it seemed like it was all happening up ahead. The show of light on peaks and through forest would tease me all the way back, the contrast mostly too difficult to capture especially as shadows grew longer and urged me to the trailhead in hopes of beating sundown to an open field.

Giant Mountain Wilderness, Adirondacks, NY
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Although it was a pretty cold start at Roaring Brook Falls, the day held promise. After some stops along the trail, I finally broke out of the the forest at the end of a particularly steep section to the mostly snow free bedrock on Giant's Nubble. Between the exertion, the open rock, and the warming day, it was pretty toasty up here, and I was soon stripping off extra winter encumbrances. Across the valley was this view of Round Mountain and the Dix Range. In March, winter was a long way from over up here.

Giant Mountain Wilderness, Adirondacks, NY

Standing on a snowbridge below this little waterfall, I was arguing with myself about the chances of collapse, and thinking that it always seems we want a shot from the most dangerous and unstable place we can find. Towards the end of March, streams were beginning to emerge from their snow blanket, and the days became a bit tougher for hiking as temps rose and the snow turned mushy.

Deer River Flow, Adirondacks, NY
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It was late in the day and almost unnaturally still here, a few wisps of cloud along the far horizon and winter still hanging on in shady patches.