In Darkness and In LightThe sun catches the canyon wall at Taughannock Falls State Park, bathing the scene in darkness and light

When the snows of a long winter have finished melting and the heavy rains of spring dissipate, summer comes alive in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York, and with it, the waterfalls.  It's as if a giant faucet was turned on across the lands and every where you turn there's another one to experience.  Theirs is a bounty so great and plentiful that one could spend an entire day visiting local waterfalls and not even begin scratch the surface of the area's wonders.

Some of the falls take a little more effort to see than others, but many are located in vast network of state parks and one simply needs to pay the park entrance, park the car, and walk a few steps to be in their presence.  And one in particular has a lookout that requires no fee at all.  This is Taughannock Falls.

Over 200 feet high, the falls plunge into an awe inspiring canyon below.  While you can take a short hike to a platform near the base of the falls, from up above at the overlook, the entire scene plays out in epic grandeur.

On this early morning day, much of the canyon was in shadow with the sun's rays highlighting slivers of the canyon walls, the trees that surround it, and the falls in between.  The shadows were visible enough to create a nicely contrasted black and white photograph, however, with such a heightened difference in light, I underexposed my shot to produce the photograph above, "In Darkness and In Light".  With a 10 Stop Neutral Density Filter, the scene was complete.