My old stomping grounds as well. Good advise so far. The streams are definitely a good idea. Check out the Palenville gorge. Also if possible go to Opus 40. Whether you photograph there or not it is amazing.
My old stomping grounds as well. Good advise so far. The streams are definitely a good idea. Check out the Palenville gorge. Also if possible go to Opus 40. Whether you photograph there or not it is amazing.
I live nearby. Several good suggestions in other posts. This is an area with a lot of history, nature and artistic opportunities.
Don't overlook Woodstock, NY. Quaint little town that still reflects the laid-back atmosphere that prevailed at the time of the famed Woodstock festival. Three very good photography galleries in that town - Photosensualis specializes in nudes, BMG offers a series of visiting artists with a wide range of styles, and the Catskill Center for Photography is a workshop located bang-on in the center of the town and a gallery with rotating shows.
Pittsfield is a nice old town, but for my taste there's not a lot there. A few miles south is Stockbridge, a town made famous by Norman Rockwell. The Rockwell Museum is nearby and is a must for visual artists. Another great spot in Stockbridge is Chesterwood, the home of sculptor Daniel Chester French. Great Barrington and Lenox are also great little towns (if you like music, Tanglewood is a must). And I would be remiss if I didn't mention that late August is the height of the tourist season here in the Saratoga Springs area - the Philadelphia Orchestra and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center are in residence and the ponys are running at the racecourse (you will actually be here for the Travers Stakes - the summer equivalent of the Kentucky Derby).
Williamstown is north of Pittsfield and is the home of the Clark Museum. Recently reopened after a major remodel, it is an architectural gem, and the art work is stunning. And in nearby North Adams is the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. This is an old mill that has been repurposed as a gallery for unusually large art works. The art is often mind-bending, but for me, the beautiful old buildings are the real attraction.
Bennington VT is less than half and hour away from Pittsfield. Actually, Bennington is sort of blaah, but Manchester is a short drive north of there and is a delightful little town. I especially like the Epoch Gallery - a cooperative gallery featuring the work of Vermont artists and crafts people. Not far from there is Weston, VT, home of the overrated Vermont Country Store. But next door to the store is a gallery featuring the work of photographer Nobushi Fuji'i. He became famous as a large-format photographer for a Japanese architectural magazine, but the work he shows in his Weston gallery (and also in Epoch in Manchester) are very sensitive digital color images of nature and the landscape.
There are two other significant photographic galleries a few hours from Pittsfield - Vermont Center for Photography in Brattleboro, VT, and The Valley Photographic Center in Springfield, VT. Hudson, NY (mentioned by others) has a lot of galleries, one of which (Carrie Haddad) specializes in photography.
And about those nasty comments about mountains in the East - many years ago I took a workshop with landscape photographer David Haas - David worked exclusively in large format, and only in the East. His view was that it's not correct to say that the landscape in the West is better - or worse - than the landscape in the East. But they are different. The landscape in the East isn't Wagnerian - it doesn't scream drama like the landscape in the West. Instead, it is intimate and requires thoughtful exploration.
Originally Posted by Sal Santamaura
Since Kirk has never been in this part of the country before, he should be made aware that things called "mountains" in the northeastern US don't really resemble "mountains" in the western US. He might find these new landforms visually interesting, but could perhaps instead react as though they're mere foliage-covered "foothills." I make this observation as someone who was born and raised in the northeast, has lived in the west for 36 years and is planning to move back to those northeast "mountains" soon....
Nasty? Really? If you're being sarcastic or humorous, an emoticon would be helpful. Otherwise, I see nothing nasty about those comments.
I didn't see where anyone described one region's landscape as better/worse than the other's. What we posted is completely compatible with Haas' view as you described it.
Sorry if my comments indicated that the eastern mountains are nasty; I did not mean to. David Hass' explanation conveys what I meant very well.
Even a hazy-day vista has its own beauty.
Louie's post said that our comments were nasty, not the eastern mountains.
Whoops -- taken literally, (and I usually do this), I agree it is the comments that were supposedly nasty, although what follows the reference to comments is more about the mountains themselves, and my reaction included the latter reference as well.
With written syntax aside, it should be interesting to see what Kirk sees out there, if he wants to share any of his images when he gets back.
Kirk, I wish you the best of luck in the humid East. And, as a native of NY State, I'd love to see any of the photographs from your trip. I can easily remember my first trip to the mountain west, almost 20 years ago, and how different the light was 'out there'. And so I'm enjoying the thought of your experience in reverse.
Sorry I wrote Catsills without my reading glasses on.......
But I'm glad you did. All this time I thought the ledge below the kitchen window where the cat sleeps was a "window sill". It's amazing what you can learn from this forum!
Lol
Tin Can
This is true for sure, but is often compensated for by the things called "trails" in the northeast, which out west are called climber's trails, game trails, dry creek beds, rock piles, or cliffs. Maybe less so in the Catskills than in the Adirondacks and the White Mountains.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks