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Mark Papke, Rochester, Ny. I am an enthusiast photographer.As you can see by my photos I prefer landscapes and nature shooting. I am new to creating a website so I am still learning how it works. I will be trying different things so there will probably be different looks from time to time in efforts of trying to make it more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Feel free to contact me with questions or if you have any advice on how to make my website better. Thanks for looking.

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Watkins Glen StatePark : Watkins Glen State Park is a fantasy like setting separated from the rest of the world. In the small town of Watkins Glen this park is Carved into the escarpment at the southern end of Seneca Lake. The park is easily divided into two sections, the deep shale and limestone glen that the park is most known for, and the upper park, which is filled with picnic, camping, and recreation facilities. Be sure to wear good hiking boots and be in relatively good health and condition before attempting to go through the gorge which is 1.5 miles long with lots of ascending and descending steps which can be slippery. There are 19 waterfalls of various sizes, the largest being a 60 foot drop. The most popular and most photographed is rainbow falls which is a series of three small waterfalls cascading into each other ending in a large double pool at the bottom of the gorge. The water is so clean and clear you can see all the way to the bottom. This state park is a place that should be experienced at least once in everybody's lifetime if able.

Watkins Glen StatePark

Autumn : We all enjoy the colors of autumn leaves. The changing fall foliage never fails to surprise and delight us. Did you ever wonder how and why a fall leaf changes color? Why a maple leaf turns bright red? Where do the yellows and oranges come from? To answer those questions, we first have to understand what leaves are and what they do. Leaves are nature's food factories. Plants take water from the ground through their roots. They take a gas called carbon dioxide from the air. Plants use sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and glucose. Oxygen is a gas in the air that we need to breathe. Glucose is a kind of sugar. Plants use glucose as food for energy and as a building block for growing. The way plants turn water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and sugar is called photosynthesis. That means "putting together with light." A chemical called chlorophyll helps make photosynthesis happen. Chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color. As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter. This is how the trees "know" to begin getting ready for winter. During winter, there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis. The trees will rest, and live off the food they stored during the summer. They begin to shut down their food-making factories. The green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves. As the bright green fades away, we begin to see yellow and orange colors. Small amounts of these colors have been in the leaves all along. We just can't see them in the summer, because they are covered up by the green chlorophyll. The bright reds and purples we see in leaves are made mostly in the fall. In some trees, like maples, glucose is trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. Sunlight and the cool nights of autumn cause the leaves turn this glucose into a red color. The brown color of trees like oaks is made from wastes left in the leaves. It is the combination of all these things that make the beautiful fall foliage colors we enjoy each year.

Autumn

We all enjoy the colors of autumn leaves. The changing fall foliage ne ...

Updated: Dec 12, 2012 8:54am PST

When the sun goes down : Sunset or sundown is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon in the west as a result of Earth's rotation.

When the sun goes down

Sunset or sundown is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the hori ...

Updated: Feb 02, 2013 8:19pm PST

Niagara Falls : Niagara Falls is the collective name for three waterfalls that straddle the international border between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of New York. They form the southern end of the Niagara Gorge. From largest to smallest, the three waterfalls are the Horseshoe Falls, the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls. The Horseshoe Falls lie on the Canadian side and the American Falls on the American side, separated by Goat Island. The smaller Bridal Veil Falls are also located on the American side, separated from the other waterfalls by Luna Island. The international boundary line was originally drawn through Horseshoe Falls in 1819, but the boundary has long been in dispute due to natural erosion and construction. Located on the Niagara River, which drains Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, the combined falls form the highest flow rate of any waterfall in the world, with a vertical drop of more than 165 feet (50 m). Horseshoe Falls is the most powerful waterfall in North America, as measured by vertical height and also by flow rate.The falls are located 17 miles (27 km) north-northwest of Buffalo, New York and 75 miles (121 km) south-southeast of Toronto, between the twin cities of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Niagara Falls, New York. Niagara Falls were formed when glaciers receded at the end of the Wisconsin glaciation (the last ice age), and water from the newly formed Great Lakes carved a path through the Niagara Escarpment en route to the Atlantic Ocean. While not exceptionally high, the Niagara Falls are very wide. More than 6 million cubic feet (168,000 m3) of water falls over the crest line every minute in high flow, and almost 4 million cubic feet (110,000 m) on average. The Niagara Falls are renowned both for their beauty and as a valuable source of hydroelectric power. Managing the balance between recreational, commercial, and industrial uses has been a challenge for the stewards of the falls since the 19th century. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Falls

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls is the collective name for three waterfalls that straddl ...

Updated: Jan 12, 2013 6:29pm PST

Nature and Landscape Photography