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I’ve wanted to get some pictures from my August trip to visit my family out on Flickr for a while now, and finally got it done. I took about 500 altogether (digital cameras do make you take a lot of pictures, don’t they?) but sifted through them all, made some adjustments using Adobe Lightroom, and uploaded a representative sample over the past couple of evenings. The complete collection is here: Upstate New York Summer 2007. I’ve also updated “My Flickr Slideshows” in the sidebar with slideshow links to each set.
The first set consists of a few pictures from Chazy Orchards. The number of apples on the trees was enormous; either I had never noticed that before when I was visiting, or it’s a banner year for apples. You might enjoy reading more about the orchards, and their history.
Photo set link: Chazy Orchards
I always enjoy photographing rural scenes, especially in late summer when everything is still very lush and green, but the light has started to tip a little darker toward fall. The Farms and Barns set contains the ones I liked best.
Photo set link: Farms and Barns
Lake Champlain separates the state of New York from Vermont, running over 100 miles and connecting to Lake George about halfway down the states. While I’m not much of a boater, I do appreciate the boats (and the seagulls and the ducks and the lake itself), and spent quite a bit of my time taking pictures from the shores.
Photo set link: Lake Champlain
I was born in Plattsburgh, New York and grew up in a small town nearby. The area has its claim to various historical events, which you can read a little about here and here. I didn’t get as much time as I might have liked to prowl the downtown area and take some shots, but in this set you will see several historical monuments (the McDonough Monument and a statue of Samuel de Champlain, which looks out on the lake), as well as a few other local buildings and scenes.
Photo set link: Plattsburgh Monuments and Buildings
The Point au Roche Interpretive Center is part of Point au Roche State Park, dedicated to conservation and wildlife preservation, and was a new discovery for me. I got very involved in just wandering around the area and snapping whatever caught my eye.
Photo set link: Point Au Roche Interpretive Center
I just happened to be near a railroad crossing when this train was ambling by. If it hadn’t been dark red, I might have paid less attention … but the red photographed quite well, especially on a somewhat dark and cloudy day.
Photo set link: Trains
My hometown is less than an hour’s drive from the Whiteface Mountain and Lake Placid region. I spent so much time wandering near the mountain that I didn’t get as many shots of the Lake Placid village as I would have liked; there’s a whole lot more to it than just those few shots! More information on official sites for both, here and here.
Photo set link: Whiteface Mountain and Lake Placid
Next up, in a few days, will be a collection of the pictures I took back here in Atlanta, at Oakland Cemetery, as part of the research for my Exploring Place: History class. Stay tuned!
Love the pictures.
I have spent some time in the Adirondacks hiking etc. I have also spent some time at Lake Placid and Whiteface and Saranac, Lake George and Long and Tupper Lake. I love it there.
I remember one year of college I took some people in a car to Sugarbush, Vermont. I took them inadvertently home by going toward a ferry on Lake Champlain which ended up not being open at the time and we ended up having to go some other way and got stuck in the mountains for a day because the roads kind of sucked.
You are lucky to come from such a place.
Wonderful photographs and a wonderful post. It was nice to learn more about you. The mountain pics and train pics are among my favorites.
Hi, Cooper … thanks for looking at the pics! You’re right, it is a beautiful area, and late summer, early fall is always a great time to go visit. Occasionally I miss the winters, but only until the nostalgia wears off and I remember what it’s REALLY when the temps are in the teens or lower for days or even weeks at a time.
This was my first trip back since I bought the DSLR; I couldn’t help but think when I got back and looked at the photos that I wished I had taken more!
Bye for now,
Dale
Hi, Jon … thanks again for stopping by and looking at the pics. Was really glad to catch the train shots … I kept hearing trains off in the distance as I was wandering around, and finally on one of my last days there, got to see one.
I always remember freight trains from when I was a kid living up there; there was a crossing near my family home — now no longer in use — and we often ran to get a look at it and count the cars as it went by. They always seemed so powerful, almost frightening, and sort of mysterious … and I still felt that way when I came across this one!
Bye!
Dale