This past October I made a whirlwind trip to the Finger Lakes Region of New York in hopes of reconnecting with one of the landscapes of my childhood… and I fell deeply in love. Immersing myself in the gorges and waterways of the Finger Lakes felt familiar and comfortable, like awakening from a dream and finding myself in my own bed again, which makes sense, I grew up not far from there, in two different places, Clayton and Rochester, and the bulk of my childhood memories are sourced from my time in and around those two towns.
I was a child when I first visited the area. I’m not sure how old but a little boy for sure. I know because I remember walking toward the entrance to the gorge of Watkins Glen State Park with my fascination for all things prehistoric at the forefront of my mind. I had been told that the cavern walls were once an ancient seabed teaming with organisms older than even… wait for it… the dinosaurs! They had me at dinosaurs. I moved up the gorge imagining trilobites and other primitive sea dwellers scuttling along the creekbed. This is my earliest memory of connecting with nature. However, as I grew older, I learned to loathe the landscapes of Western New York. I became accustomed to the smell of the water, and the sight of the thinly dressed tree branches in late fall brought me no happiness. To me, it symbolized the familiar which, as a kid, was the opposite of adventure. Returning here in full photographer mode in 2023 changed all of that. As I said, I fell in love, and I quickly learned to appreciate this environment for its visual qualities.
While wandering up the gorge trail at Buttermilk Falls, the first stop during my visit, my senses took over. Memories of childhood came on strong,
inspired first by the sight of the shale walls but followed quickly by the smell of the water and decaying leaves. Everything felt damp and cool, routine to western New York in late fall. This extended throughout every park I photographed, and I used these feelings when naming all of the images in this collection. Each title references my sensorial experience or the feeling of discovery and mystery I felt as a child. The same goes for my treatment of each image during post-processing. Please enjoy… and if you’d like to join me in the Finger Lakes in October 2024 at my Canyons of the East photography workshop you can learn more HERE. We will be visiting Watkins Glen State Park, Taughannock Falls State Park, Robert H. Tremen State Park, Buttermilk Falls State Park, Havana Glen, and more. We may also find time to visit one of the well-known Finger Lakes wineries and the award-winning Ithaca Farmers Market!
