A sign welcomes people to a beach side campsite at Brennan’s Beach RV Resort on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario near Pulaski, New York. Not a boardwalk, the cement sidewalk makes for easy and pleasant strolls along the beach for everybody.
Camping along the Lake Ontario shore may seem like you are on an island, an island of no shoes, no shirt, no problems.
When visiting the Lake Ontario shore you will see many recreational uses as people take to the water.
Boating is a popular recreational use of Lake Ontario. Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/500s, f/5.6, ISO 200, EV +0.3, 200mm focal length.
Recreational boating activities amounted to $16 billion spent in all of the Great Lakes in a 2003 study supporting thousands of jobs directly and indirectly. Lake Ontario has millions of boaters who boost the economy of marinas, restaurants, cities and towns along the 712 miles of its shoreline each year. Many lakeside communities over the last decade have enhanced their waterfront areas to attract more and more recreational boaters.
Personal watercraft like this jet ski is a fun way to enjoy Lake Ontario on a hot day. Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/1000s, f/5.6, ISO 280, EV -0.3, 300mm focal length.
Personal watercraft like jet skis account for many people’s idea of a fun time on Lake Ontario water.
Yachting club out of Oswego racing off the eastern shore of Lake Ontario. Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/400s, f/10, ISO 200, EV -0.3, 300mm focal length.
Wind power is also well represented with sailboats often seen racing on Lake Ontario near Port Ontario, New York.
Lake Ontario beaches are a haven for upstate New Yorkers after long winters. Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/250s, f/13, ISO 200, EV 0, 105mm focal length, fill flash.
Not all the action is on the water but can be found on Lake Ontario beaches where millions of winter weary upstate New Yorkers converge during the summer months. Swimming, picniking, sunbathing and the ever popular sand castle building fun are seen.
Northeastern rocky Lake Ontario shoreline at the entrance to the St. Lawrence River near Cape Vincent, New York. Nikon D70/Tokina 12-24mm, 1/500s, f/11, ISO 200, EV +0.3, 12mm focal length.
I have shown you many photos from and of Lake Ontario over the years. This week, I am going to share the history, uses and more beauty of the smallest (in surface area) lake of the Great Lakes. Lake Ontario has a shoreline 712 miles (1,146 km) in length. I am most familiar with the eastern shore from Oswego to Cape Vincent having grown up camping in many of the New York state parks found between the two locations.
Lake Ontario was formed after the glaciers from the last Ice Age receded along with the other Great Lakes creating the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth. Together, the Great Lakes holds 21% of the world’s freshwater. The name Ontario means ‘beautiful lake’ and lives up to its name during the months when the Sun sets over its horizon. It is the 14th largest fresh water lake in the world.
Beaches farther south still have rocks mixed with more pleasant sands like this beach near Sandy Creek, New York. Nikon D70/Tokina 11-16mm, 1/100s, f/8, ISO 200, EV +0.3, 16mm focal length.
Lake Ontario sand dunes are ecologically sensitive communities made up of beach grasses, wildflowers and cottonwood trees. New York state has protected stretches of dunes along the eastern shore to keep people from literally trampling them away.
Boardwalk trails through the sand dunes of the Deer Creek Wildlife Management Area near Sandy Creek, New York. Nikon D70/50mm, 1/40s, f/16, ISO 200, EV +0.3.
Lake Ontario’s orientation allows for northeastern winds to flow over the waters which influences the weather along the eastern shore. Lake Effect creates record breaking snowfall from Syracuse to Watertown with some storms dumping over 40 inches (101 cm) in a day. Seasonal snowfall can easily reach 20 feet (600 cm) or more. In the other seasons, rain and fog can be caused by the lake.
A Lake Effect fog forms over the Oswego Harbor. Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/320s, f/9, ISO 200, EV 0, 300mm focal length.
Living near a Great Lake is both extreamely enjoyable and trying. I would not trade it for any other place on Earth. 🙂
It is a something you have heard before: There are two photos for each scene. This normally refers to the orientation of the camera in either Landscape (horizontal) or Portrait (vertical). There is another method to getting two photos from most scenes. It does not always work depending on your distance to what you are photographing.
When people purchase a digital SLR camera, they often get a kit lens or two. The most popular are 18-55mm and/or 55mm-200mm zoom lenses. Many know I like my super zoom lenses in the 18-200mm range for DX (cropped) cameras and 28-300mm for FX (full frame) cameras. Many Point and Shoot cameras have a zoom range from short to long. Which ever zoom range you have, do not forget to use the power they give you.
As an example, I zoomed in on a monorail as it passed the Bay Lake Tower DVC Resort in Walt Disney World as the Sun was close to setting.
Close up of Monorail Green passing in front of Bay Lake Tower DVC Resort in Walt Disney World. Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/320s, f/9, ISO 200, EV 0, 150mm focal length.
I remembered to quickly zoom all the way out to get a wide angle view of the scene as the monorail continued to pass by the resort.
Wide view of Monorail Green passing in front of Bay Lake Tower DVC Resort in Walt Disney World. Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/320s, f/9, ISO 200, EV 0, 28mm focal length.
Same scene, two different perspectives without having to move your feet. It is not being lazy, it is being smart to use your equipment to its fullest.
Last year one of my most popular posts was Showing Scale. Now, it’s your turn to show something to scale by using a reference within your photograph. It can be something big, small or in between as long as I can tell its size.
Hot Air Balloons are big but how big? This photo gives the answer in comparison to the people, vehicles and structures.
As in the other assignments, do not send me your photos. What I would like you to do is post them on your blog, flickr or other photo sharing site, personal website or any other place on the Internet where you can place a link to it here by making a comment to this blog entry. Then we can visit those sites and enjoy everyone’s way of Showing Scale.
Please, have your photos posted on or before Midnight (your time), Wednesday, July 20, 2011. Don’t have a place to post? Might be a good time to start up a blog or join a photo community like flickr. As I have done for all the Assignments, I’ll put together a recap with my comments.
If you have any questions, leave me a comment and I will be happy to answer them. By the way, I would really appreciate it if you would help spread the word about this assignment so we can get lots of people to participate. Blog it, tweet it, email it and talk about it to your fellow photographers, bloggers, friends, family and pets. Thank you
to my personal journal through my viewfinder. A place where I leave the world behind and try to find the spirit of what I am seeing.
Feel free to look around at all the posts and pages. If you'd like to borrow a photo(s) for your non-commercial blog or website, be my guest. Please, do not alter the photo(s) and be sure to link back to this blog with a prominent photo credit(s). Thank you and I'm thrilled you dropped in!
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