photos from joshua l. smith
You can imagine the monstrous noise that this small drop would create during the spring flow, but on a random day in early October it’s a peaceful and tranquil scene.
Upper Conglomerate Falls really tested my “what is a waterfall” question. After all, if any river runs dry enough, it will turn into a series of cascades. Getting to this falls was not easy, and it was an overall disappointment. However, the “Upper” part of the name implies a “lower”, and that could lead to a fun falls (or even more disappointment.)
The information that I’d gleaned in the 16 hours since I started asking locals about waterfalls had led me to believe that there were three waterfalls – Upper, Middle, Lower. Once I’d found the third waterfall, I hopped back into my car and headed onto the next stop in my day. I only found out a few days later that the Lower Falls is only a few hundred feet downstream from these falls!
When I first planned my trip to the Keweenaw Peninsula, I planned on spending the day (Monday) visiting most of the lighthouses; any waterfalls that I could find along the way would just be a bonus. After my trip, I purchased Phil Stagg’s excellent “Waterfalls of Michigan” series of books and discovered that there were 6 waterfalls named “Hungarian”; I only visited the middle 3. I guess I’ll have to take a trip back in 2025, right?
The Hungarian Falls is a series of cascades just outside of Hubbell along Dover Creek. I particularly enjoyed the distinct trickles of water in the Upper Falls.
Canyon Falls is an easy hike, and the entire time you wonder “Is there really a Canyon?” and then you HEAR the falls.
It’s actually a little tricky to get to the falls, especially with a tripod and camera, and once you get down this close to the lower portion, it’s still not easy to see the falls in its full glory, since you’re off on the side. But there is no doubt, Canyon Falls is a powerful and loud falls.
What a beautiful and surprising way to start my trip! I arrived in the U.P. late on Sunday night and asked the employees at the Subway in L’Anse if there were any waterfalls around; after all, I have plenty of lists of waterfalls for Wisconsin, but at that point, I didn’t have any formal list for the U.P. They pointed out that Powerhouse Falls was just outside of town and very beautiful. So, bright and early the next morning, I wandered over to find this absolutely stunning waterfall.
When we visited St Louis with the marching band in 2022, this was the view out of our hotel room. The night before, I wandered around near the Arch, and captured some fantastic photos, but in the morning this was our view – absolutely spectacular!
When I arrived at Cataract Falls in Indiana, I asked one of the park rangers if she knew of other waterfalls in the area. She pointed out that if you walk AWAY from Mill Creek (and Lower Cataract Falls), you’ll encounter Little Sister Falls. Little Sister Falls ended up being 2 distinct small cascades about 60 feet apart; the perfectly intimate waterfalls that I love being near.
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
Upper Cataract Falls is listed as the largest waterfall in Indiana (by volume); it wasn’t easy to photograph due to the vegetation, but it would likely be even harder to photograph when the vegetation has filled in.
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
Why yes, of course, I did visit several waterfalls while I was in southern Indiana for the eclipse. I am legally obligated to visit waterfalls anytime that I travel farther than 45 miles from home.
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
I love photographing abstracts, and some of the coolest abstracts are in landscapes. On my recent work trip to Bakersfield, CA I took a few photos of the various landscape features that caught my attention.
This is St. Joseph, Missouri; and while that airport is in Missouri, everything else to the right (west) of the river is Nebraska. Rivers wind and change course over time, but state lines don’t.
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
What an odd viewpoint – looking north down the Black River after Rainbow Falls, you can see a straight(-ish) river for about half of a mile, before the river turns and enters the Black River harbor.
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
I was very excited about visiting the Presque Isle Kettles during my October waterfall trip, but I’m not thrilled with my photos from the kettles. While I did get some cool photos; overall, I feel like I didn’t capture the location as well as I could have – guess I’ll have to make a trip back, right?
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
Quite honestly, you could spend several days photographing the area of Bond Falls. The falls itself is actually several falls over a few hundred feet of stream, and the internet says that it drops roughly 50 feet in elevation.
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
Lost Creek Falls might have been my favorite falls from the trip. There really wasn’t much water coming over the falls, but the scene was so peaceful. I’ve walked to many waterfalls, and while they’re in the woods, you can still hear portions of civilization – a truck downshifting, someone mowing, or something else.
This area of Wisconsin is very rural, and then you have to walk about 2 miles to get to the falls through the forest, so there is simply no noise other than nature.
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
I’m back to those photos from my October waterfalls trip – Copper Falls State Park is absolutely incredible; four waterfalls with so many great trails too! The main entrance to the parking lot is up that river channel, and you’re actually looking upriver in this photo. But what you can’t see is the 10ft falls at the bottom of the image, and the 35ft Brownstone Falls just a little farther onward. It was a very impressive view, and someday I’ll have to go back and take a lot more time to wander.
You can see all of my images from Copper Falls here.
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
I’ve captured many images from this location over the past 15 years, but it’s only been the past 2 or 3 years that I tried to capture light trails of the Wells Street bridge’s CTA tracks. I love the light trails in this photo, now I just need to capture a bicyclist with lights on their bike riding down the river walk ramp.
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
I’ve captured Elgin’s fireworks shows from the Chicago Street bridge a few times (link to the most recent set of photos), so last year I wanted to photograph them from a different viewpoint. We parked near the riverwalk and then walked just north of the Highway 20 bridge. I never posted the resulting images since I’d just come back from my July waterfall trip (link); however, this image definitely works to celebrate the New Year!
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
…view older images with the thumbnails below…
