11/17/10 - "Niagara Falls - American Rapids"

"Niagara Falls - American Rapids"

     This photo was shot from the pedestrian bridge that leads from the city of Niagara Falls, NY to Goat Island, which is part of Niagara Falls State Park - the oldest state park in the U.S.

The park is celebrating it's 85th anniversary this year.

          I was really hoping to be able to visit Canada for the first time; both to be able to check it off my bucket list of places to visit and to be able to see Horseshoe Falls - which is best seen from the Canadian side of the falls. Seems like all you need to enter Canada is a driver's license, which Sally and I both have. The problem lies with trying to get back into the U.S. - you must have a passport, or an enhanced driver's license (whatever that implies). Seeing how Sally's passport has expired, and that I have not ever even procured a passport yet, visiting Canada will have to wait - probably until May, when we plan on returning to the Fredonia, NY area to attend my daughter Caitlin's graduation.

          The American Falls, while impressive in its' own right, has only 10% of the volume of water that Horseshoe Falls contains; and while the American Falls is 1,060 feet (or 320 m) wide, Horseshoe Falls spans an incredible 2,600 feet (or 790 m). To put it a bit more graphically, that's about as wide as 8 (American football) fields laid end zone to end zone.

          The weather, for mid-November could not have been more beautiful; and the drive from Dunkirk to Niagara Falls was only a tad longer than an hour. The only minor disappointment was that Top of the Falls restaurant was closed for the season. The Maid of the Mist boat tours was finished for the season also, as was Cave of the Winds - where "You cannot get any closer to the Falls" (as it says in the brochure). As we weren't counting on going to either that wasn't a problem for us.


Links:
"Niagara Falls - American Rapids" prints available here.
More about Niagara Falls State Park
More about Niagara Falls.

Camera Data

Make:Canon
Model:Canon EOS 5D
Shutter Speed:1/332 second
Aperture:F/18.0
Focal Length:67 mm
ISO Speed:400
Date Taken:Nov 14, 2010, 1:11:18 AM
Software:Adobe Photoshop CS Windows
Sensor Size:34mm