Showing posts with label Niagara Falls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Niagara Falls. Show all posts

Friday, July 30, 2021

Niagara Falls Maid of the Mist Boat Ride Reviewed

Maid of the Mist photo by Sylvestermouse
Have you ever wanted to step under a waterfall and feel the fresh running water splash over you?  If so, you will love the "Maid of the Mist" boat ride!  

This fantastic boat takes your right up next to the falls, and under the "mist" of Niagara Falls.  It is totally awesome! 

Don't just stand and look at the falls.  Hop on the Maid of the Mist boat and ride right up to them to feel, smell and even taste (if desired) Niagara Falls.  It is an experience you will never forget and something I recommend to everyone who can stand on a rocking tour boat.

Riding out to the falls is an experience in itself.  Reaching the falls, where the boat stops and lingers under the Niagara Falls spray for a few minutes, is magnificent. 

I loved every moment of it and would gladly do it again in a "New York minute".

Niagara Falls photo by Sylvestermouse
View of Niagara Falls from the Maid of the Mist boat just before we entered the mist

 

Maid of the Mist Boat Ride - Niagara Falls

The Maid of the Mist boat ride takes approximately 20 minutes.  On the July summer day we visited Niagara Falls, it was fairly crowded in the Niagara Falls State Park, but the line for the Maid of the Mist was reasonable.  We only had to wait for the length of one boat ride before we were boarding the boat. Therefore, our wait time was approximately 20 minutes and part of that time was spent receiving and donning the head to toe rain poncho provided with the price of the ticket. The poncho makes the perfect souvenir too!

I took my small travel camera so I could take pictures from the boat.  However, I did tuck it inside my cape right before we entered the mist.  Unfortunately, there is no way to photograph from within the mist without a waterproof camera.  Next time, I will take an underwater camera!

Niagara Falls photo by Sylvestermouse
If you look closely, you can see the boat in the (back) falls mist
You can also see the walking trail on lower left side

The cost of the boat ride ticket includes admission to the observation deck.  The elevator down to the boat docking area is the center section, that looks like a support beam, under the center of the observation deck.

Niagara Falls Observation Deck photo by Sylvestermouse

Parking at Niagara Falls State Park

Niagara Falls Rapids photo by Sylvestermouse
Bridge to Goat Island over the rapids that feed Niagara Falls

There are several parking lots for cars.  As you enter the park, there were at least two areas for parking for a picnic or just for viewing the rapids.

In our case, we went to Niagara Falls State Park while moving our daughter to New York.  Therefore, we were in a fully loaded U-Haul truck.  At first, we were concerned for where we would be allowed to park, and for good reason.  Most of the lots accommodate standard car, SUV or van size vehicles.  Fortunately for us, and our camper vehicle friends, there is a parking lot on Goat Island just for the longer, wider vehicles.  Plus, there is a reasonably priced trolley to the heart of the park from the #3 parking area for those who would prefer to ride instead of walk.

Simply pay attention to signs as you enter the park.  It is easy to miss parking directions because it is exciting to see all that is there, plus the need to watch out for pedestrians.


More to See at Niagara Falls State Park

Believe it or not, there is more to see at Niagara Falls State Park than the falls.  While Niagara Falls is clearly the main attraction, there is an aquarium, hiking trails and the "Cave of the Winds" (a man made walk along the bottom of the falls), as well as food vendors and souvenirs. There is also a Top of the Falls Restaurant that overlooks Niagara Falls.

You can view Niagara Falls at Night too thanks to the colored lights which Mary Beth photographed and previously published on Review This Reviews.




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Thursday, October 27, 2016

Photographing Niagara Falls at Night

Niagara Falls at Night photo by mbgphoto

Review of Tips for Photographing Water after Dark

In past articles I have discussed photographing at night and photographing water falls.  In this post I will be combining the two.  In September we stayed overnight at Niagara Falls in New York and I was able to photograph the beautiful falls at night.  The photograph above shows the American Falls in the foreground, the Bridal falls in the mid section and a glimpse of Horseshoe Falls in the background.  The building you see in the back are the Canadian side of the falls. In order to capture the smooth look to the water I used a tripod and a remote shutter release.    Here are my tips for shooting smooth waterfalls at night.  It helps when they are lit up in beautiful colors like Niagara Falls.
  • Always use a tripod for best results
  • Use a remote shutter release for extra stability
  • Use a slow shutter speed...the photo above was shot at .4 sec  This gives you the smooth look of the water.  If you want a less smooth look than increase your shutter speed.
In the photo above and the one below I was using a wide angle 24mm setting and an ISO of 3200 along with an aperture of f11.

Niagara Falls at Night photo by mbgphoto


Rapids Leading to the Falls



Rapids Leading to Niagara Falls at Night photo by mbgphoto

Another great photo at Niagara Falls is shooting the rapids leading up to the falls.  In the photo above I was able to capture the rapids and a beautiful full moon in the sky.  For this photo I held my camera open for 2 seconds and got the bursts of light from the moon and the lights on the bridge along with the smooth look to the rapids.

For another view of Niagara Falls see the mug below.  On this photo I shot during the daytime without a tripod an used a faster shutter speed.



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