If you love fall colors, greenery during the summer, wild flowers growing everywhere, lakes and mountains, consider visiting the Southern Adirondack & Mohawk Valley region of Upstate New York. A jumping off point is Dolgeville NY, where you can stay at a fantastic B&B called Wards Pond. In fact, it’s not a bad spot to start TAKING pictures as they have a great pond, and then the river right across the street.
Then, follow the river a few hundred yards North to the Dolgeville Mill. Previously owned by the Daniel Green Shoe Company, this old factory complex is a local landmark in Dolgeville and a fantastic place to shoot, both outside and in. The corner stone of this unique structure was set in place on July of 1882. The mill is currently being used as an antique, second hand, and crafts shop and has the first Hydro Powered Dynamo (built by Thomas Edison) operating in the nation. It has been restored to full operation and provides all of the electricity for the mill.
From Dolgeville, you can head a short distance up into Salisbury Center, shoot the old covered bridge there, and then turn right up 29A and into the Park. The Adirondack Park was created in 1892 by the State of New York amid concerns for the water and timber resources of the region. Today the Park is the largest publicly protected area in the contiguous United States, greater in size than Yellowstone, Everglades, Glacier, and Grand Canyon National Park combined. The boundary of the Park encompasses approximately 6 million acres, nearly half of which belongs to all the people of New York State and is constitutionally protected to remain “forever wild” forest preserve. The remaining half of the Park is private land which includes settlements, farms, timber lands, businesses, homes, and camps.
This is a great region for photographers and artists, so we’ve created a special website called Adirondack Workshops to offer classes, tours and courses. If you’re interested in being either a leader or participant in any of them, please contact the editor for more information, or visit the website.
