Open Mike: The Finger Lakes

Mount Savior Monastery lands, New York

 

Keuka Lake, Eastern Bluff, Ice and Water

Keuka Lake Overlook

S. at the Esperanza cottage, East Bluff

The Monks' barn

Sorry this took so long to complete...I foolishly let my laptop battery die in the middle of the day. Hope you had a nice Easter or Passover if you celebrated!

Mike
(Thanks to S.)

Original contents copyright 2015 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Geoff Wittig: "Welcome to our backyard! The Finger Lakes of NY State is a beautiful region, with spectacular State Parks and countless little waterfalls along the numerous glacially carved north/south valleys. It's surprisingly easy to possess your very own waterfalls; we actually own this one:

"True story: we moved in during mid-winter, and with the spring thaw a few months later heard the sound of rushing water from the front porch. We followed the sound and were astonished to find these falls just 100 yards from the house. I asked the fellow we bought the place from about it; 'Oh, yeah. Forgot to tell you about that.' To him the stream and waterfalls were just a nuisance, too steep to log, so he saw no point in telling us about it. People are funny."

[Ed. Note: I didn't realize earlier that Geoff's picture wasn't showing up properly here. My apologies to Geoff.]

Rev. Heng Sure: "Large approval to black and white landscape shots of wintery monastery lands. Asked our college student guests on their monastic encounter weekends what religion they would profess. More than half said, 'None.' Asked where they go to fill their spiritual needs, they responded, 'Nature.' As I looked at your images, Mike, my imagination filled in the warmth and color of the cold winter landscape. I participated in your image-making, and that's the point. Click."

Lynn: "Mike, nice series. I was admiring the photo of Keuka Lake, Eastern Bluff, Ice and Water when I noticed that small branch poking into the frame on the left. At first I wondered, why did you include it? But then it got me thinking about small 'imperfections' that can make a photo more interesting. I decided I like it in, rather than out. Maybe there's room for an article on that."

Derek: "Oh man, the first shot in this series nails your earlier post on liking grays, rather than highly contrasting black and white. I've generally liked more contrast, but you could sell me on muted grays with photos like that."

Mark Sampson: "Having spent most of my life in Western NY state before moving south, I've been lucky to spend many happy seasons around Keuka Lake. Glad to see you are enjoying it. Evocative photographs too; the Bluff is one of my favorite places, and I'm happy to see your pictures."

Comments

[Chester Williams]

Beautifully done!! Happy Easter to you and thanks for sharing...

[David Brown]

Does this count as "street photography"?

[Richard Newman]

We love the Finger Lakes region, but when we saw the real estate taxes on what we would like to buy, we ruled it out as a retirement location. Too bad.

[Frank]

I think it's much more difficult to produce a good interesting color landscape photo then a grayscale one.

[Yes, much MUCH more difficult. (Sorry, I kid. :-) --Mike]

[Howard]

Mike, a quick question if I may; are your photos via in camera b&w settings or computer?

[I have the camera set on B&W for visualizing but then I process the ones I like using ACR and Nik Silver Efex Pro. I'll do a post tomorrow about camera settings vs. post-processing. I'm traveling home today. --Mike]

[Manuel]

I love the second and third pictures. The one with the road is splendid. The sky looks as if you'd used a yellow or orange filter. One to print, I'd say.

[Andy Sheppard]

Love all three.

[Bruce K]

If you haven't already, I strongly suggest you visit Taughannock Falls. Hopefully it's thawed out by now... And then there's the Glenn Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport. My wife and I moved to the Rochester area in the late 80s, and we're constantly still discovering neat things to see and do here. Beautiful area.

[Moose]

You claim you don't like landscapes. These are, to my taste, the best images you've shown here in some time.

Lovely tonal distributions.

Lake Keuka, Eastern Bluff, Ice and Water has particularly lovely tonal composition, with large shapes of different brightness and texture working harmoniously together. I could definitely see that one on my wall.

Mount Savior Monastery lands, New York is also very appealing, but for the hanging clump of leaves. Looks much better, to my eye, without them.

[Clayton Jones]

Lovely landscapes, Mike, great way for me to cap off this fine day. Thank you for posting them (hint: do more!).

Clayton

[Yvonne]

Lovely pictures! Great countryside. Must go there one day.

[Gabe]

I realize that I've been bleating about scenery in color ..... but those are some really nice B&W scenics. The area you're evidently in, is some of the most scenic in New York State.
Used to get on the parkway just for the joy of the ride. We'd drive north from NYC, and as soon as Tarrytown, it was a whole different world of leaves and colors. Even the sunshine and air were different. Once, on a Friday afternoon, we were so entranced by the sights, the roads, and the feeling of freedom, we drove all the way through to Montreal just to have dinner at Ruby Foo's.
Thanx for the memories
Gabe

[Richard Ripley]

Thanks for the photos Mike!

