The Adirondack Mountains in northeastern New York State is about four hours north of Manhattan. They extend south from Lake Champlain to the Mohawk River valley. Much of the area is in a natural state, protected by state law. New York State owns approximately 2.6 of the 3.4 million acres. It is not a National Park. There are no fees, and it does not open and close. This region has Several well-known areas, such as Lake Placid, Lake George, and the Ausable Chasm. See our pages on them in NEW YORK STATE – PHOTOGRAPHY LOCATIONS
The region covers over 9,100 square miles and contains hundreds of peaks, foothills, and summits. The highest is Mount Marcy, 5,344 feet. Whiteface Mountain has rock walls in vertical escarpments contrary to the region, which is mostly rounded mountains.
Twin Pine Lodge ♠ PO Box 361 ♦ Route 8 & 9, Loon Lake ♦ Chestertown, NY 12817
Twin Pine Lodge
PO Box 361 – Route 8 & 9, Loon Lake – Chestertown, NY 12817 – Phone: 518-494-4355 – Email: mail@twinpinelodge.com
Photography Information Adirondack Mountains
Bring your tripod and circular polarizing filter and neutral density filter. There are many moving waters in this area to get silky moving water images. Make sure you have a wide-angle lens with an aperture of 2.8 or lower if you visit from March through October to do Milky Way Photography.
This is a prime Milky Way photography area.
How to Shoot Milky Way & What You Need
Light pollution map
Check out a Light pollution map before you pick your dark sky location where the milky way is visible.
Camera
You will need a camera to control your ISO, shutter speed, and aperture manually.
Lens
A fast wide-angle lens of 1.4 – 2.8 is ideal. If you use a 3.5 or higher (slower lens), you must increase the ISO. The higher the ISO, the more grain or digital noise or grain in your photos.
Tripod
A good sturdy tripod is essential for night photography. If it gets windy, you will need a sturdy one. Remember that when you buy one, it should be sturdy enough to withstand the wind but small enough to fit in your suitcase.
Sky Map
Sky Guide is available through the iTunes Store for $1.99. It has a 5 out of 5-star rating on both the current (3.2) version (1200+ ratings) and all previous versions (8600+ ratings).
Flashlight
Our choice is Coast brand for flashlights. The ideal flashlight will have high lumens, and you can zoom in and out on the light emitting from the flashlight. Get the HP7, PX45, or the G50. Ideally, go with the HP7.
Moon Phaze Map
The best time to go is during a new moon; you want to be in the darkest area possible. The week before the new moon, when the moon has not risen, is a perfect time to go, so check the moonrise chart to see when the moon will be up.
Remote Shutter Release
When painting with light and you want to go over a 30-second exposure, you must have a shutter release to use your bulb mode. You can use the remote release or your camera’s built-in two-second timer when exposing your pictures.
How to Focus
Use live view. Use your camera’s live view to focus in the dark, hit the zoom button, and focus on a bright star. You can also use the infinity setting on your lens but do several test shots to determine accuracy. It can be off a little on some lenses. You can also light it up with a flashlight, focus, then gently, without touching the focus ring, put the camera in manual focus so it will not search for the focus. You must do this each time you move your camera to take your next angel.
Camera Settings
ISO
Start with ISO 1600 – 3200. This is a common starting point, and you will adjust from here.
Shutter Speed
Remember, the earth is rotating. If you leave the shutter open for too long, you will see star trails that will not make for a crisp image. We want crisp non-star trail images. Here is the formula to avoid star trails—the 500 rule – Divide 500 by the focal length of your lens. So, if you have a 24mm lens on a full-frame camera, you will set your shutter speed to 20 sec. (500/24 = 20.83). If you are using a crop sensor camera, first do the math of the crop sensor to find the focal length. Cannon is 1.6, and Nikon is 1.5. Convert to full-frame focal length, then use the formula. Nikon 18mm x 1.5= 27mm – 500/27 = 18.51 seconds.
Aperture
Depth of field isn’t critical in these shots, but letting the light into the camera is; therefore, you should shoot wide open. If the depth of field is essential to you, try not to go too high. (wide open =the lowest aperture your camera will allow). You will have to increase the ISO some, giving you digital noise.
White balance suggestion:
Use live view mode to change your white balance settings and see what it will look like. You can shoot in shade or cloud mode as a standard setting and adjust things later.
Would you like to learn how to create dynamic images/Fine Art? That is what this magazine is all about. The first part of creating incredible photography is to find an outstanding subject matter. It would help if you did several things to create something different from other artists. We are all about travel photography, where to do photography, photography locations, and photography hot spots.
You can read about other places in more detail on our Travel Photography Pages.
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New York Photography Hot Spots
There are many areas within the Adirondacks to do photography. There are a few that are especially good to get jaw-dropping images possibly. Many regions are plain old boring. There are several spots we list in our N.Y. State Photography Hot Spot Page. There are no fees, no park passes, and no open and closing hours in Adirondack Park. The hot spots we list do have entrance fees.
2020 Rates at Ausable Chasm Single-day rates for visitors of all ages. See the website for boat rates.
Be sure to click the link in case the rates change.
Basic Admission (Trails Only) | |
---|---|
Adult/Teen (Age 13+) | $17.95 |
Child (Age 5-12) | $9.95 |
Local Resident (Clinton, Essex, Franklin Counties, NY) | $9.00 |
Under 5 Years of Age | FREE |
Natural Stone Bridge and Caves
RATES & GROUPS – Be sure to click the link in case the rates change.
Credit Cards Accepted: Visa, Master Card, Discover
Standard Summer Tour – 2018
Adults | $14.95 |
Children (5-12 yrs) | $8.50 |
Children 4 and under are free! |
- No Reservations Required; arrive 90 min before closing (see hours).
- Bring good walking shoes with rubber soles to climb up and down uneven steps on standard self-guided tours (see health restrictions ).
- Follow a numbered map to explore the ¾ mile marked trail with signs at your own pace.
- Most of the tour is above ground with optional descents into lighted caves.
- Plan on spending about an hour for the tour and another hour for additional activities.
HOTELS
Hotels/Cabins
Twin Pine Lodge
PO Box 361
Route 8 & 9, Loon Lake
Chestertown, NY 12817
Phone: 518-494-4355
Email: mail@twinpinelodge.com