Stony Brook State Park - Rest and Stillness in Landscape Photography
The Finger Lakes Region is most known for the wine and the beautiful scenery around the lakes themselves but also in the many beautiful parks throughout the area. Recently, I took myself on a morning trip to Stony Brook State Park in Dansville, NY. My desire to capture more landscape photographs and my craving to be outside hiking have been so much stronger as of late. This trip was the first of many to come as I pursue more creativity as a landscape photographer.
I’ve walked by this scene many times. I don’t always like including too much “man-made” subjects in my landscape photography but this bridge creates a nice balance in the background of this smaller waterfall.
I've been learning a lot in this season about the importance of stillness, and rest. For me, the past few years have been very much lacking these ingredients and I've been facing the resulting stress and anxiety as a result. It's a long road that I'm still on but I've been adjusting and incorporating more peace and rest regularly in my days and weeks.
I wish these waterfalls at Stony Brook had names. But since they don’t, I refer to this one as the “water slide waterfall” since not much water actually “falls” over and ledges but rather slides down the sheer rock face.
Hiking is one of the best ways for me to clear my head and get back to a state of rest. But in order to recharge emotionally I must have no goal in mind other than simply observing. If I become concerned with putting X amount of miles in or finishing by a certain time, I get distracted by the pressure and don’t gain any rest from the trip. This is one of the main reasons why I love landscape photography.
I look forward to checking out these scenes again once the leaves turn to their autumn colors!
Landscape photography requires awareness and observation. When I'm hiking, looking for a composition, I see so much more than when I'm just trying to get distance behind me or reach a specific destination. I have to slow down so I don't miss anything. I have to focus on what I can see and when I do, I lose focus on distractions, like anxiety around money, health or mice in the house.
Photography is a silent medium which is a bit of a shame because much of what I experience while hiking and taking landscape photos is sound. The sound of the water rushing, the sound of the brook trickling, and the sound of the ground under my boots crunching and squishing and splashing all bring a huge wave of relief to me. If ever, you see any of my photography and start slipping into imagining how the scene sounds to you if you were standing there in real life, I know I’ve done my job well. But I also wanted to start trying to share the experience via another medium beyond the photographs. That’s why I made the hiking video that goes along with the photos you’re seeing in this blog. My goal in my work is to inspire anyone who sees it to go out and explore for themselves and experience the peace and serenity of hiking and nature as well as the sense of fulfillment that comes when creating something beautiful. For me landscape photography gives me all these things and so I will be making more trips like this one to Stony Brook and other beautiful locations as I continue my creative journey.
This is my favorite shot from the day. The other waterfalls are beautiful but this section of stream isn’t a normal “spot” to stop on the gorge trail at Stony Brook. So I feel like this photo belongs to me more than the others because it’s not photographed by everyone else.
Thank you so much for taking time to read my first blog of this kind. I hope you’re motivated and inspired to create and explore for yourself.
All photos in this blog are available for purchase as prints. Check out the store here: Landscape Photography Prints