Waterfalls Along the Falls Trail in Ricketts Glen State Park, PA (Image Heavy)

[Diamondback]

In 1868, Colonel R. Bruce Ricketts, a Civil War veteran who served in the Grand Army of the Potomac and who fought at Gettysburg, bought land in northeast Pennsylvania for timber logging. Fishermen exploring the lower reaches of Kitchen Creek on Ricketts’ land discovered a number of waterfalls. Further explorations revealed that two branches of Kitchen Creek cut through deep gorges in a series of waterfalls, then united at Waters Meet and flowed through a glen among giant pines, hemlocks and oaks. Colonel Ricketts built trails to the area of the waterfalls , which came to be known as the Glens Natural Area. A member of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, Ricketts named many of the waterfalls after American Indian tribes. Ricketts Glen State Park incorporates the Glens Natural Area, a National Natural Landmark. The Falls Trail System of the Glens runs alongside a number of the waterfalls, the highest of which is the 94-foot Ganoga Falls. The Glens became a registered National Landmark in 1969. In 1993 it became a State Park Natural Area.

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Adams Falls

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Adams Falls

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Kitchen Creek at Adams Falls

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Mohawk Falls

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Mohawk Falls

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Kitchen Creek

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Cayuga Falls

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Ganoga Falls

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Seneca Falls

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Delaware Falls

 

[AaronE]

Really great set of images. Would be great to get a high level summary of your post processing tools and methods. Again great images!

 

[SteveAdler]

So beautiful. Makes me miss that part of the world. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Apollo T.]

@Diamondback
NICELY DONE!!!
Good assortment of subjects- not just limited to falls- that showcases the park.
Were those all shot on a single day's hike?
How would you rate the trail(s) for an old fart?
Beautiful place.

 

[Diamondback]

@Diamondback
NICELY DONE!!!
Good assortment of subjects- not just limited to falls- that showcases the park.
Were those all shot on a single day's hike?
How would you rate the trail(s) for an old fart?
Beautiful place.

Yes, all images were taken on a single day hike in the park. I would rate the the Falls Trail as strenous for an older person with sections of rather steep descent. There were many steps, wet rocks and tree roots that needed to be navigated. My knees were really suffering by the end of the hike back up the trail.

 

[Diamondback]

Really great set of images. Would be great to get a high level summary of your post processing tools and methods. Again great images!

Aaron,

Most of the images were captured using a 6-stop Nisi ND filter and a few using the Live ND feature in the E-M1.3. My primary post processing tool was Lightroom Classic for tonal adjustments, sharpening and local adjustments. The latter mainly consisted of applying luminance masks where necessary to account for the large dynamic range that occurred as the day was sunny and the gorge shaded. Some images were round tripped out to Photoshop to remove a few uncooperative tourists who insisted on sitting on top of the falls in dangerous positions. I also used Luminar 4 to better reflect the fall colours that I saw for many of the scenes.

 

[Glennn]

Spectacular work. I've been by there a number of times travelling to visit family out in Pa, but never stopped there long enough for any good exploration.

 

[daveinamblerpa]

Aaron,

Most of the images were captured using a 6-stop Nisi ND filter and a few using the Live ND feature in the E-M1.3. My primary post processing tool was Lightroom Classic for tonal adjustments, sharpening and local adjustments. The latter mainly consisted of applying luminance masks where necessary to account for the large dynamic range that occurred as the day was sunny and the gorge shaded. Some images were round tripped out to Photoshop to remove a few uncooperative tourists who insisted on sitting on top of the falls in dangerous positions. I also used Luminar 4 to better reflect the fall colours that I saw for many of the scenes.

Hi,
Really nice set of photos. Could you explain what "applying luminance masks " entails. Thanks for your time.
Dave

 

[Diamondback]

Hi,
Really nice set of photos. Could you explain what "applying luminance masks " entails. Thanks for your time.
Dave

Thanks Dave. Luminance is the measure of the luminous intensity per the unit area of light moving in any given direction. In Lightroom, though, it's a feature that, for example, can help you get the most out of images that display the sky. Luminance range masks can be applied in Lightroom Classic as a local adjustment. The attached link describes what they are and walks you through how they are applied in Lightroom. Hope this helps.
https://fstoppers.com/originals/how-understand-lightrooms-luminance-range-masks-472760