And here is a waterfall...

On June 11, 2011, looking for a brief outdoor excursion to fill an overcast weekend afternoon, I got into a NJT Main Line train at Hoboken Terminal and undertook the 30min train ride to Paterson, NJ, where I walked for 15-20 minutes to reach the Great Falls State Park and see the Great Falls of the Passaic River. My expectations were low, but I was very pleasantly surprised on seeing this unassuming miniature Niagara in practically my own backyard (and which I had been postponing visiting for more than a year). This waterfall is sadly overlooked and not very widely known even in the NYC area despite its easy accessibility and the fact that it is supposed to have the second highest water volume of all waterfalls on the East Coast. One drawback is that there isn't much of a "park" around the waterfall, but definitely worth at least one visit (or maybe even more...I certainly plan to come back sometime when it is frozen over).

Here are some photos I took of the falls that day:

From the overbridge

Close-up of far end with a telephoto lens

View of the falls in Shutter Priority mode with a slow shutter speed

Dizzying telescoping effect

From a distance

Hurricane in Hoboken

Hoboken before, during, and after Hurricane (Tropical Storm) Irene

The day before:

Trash cans tied down to prevent their becoming wind-driven projectiles

The sky is starting to look a bit ominous....

But someone seems unimpressed

Same here. Come hurricane or tropical storm...

A few feet away, boats in front of City Hall
(brought in to aid rescue efforts, if needed)

The day of the storm:

The most flood-prone intersection in Hoboken

The evening brought some pretty cloudy skies

From the other side of the clouds...

I've looked at clouds from both sides now,
From up and down, and still somehow,
It's cloud illusions that I recall,
I really don't know clouds at all

--Joni Mitchell (Both Sides Now)

And I dreamed down at the clouds, and thought that when I was a kid I had dreamed up at them, and having dreamed at the clouds from both sides as no other generation of men has done, one should be able to accept his death very easily.

--Saul Bellow (Henderson, the Rain King)


All photographs taken from airplane windows with either a Canon T1i or a Kodak Z712 (as indicated).

Flight to SEA; September 2011
(taken with a Canon T1i)

Mt. Baker? Flight to SEA; September 2011
(taken with a Canon T1i)

Flight to SEA; September 2011
(taken with a Canon T1i)



Flight to SEA; September 2011
(taken with a Canon T1i)



Mt. Hood; flight to PDX; August 2007
(taken with a Kodak Z712)

Mt. Hood; flight from PDX; August 2007
(taken with a Kodak Z712)



Mt. Saint Helens; flight from PDX; August 2007
(taken with a Kodak Z712)

 

Luna

All photographs taken with a Canon T1i and a reflective (mirror) lens (500mm unless otherwise indicated).

Lunar surface with a 2x500mm mirror lens (January 2011)

Total Lunar Eclipse (December 2010)

Total Lunar Eclipse (December 2010)

Total Lunar Eclipse (December 2010)

Sunsets and Nightfalls...

All photographs taken with a Canon T1i, and without a tripod

Hoboken Terminal (September 17, 2011)

Hoboken Terminal (September 17, 2011)

A cloudy night sky suspended over the Hudson
(September 17, 2011)

Evening in Seattle (September 4, 2011)

The sun goes down behind the Olympic Mountains
(September 4, 2011)

Night falls over Lake Placid Village (July 4, 2011)

Gulls in Seattle

All photographs taken on September 10, 2011 with a Canon T1i.