[Merle]

Dang it. Every time I see you're in the Finger Lakes area, I want to write and tell you to watch for Walt Koken playing anywhere. Superb clawhammer banjo player as well as fine fiddle. Plays with Claire Milliner (also fiddle) and the Orpheus Supertones. Catch 'em if you have even a mild interest in old-time fiddle and banjo music.

There. I feel better.

[Fred Haynes]

When a mans happy, he takes great pictures.
Happy Easter Mike.

[Steve Caddy]

Mike, these are lovely and timeless. I like the road especially .

Hope you had a great Easter.

[Michael Bearman]

Hmnm - I like all of them. Lovely.

[Trecento]

"Lake Keuka, Eastern Bluff, Ice and Water" reminds me of Ansel's "The Golden Gate Before the Bridge".

[Mani Sitaraman]

Another vote for Taughannock falls. Especially in mid-Winter, when it is mostly frozen. It is utterly stunning up close at that time of year, both from the lookout at the top of the canyon, and from the bottom of the falls, a 1/2 mile trek from the road.

Now, if only I could find a cost effective way, in 2015, to digitize a large number of Kodachrome slides, I'd compete with your Finger Lakes oeuvre.

[Alex P. Schorsch]

I am accustomed to kind of lousy snapshots that you habitually post on your site - normally to illustrate some interessting idea but just ho-hum images complementing something from the text. But with these photos you have proven that you are a real photographer. Very nice, very moody, technically well executed. I guesse you were inspired and rose to the occasion. Competent black and white in post helps a lot I guess but I have the funny feeling that you are in love.

[Steve L.]

Hi Mike -
I didn't comment yesterday, because I figured you'd be overrun with people telling you this, but I guess I'm the first. It's Keuka Lake, not Lake Keuka. The Finger Lakes are all named that way, and folks 'from away' often get it wrong. Lovely photos. I lived on Otisco Lake for awhile, the easternmost of the Finger Lakes. I'm now on the Erie Canal, which is beautiful too. Upstate New York is a wonderful place. I know you're a car guy, so be sure and hit Watkins Glen this summer. I recommend the Vintage Grand Prix in late July. A car show and wonderful old race cars you can get up close and personal with. There's nothing like standing next to a twelve cylinder Alfa Romeo formula one car when they fire up the engine.

[Thanks for the correction Steve. Fixed now. --Mike]

[Ben Rosengart]

Thank you, Mike. These are fantastic.

[Joe Holmes]

Merle -- Walt Koken! I haven't heard that name mentioned for so long. I met Koken for all of probably five seconds back in the mid-80s when he was playing with the Highwoods String Band and touring Ohio. It was a heady time for old time mountain music, with the Highwoods and the Red Clay Ramblers and others (not to mention traditional Irish bands like the Flying Cloud).

Fond memories. Thanks for reminding me. Now excuse me while I go dig out some old vinyl albums.

[almostinfamous]

fantastic photos Mike. Thanks for sharing :)

[David]

Are these landscapes or scenics? (Either way, I like them!)

[Rod Thompson]

As to Lynns comment.
Maybe like classical music, the photographers first learns to perfect the presentation cleary and perfectly and then, when perfected adds their own "feeling" to the work. We are on our path as photographers when we can see a clear composition, but tend to tightly and ridgidly cut out all extraneous data, then in the next stage of composition learn to relax and let some of the things that tell the full story back in. This is one of the differences between "found" photography and created/made work.

[Doug Reilly]

Mike, if you get a chance to stop in Geneva at the top of Seneca Lake, let me know. It's a great little city with a very nice place to eat. There are some wonderful hidden spots in the Finger Lakes to explore, too...

[Jay Pastelak]

If you stayed at Esperanza you probably ran into my sister-in-law, Lynn Hulse. I think she runs the desk now that they've scrapped the Esperanza Rose, the lake boat that ran excursions and dinners in the summer.
Next time if you're there on a Friday, head up 54 to Gyanoga to the Valley Inn for a fish fry. Best fish fry in the lakes.

[Budd Riker]

I grew up in the Cayuga Lake area (Ithaca and Lansing) and moved to California years ago. I still miss the Finger Lakes region as I have many a fond memory there, especially the gorges and the fall color.

Thanks for reminding me. I don't miss the snow, though!
Budd

[Mike]

Big fan of the last three pictures; REALLY big fan of the last two.