Autumn Album , September

Last Light, Ashuelot River Falls

 


November is here and although there is still some rusty gold color in the Oaks and Beeches, I'm settling into my usual late fall torpor. Through October I have been splashing selective examples of this year's color, but as always I have a pile of images to work through before I become distracted by the first snows. A quick review of my September and October archives shows that I have collected nearly 5000 images. Even at my usual ratio of 3-5 images per scene that leaves a lot of editing to do. 

 Matured Pasture

Many of the foliage images that I have published so far were those attached to specific blog articles and my traditional autumn postings have been reduced by two productive trips to the southern New England coast in the middle of the peak color. I'll eventually get back to the surf and lighthouses, but it is time that I got down to the serious and time consuming business of editing my "pile of leaves". There is a lot of work to be done, but, as a start, I will focus this week's blog on a collection of some of my favorite autumn images, beginning with the earliest signs of the season from September.









September's Promise  


As usual middle to late September provided signs of the coming autumn color. The images usually all about transitions with patches of color seen in range of light from brilliant sunshine a cool mists. September is also a time of living change with the arrival of the years produce and the livestock greedily gobbling up the last of the pasture greens.

 

 



Apple Picking

Abigail & Grayson, NOT Picking

We made our usual trips to the Green Mountain Orchards in Dummerston Vermont. The apple harvest was abundant this year, but our first two attempts were blocked by the arrival of impressive rain and thunderstorms. Our persistence was finally rewarded on our third trip with a beautiful warm sunny day, and the delay allowed us to convince our daughter Abigail and her boyfriend Grayson to join us in the picking. As usual we loaded up with more apples than we could possibly consume, but the nice folks at the orchard agree to sell my calendar in their farm store. Much of the harvest will be destined for the apple sauce that will get us through the winter.  

Perfect Macouns

Walker Farm Produce

Green Mountain Orchard Dummerston Vermont




My  Ugly but Delicious Macouns

We also had a good crop from my small collection of apple trees.  Since I don't spray, the apples weren't pretty, but underneath the skin they were excellent.  We had an especially abundant yield from my Macoun.  These apples seem to hold their taste and texture longer than many of my other varieties.








On the Farm 

The Roads End Farm is part of my photographic routine in every season. Early in September I circled by to capture some of their 60+ horses in the morning mist. This is quite possibly my favorite weather and two images from this shoot were recognized as Photo of the Day on the popular Photofocus Web Site.















 

Peek-A-Boo, Roads End Farm

In the Classroom

Field trip to Ashuelot River Park

A significant part of this September was devoted to preparing for my first full Digital Photography Course at Keene Community Education. Over the years I have presented many lectures on photography, but assembling a coherent and comprehensive program to fill eight hours of classroom time was a real challenge. Thank goodness I was able supplement my droning presentations with two shoots and the subsequent delicate critiques. It was great fun with a wonderful group of dedicated students. I plan to do more teaching in the coming year, especially since the slides for my Basic Digital Photography Course are safely "in the can".  I'm thinking of doing my next class of a Introduction to Lightroom for Photographers, just because I know so little about the subject.

River Park Falls

Ashuelot River Color

2015 Art in the Park

Among the various pleasant distractions of September was another lost weekend for the Art in the Park Show at the Ashuelot River Park in Keene New Hampshire.  This is the only time each year that I pull out my tent.  It is a lot of work but worth while to see all the local artists and art lovers.


 




Wandering About September
 



The course consumed an inordinate amount of time in September, but I did get out for occasional glimpses of the growing color. By the end of the month the autumn show was looking promising. The October color blitz was well on its way, and I'll be working on getting those images ready for their "close-up" in a couple of weeks.

Hubner Farmhouse

When it comes to displaying the imagery, autumn's abundance of visual  treasures can be frustrating.  More of this year's autumn images can be found in a Gallery on my Web site.



Jeffrey Newcomer
Partridgebrookreflections.com