Spring is eagerly waited for in Upstate New York.  After a long, cold, and beautiful season of cross country skiing, ice skating, and hiking to frozen waterfalls I am ready for the Snow Drops, rather than the snow drifts.  Once the snow melt begins I know I have another chance at that "perfect" shot of water frothing over my favorite cliffs. Although the freshet seems the perfect opportunity to shoot the falls, one must choose one's time.  If you come to the waterfalls too early you will find a torrent of water that is so muddy that it loses all appeal.  So again I must make several trips in order to catch the right moment when the water clears to sparkling white.  And then there's the light to deal with!  If it doesn't come I must wait another year to catch that moment.  But here the joy is in the journey as much as in the end result. And you wondered why those photos you took of the waterfalls didn't quite come out as you had hoped for . . . .

	"Spring Dogwood" Taughannock Falls State Park With a drop of 215' this waterfall is known as the tallest one in the Northeast.  During the Ice Age the glaciers scoured long, narrow, deep gorges in the surface of the land in this region which became filled with water and named the "Finger Lakes" by later settlers. You can find a whole gallery of photographs taken of various views in Taughannock Falls State Park at www.ASHnatkoDesigns.com
	"Ludlowville Rainbow" Ludlowville Falls, Ludlowville, NY This gem of a waterfall is in a small park which seems to be the center of the town.  On sunny afternoons it sports a clear rainbow under which local families often swim.  More photographs of this charming waterfall can bees seen in the newly updated  site mentioned above.
	"First Falls" Watkins Glen State Park This falls greets you as you approach the entrance tunnel to the gorge trail.  You can find a photograph of Rainbow Falls at www.ASHnatkoDesigns.com .
	"Spring at Tinker's Falls" Labrador Hollow Nature Preserve This waterfall drops 50', then cascades another 30 feet to the stream that flows into the nature preserve.  I climbed up to the wide shelf below the caprock and delighted in the view down into the valley below as seen through a veil of misty water.

You'll find a series of lovely waterfalls farther west at Letchworth Falls State Park.  There is a photograph of th Upper Falls at www.ASHnatkoDesigns.com in the gallery labled "More Falls."