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Recently I ventured up to Hickory Run State Park. I have not been there in many years and was pleasantly surprised to see that has not changed much. I hiked along the Shades of Death Trail to see several amazing waterfalls. It was a beautiful spring morning which one enhanced my photographic opportunity. All images were taken with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 MkII and paired with the M.Zuiko ED 12-100mm f4.0 IS PRO. The first two images were shot utilizing the Olympus High Resolution mode which creates an 80 megapixel picture.
Later in the morning I hiked the Hawk Falls Trail to Hawk Falls.
As many of you know, I enjoy photographing waterfalls. But, I never photographed the infamous Niagara. Last year I had the opportunity to do so. I was also fortunate to arrange some shots from a helicopter. However, I wanted to schedule my visit during a time frame when it would be the least crowded. So I picked February, assuming it would be extremely cold. Luck would have it, that the temps reached into the 60 + degree Fahrenheit range. The good news was that the preceding weeks were all below freezing and there was still plenty of snow and ice around. All of the images were shot with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 MkII. Be forewarned, if you view the video clips and you are susceptible to motion sickness, the second clip might cause you some discomfort.
As a follow up to the previous post I did, I went back to the Gorge 2 weeks later. It was amazing to see the change with the temperatures dropped. I was also experimenting with Olympus’s new 12-100 f4.0 PRO lens. With this camera & lens combination you achieve up to 6.5 shutter speed steps of compensation. The long exposure shots in this post are 2 seconds long and handheld. I continue to be impressed with the image stabilization technology.
A short while ago I decided I wanted to do some winter hiking in the Lehigh Gorge State park. It is located just outside of Weatherly, PA and encompasses two counties, Luzern & Carbon. The park follows the Lehigh River and includes some beautiful waterfalls & ice formations. I spent a fair amount of time around Buttermilk Falls. I brought my Olympus OM-D E-M1 MkII with me. I wanted to see how I could do with hand held long exposures. The second image in this series was hand held for almost one full second. I have some other shots that went almost 3 seconds. I continue to be amazed at the internal image stabilization of this camera.
This past weekend I had it in my head that I wanted to photograph some waterfalls in the Pocono region of Pennsylvania. The main reason I wanted to do this at this time frame, was because it would probably be the coldest weekend of the entire year, which should make for some great imagery. In that regard, I think I was right on target. I reached out to fellow photog from the area, Eric Goins. He was kind enough to recommend Resica Falls. It is a Boy Scout camp I had been to many years ago with my sons. When I arrived, it was a balmy -5 degrees Fahrenheit. I wasn’t sure if my equipment or periodically exposed hands would endure. I’m happy to report, both performed very well. I used the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II and the M.Zuiko ED 12-40mm f2.8 PRO with a 10 stop ND filter. After a couple of hours I knew I shouldn’t push the boundaries too much further. I headed out and treated myself to a much deserved hot chocolate. BTW – As I was leaving the temperature made it up to a warm +3 degrees. So, when someone says No-pain No-gain, I have an even better appreciation for that!
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