As of late, I’ve been spending a considerable amount of time back in New York helping my eighty-five year old mom with various different chores, tasks and life activities that get more require some assistance from time to time. It’s a blessing to be able to spend time with my mom and one of the benefits is that I get to explore and photograph the areas near and around the town of Yorktown Heights where I grew up.
People who’ve never visited New York State are usually surprised to find that New York is one of the most naturally beautiful states in the country. People think of busy towns and suburbs radiating in all directions from New York city and equate highways, tall buildings, and traffic with New York. The truth is you don’t have to go very far north from midtown Manhattan to find some amazing natural areas, hiking and beautiful vistas.
I’ll be the first to admit that when I lived back in Yorktown Heights, I too ignored many of these spectacular locations and never even bothered to make attempts to photograph them. One of these areas that was only a few miles from my house, and a location I would drive by multiple times a week was the New Croton Dam and the Croton Gorge located between bucolic Croton-on-Hudson and Yorktown. I have vivid memories of coming to the Croton Gorge Park with my dad and brother to hike around and give my mom a break and get out of her hair for a little while.
Later on, when my little brother first graduated from college and started working and commuting to Manhattan everyday I would often have to run down to the Croton Harmon train station to pick him up. Doing so, I would drive right past Croton Gorge and the dam without a thought to photograph it.
As time moves forward and I spend 95% of my time in Colorado and locations across the American West, getting the opportunity to explore and photograph New York and locations near my hometown gets more difficult. So whenever I’m back east now, I try to make as much an effort as possible to photograph these spectacular locations while I have the opportunity to do so.
The day I was flying back to Colorado on the last day of April, I made a quick jaunt over to Croton Gorge Park to explore and work a few compositions. It was a rainy, foggy spring morning. Perfect to set the mood and everybody knows I love photographing in fog and rain, something that feels like rarely happens in Colorado.
When I arrived at the park, the conditions where just about perfect. Flowering trees, fog hugging the edges of the Gorge and water running down the side of Croton Dam and the Croton River.
I spent a good two hours photographing The Croton Gorge in all is spectacular spring glory. All the while, I could only think to myself ‘how could this be the first time I photographed this place?’. I’m glad I had a chance to explore and photograph this location at the end of April. With any luck, I’ll be able to photograph it a few more times from different viewpoints and in different lighting. The lesson here is always make sure to focus your photography on local locations and don’t take the access you have at any given time for granted. You may not get as many opportunities to explore and photograph as you think, life may have other plans.