The weather was right, it was time to revisit Stepstone Falls. Jim picked me up around 1 PM last Monday and we drove to the charming little area in Rhode Island.
Stepstone Falls Lives Up To Its Name
As I mentioned in my earlier posts, the area is the remains of an old quarry that provide the steps for the water to fall, and makes people weary of falls! Every time we visited these steps, they seem to get higher, taller, and longer and the walk down the steps and up gets harder and harder. Jim was on the other side of the water but I remained on the “easy” side to go down and very slowly climb back up. You can see his photographs (including one of me on the other side) on his site.
The Canon R7 Disappointment
Another problem I had to deal with was the new cameras Jan and I got last September, Canon R7 with 18-150 mm RF-S lenses. I have been using Canon cameras since 1971 and I do not recall using one so disappointing. It went back to Canon for service and came back with the “within Canon specs” conclusion. I am wondering if Canon is lowering its standards.
Focusing is a hit-or-miss affair with areas unexplainably out of focus in between reasonably clear patches. I have selected the few lucky ones that were reasonably sharp all around to share with you.
The Falls
The walk down starts right at the tiny parking area. I wanted to present views walking down and coming up. So, I set up my tripod and took a series of photographs for an entry panorama. After that, I very carefully trekked down sometimes using the tripod legs as a makeshift cane to keep my balance.
The water level was quite high, and I could not go down as low as I had been before. Maybe that’s a good thing!
Click on the images to see them larger, uncropped, and read their titles.







The Color on Water Abstracts
I could not resist taking more photographs of the water reflecting the blue sky and surroundings. The tiny waveforms created different but still quite interesting abstracts, at least interesting for me. After I took a large number of photographs of the falls and the water surface, I slowly climbed up the large steps to the parking area. After taking a few frames from the bridge, I waited a little for Jim to emerge. He started on the other side but there must be a bridge further down as he came up on my side. Even he was a little tired!!












Haluk Atamal
Thanks for sharing the lovely photos from the falls. I did not quite understand what the problem was with your cameras. Brands like Canon or Nikon usually never fail. I hope it will be corrected soon, if anytime.
Take care and best regards,
Haluk
A. Cemal Ekin
The location was quite charming, but the gear, frustrating. At some settings of f-stops or focal lengths, what you focus on may not be in focus at all while other things around it, behind and front, may well be. And, there is no rhyme or reason. And, using an f-stop above 16, even 11 degrades image quality to unusable levels. They keep pointing at the lens. Maybe I will go to the store and try other lenses. I am very disappointed in Canon.
Anyway, some select images may please the viewers, I am glad to hear that. Take care,
Cemal
RAMAZAN KAMARI
Merhaba Cemal hocam,
Fotoğraflar mekandaki deneyiminizi ve duygulanımlarınızı çok güzel aktarıyor düşüncesindeyim. Fotoğraf makineniz ile yaşadığınız soruna gelince, yeni aynasız makinelerde ve lenslerde problematik fenomenler ortaya çıkabiliyor ve bunların bazıları çıkartılan firmware güncellemeleri ile giderilebilmekte. Canon makinenizle veya lensinizle ilgili yeni bir firmware güncellemesi yayınlamış olabilir. Umarım bu tatsız durum bir şekilde aşılır.
Saygı ve selamlarımla.
A. Cemal Ekin
Merhaba Ramazan, belki haklisin. Kamera icin firmware yenileme vardi, yaptik. Hic boyle bir sorun yasamamistim. Neyse. Fotograflari begendigine sevindim, sagol.
Iyi gunler, selam ve sevgiler,
James Turner
Your vision for reflection is second only to you wife’s images. I must be diplomatic. What an enjoyable and yes tiresome day. Step Stone is one of my favorite places in R.I. to photograph and when the water is flowing, like last week, it is awesome. Looking forward to returning with you later this year and hopefully Dennis will be feeling well enough to join us.
A. Cemal Ekin
Thank you, Jim, I will pass your comment on to Jan. She will appreciate it. Yes, it is a very enjoyable place but those steps!! Let’s see what the next few months will bring.
Cemal