Shot of the Day – 27 – Pratt’s Falls

You know I’m old and often drag out decades-old images and wax lyrical. This time, hot off the SD card, is a recent shot…one that I really like.

In late June, I was in Syracuse, New York to bowl miserably (again) in the USBC Nationals. To avoid making the drive a total loss, Beck came along and we noodled around the region for a few days. Southeast of Syracuse, just outside the Town of Manlius, is Pratt’s Falls Park. Where the level ground with the playfields and picnic tables drops off, you can take a short, steep hike down to the base of Pratt’s Falls.

Pratt’s Falls, Manlius, NY (25 June 2018)

Since we were driving, it was easy to pack along the gear one needs for this kind of picture-taking. The essential hardware is a sturdy tripod. Depending on how much light there is, you’re going to need to keep the camera still for a longer exposure. This one-second exposure turned out just right as it softened the cascade perfectly (in my opinion). Any longer and the water would have looked like solid white cotton candy. I don’t own a cable release but there are other ways to keep from pressing the shutter button and risk moving the camera. I used the camera’s self-timer to take the shot.

The falls are actually 137 feet tall and portions of it were in bright sun. It was better to zoom in and frame that part of it that was in uniform, shaded light. I was fortunate to be in a spot where that view of the falls was nicely framed by the surrounding trees. One final hardware addition was a polarizing filter set to the darker view to reduce any glare.

Two final points. I made quite a few exposures of various portions and views of the falls. None were as good as this one. As I have said before, the ’film’ is free. Fire away. Try different settings and perspectives…that’s the way to learn what works.

The last point harkens back to a post in the first year of this blog. “Rule Number One” cautioned against relying on your computer and post-production tricks to fix flaws and make your image better. Of course, there are wonderful things software can do to improve image quality but they come at a cost…of pixels…of file size and potential. I attended a seminar where the great shooter Ian Plant showed us a dozen Photoshop steps that turned a good waterfall shot into a fantastic one. He did not note how much the file size shrank by the end.

I am proud to say this image has not been edited at all.
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Addendum – The last ‘Shot of the Day’ post about the Little Daisy Hotel in Jerome, Arizona prompted a reader to send this link. It appears the property has been renovated and is on the market. It can be yours for only $6.5 million. Good luck with that.

9/11 Remembrance - Arlington National Cemetery

It is now seventeen years since the Towers came down. I have posted stories on 9/11 since then. On 9/11/11, it was about my long association, as a New Yorker, with the World Trade Center. On 9/11/14, it was about the Pentagon Memorial and on 9/11/15, we saw the World Trade Center Memorial.

Arlington National Cemetery (16 August 2011)

I have not been to the Shanksville, PA Memorial yet, where the brave passengers of United 93 brought down the plane that was intended to hit the Capitol in Washington. However, I try to get to Arlington National Cemetery every year to wander the lanes looking for images and let the history soak in. Arlington is the final resting place for some 9/11 attack victims and many service members who made the ultimate sacrifice in response to the attacks.

I first posted a story about this grand and hallowed burial ground in 2011, when I attended the funeral of a Viet Nam era officer and friend. In the story of Col. DeShields’ funeral, the images presented were often cropped to a narrower, more panoramic perspective. Maybe it’s the way I’m wired, but Arlington emphasizes the horizontal to me. The white, marble, grave markers stretch left and right but only so high into the distance. The vertical elements are not as significant. Trees grow only so high and (to me) don’t add to the value of the scene.

Arlington National Cemetery (13 April 2018)

I’m pretty sure there will be more posts about Arlington and the exploits of those interred here. When my Supreme Court Chief Justice Quest gets rolling, we will learn that four of the sixteen deceased Chief Justices are buried there. Between the visual beauty of the landscape and the stories connected to the residents, I think the ‘Images and More’ title fits this place better than most.

For seventeen years we have been at war in Afghanistan. Our longest war ever. It begs the question - how much longer should we be there? ‘Until we achieve our goals.’ And what are they? It would be nice to be reminded again, long after we blew up al Qaida’s terrorist camps and snuffed Bin Laden himself.

Arlington National Cemetery (13 April 2018)

They call Afghanistan ‘The Graveyard of Empires’ for a reason. Since ancient times, invaders have never gotten the locals to heel. Eventually, the infidels cut their losses and slink away.

One would think, based on the desolate scenery we have seen for years on the news, the place is not worth it. It has no oil or other in-demand resource (if you don’t count opium poppies), so why the interest? Way back when, it was the on the main overland routes between Iran, India and China…so the early conquerors and later imperialists wanted in to exert their power and control.

We just wanted to punish our attackers and restore a friendlier government. Good luck with that. Repelling invaders seems an established part of Afghan culture. They don’t call Spring the ‘fighting season’ for nothing.

This is an anniversary worth remembering. We have been at war ever since. Soon, there will be soldiers going to the fight who were not even born when the fight began.

McClellan Gate, Arlington National Cemetery (13 April 2018)

Yes, Arlington National Cemetery is beautiful…a photographer’s paradise. Yes, you can find the names of presidents, generals, admirals and other men and women who have played significant roles in our nation’s history. But you will also find countless graves of Americans who died too soon for reasons that I now fail to appreciate. Section 60, called by some “The Saddest Acre in America” contains the graves of soldiers killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan. I refuse to intrude on scenes like this with my camera but one can often see parents or other loved ones still grieving.

Arlington National Cemetery (3 April 2011)

I can’t help but think of John Kerry’s memorable statement made when he had returned from Viet Nam and spoke to Congress as one of the Veterans Against the War – “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?”

Maybe it was not a mistake to invade the country to neutralize the terrorist bases. It seems to have become a mistake to stay there this long. While the offensives and pitch battles have abated, for now, the casualties now come from the people we are protecting and training. It’s particularly infuriating when our allies and friends decide you’re the enemy and turn their fire on you.

Sorry if this became an opinion piece. It’s not really a rant…more of a lament.

Rest in peace all who were killed on 9/11 and all who have given their lives in the wars since.