I have been meaning to get to Fillmore Glen State Park for awhile now. After Scott Bishop on his Life Normal blog posted photos from Fillmore, I made it a top priority to get there the next time I could. That time came last Saturday.
Fillmore Glen State Park was named in honor of Millard Fillmore, who was the 13th President of the United States. He was born in a small log cabin on January 7, 1800, about five miles east of the park. The park became a part of the State in 1925 and has wilderness camping (no electricity), picnic areas, shelters for groups, swimming and trails around and through the gorge.
The gorge was created as Dry Creek cut through the soft sedimentary rock found throughout the Finger Lakes area of New York state after the glaciers retreated. It features four waterfalls. Three of which you can visit following the Gorge Trail. Caution with this trail, you have to climb a very steep set of stairs to get to the beginning of it.
Two of the three waterfalls on the Gorge Trail were hard to photograph this time of year with trees full of leafs. I will return in the late Fall or early Spring to photograph the 85 foot (26 meters) tall Dalibards Falls and smaller but wider Lower Pinnacle Falls.
Waterfalls along the Gorge Trail in Fillmore Glen State Park near Moravia, New York.
Once you get past Lower Pinnacle Falls, you come upon a wide area of the gorge and a very photographic Upper Pinnacle Falls. Here I got out the tripod and screwed on a 3-stop Neutral Density filter. This was one of my favorites.
Upper Pinnacle Falls at Fillmore Glen State Park near Moravia, New York.
Nikon D700/28-300VR, 15s, f/32, EV 0, 62mm Focal Length, tripod and 3-stop ND filter.
At this point, you can either walk back on the Gorge Trail or climb up to either the North or South Rim trails. Once you get back to the picnic area, there is a short and easy trail to see Cowsheds Falls, a 37 foot (11 meters) tall waterfall with a picturesque jumble of limestone boulders at its base.
With the Sun hitting the gorge wall to the left of Cowsheds Falls, I zoomed in to concentrate on the cascade of falling water.
Cowsheds Falls in Fillmore Glen State Park near Moravia, New York.
Nikon D700/28-300VR, 6s, f/22, ISO 200, EV 0, 52mm Focal Length, tripod.
If you are planning to photograph at Fillmore Glen, I would recommend going in the morning before the Sun hits the gorge. You will have more even light to work with which is perfect for waterfall photography.
Views Infinitum 
Beautiful images Scott looks like my kind of place !!!
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It is so you, Bernie. As I came back on the North Rim trail, there were all kinds of mushrooms to photograph in the dense forest.
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Terrific shots! You definitely got a better shot of the Upper Pinnacle Falls than I did. Mine will show up in about…er…Sept. 1st. For some reason, I just couldn’t quite get the angle that you did. Yours is perfect though. And 15 seconds. No kidding. I’ll have to try that sometime. My shots are between 2 and 3 seconds.
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Without the 3-stop ND filter and stopping down to f/32, the shutter speeds were around 3 to 4 seconds at f/16. Still nice photos but I wanted a more fantasy look. For more on the ND filters I use, follow this link: Waterfalls and the ND Filter. There you will find a link to a very good set of ND filters. They are stackable but felt I only needed one while at Fillmore Glen.
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Thanks for the info. I’ve have to take a hard look at the Dolica line. I use a straight polarizer (for obvious reasons) and a Singh Ray 3-stop ND filter in front of that. I shoot at 100 ISO. I’ll have to experiment at slower shutter speeds if I can make it down any lower, should on a cloudy day.
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Well, sounds like you have what you need. Just stop the lens down more and/or go when the light is less (morning, evening, cloudy).
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Wow, are those ever pretty!
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Thank you, Terry!
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