“Dawn Inspiration” was taken at Letchworth State Park in western NY.

Letchworth State Park is touted as the “Grand Canyon of the East” on the NY State Parks site, and you can begin to see why in my photo. It’s quite a magnificent place! The river is the Genesee River, and it drops over three major waterfalls between the rocky cliffs you can see in the picture. The cliffs—as high as 600 feet—are quite beautiful, offering lovely rock color and textures, and lush green trees to compliment the colors.

I’m not a morning person, except when I’m at a location where I think there might be a great sunrise—and this was the case at Letchworth. I woke up very early, before dawn, drove the short distance from my hotel to the park, and parked by “Inspiration Point”, one of the well known overlooks. I was a bit early for sunrise—but was amply rewarded with ample setup time, and then by a very richly colored sunrise, along with a lovely mist over the water. I was hoping for a train on the trestle in the background, or a Hot Air Balloon to add an extra special element to the shot. There was in fact a Balloon that took off on the right side as you look at this photo, but it was much after the sunrise, and I had already moved on.

The shot was made with my Nikon D80 and the Nikon 18-200 VR lens. The camera was mounted on a tripod, so I could shoot longer exposures for the waterfalls. I used a Cokin filter system with a graduated neutral density filter as well, to balance the sky and the land for the sensor. I was bracketing exposures as well, keeping aperture constant at F9. This was 1/30th of a second exposure at ISO 100. A wide angle lens isn’t necessary from this vantage point. The lens for this shot was at a 65mm, or a 97mm focal length.

This is a very easy to reach spot for a beautiful shot. Just get there early. Maybe you’ll be lucky and also be rewarded with a balloon in your shot! Note also that there’s a very nice hotel in the park which seems pretty reasonable. And it would make it even easier for you to wander along the river and up to inspiration point for photos. If you go next fall, perhaps you’ll see me!