2018 Spring Waterfall Workshop

Big Drop, Garwin Falls, Wilton NH

                                                   

Garwin Falls Green

I had an exciting time last weekend presenting my Second Annual Spring Waterfall Workshop.  I enjoy nothing so much as getting together with a group of people who are enthusiastic to learn about digital photography while sharing some spectacular waterfall locations.  I promised my workshop participants that I would get them a list of all the places that we shot, and what better way to do that than to revisit them in a blog.

Harrisville Mill Pond

Meet and Greet

Linda Learning the Gear - Tucker brook Falls

As always, we started the workshop with a Friday evening gathering around my famous dining room table to get to know each other and discuss the plans for the next two days of shooting.  I presented a talk about photography in general, as well as the special challenges and opportunities that waterfalls provide.  Topics included the importance of a polarizing filter, the effect of shutter speed and, of course, safety precautions to protect both body and, more importantly, the precious equipment.  

Pond Brook Falls in Time

 Finally, we discussed the itinerary for the next two days and why it was important to get an early start.

Day One : Wilton New Hampshire

Our first day was spent mostly in and around Wilton New Hampshire.  The environs of Keene New Hampshire have some lovely waterfalls, but I have always felt that Wilton has the best concentration of dramatic falling water packed into a small area.  It was well worth the 45-minute drive from our meeting place in downtown Keene.  

Tucker Brook Falls

Tucker Brook Falls

We started at Tucker Brook Falls.  Tucker Brook is a peacefully ambling stream that almost unexpectedly drops into a dramatic falls.  It was a great place for my folks to experiment with their equipment and techniques.  I jumped from person to person trying to help with their individual issues, but as always it can be frustrating not being able to help everyone at once.  I spent most of my time looking over shoulders, but for each fall, I tried to take one or two shots of my own to demonstrate techniques and to give me something to show in the blog.  I have been to all of these falls many times, so for my images, I tried to find new angles.

Tucker Brook Drop

Lower Purgatory Falls

Purgatory Rocks

Lower Purgatory Falls is found at the end of a short hike along a flat trail.  We were rewarded by a vigorous flow down into the fall’s pool.  The falls provided interesting angles, combining the rocks, the pool and the brook.  I was excited to see how quickly my group applied what they had learned and scattered off to find their own opportunities. Everyone agreed that they could spend all day shooting this beautiful spot, but I promised that there was more, and better to come.

Garwin Falls

To me, Garwin Falls is the most spectacular collection of cascades and falls in the Wilton area.  Last year, I made the mistake of beginning our tour at Garwin, making everything that followed slightly anticlimactic.  This time, I found that by visiting a couple of other waterfalls first everyone had a chance to become comfortable with their equipment and technique and were better prepared to appreciate and capture the drama of Garwin’s falling waters.

Lunch and Frye’s Measure Mill Falls

Much Gear!

During previous workshops I had learned the importance of not starving the class, so we took a much-needed break for lunch at Shaka’s Bar And Grill.  The nice folks were happy to accommodate our damp and swarthy gaggle of camera geeks.  Our table was packed with gear leaving little room for food and drawing bemused glances from the boys at the bar.  

Frye's Measure Mill Falls

After lunch, we headed to Frye’s Measure Mill in Wilton to enjoy the classic mill falls as well as the well stock shaker box shop.  These beautifully crafted boxes continue to be made by just a few master box makers on site in mill.  

We had been threatened by rain all day and I had my group prepared for possible downpours, but we had only felt occasional drops.  It was at the mill that we experienced our first and only significant, but still gentle, showers.

Harrisville Mill 

Factory Brick - Harrisville NH

We finished our first day with a visit to Harrisville New Hampshire, a carefully preserved example of a small New England manufacturing village. The town does not have and major falls, but water tumbles through it, cascading from the mill pond, under and past brick factory buildings, toward Skatutakee Lake. 

It was a long first day of shooting, but remarkably my group was excited to return to my home for pizza and a chance to review everyone’s shots. I think everyone was exhausted, but happy, and remarkably, they stayed on till about ten PM reviewing pictures, chatting about photography and planning the next day’s adventure.

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 Sunday Morning

 Our second day focused on waterfalls closer to home.  Our first day was a bit damp, but offered overcast skys, perfect for dramatic waterfall photography.  Sunday started foggy but quickly turned warm and sunny – beautiful, but a much greater challenge for waterfall shooting.  

Chesterfield Gorge

John and Rich - Chesterfield Gorge

We started at Chesterfield Gorge in Chesterfield, New Hampshire.  The deep gorge blocked the early morning sun making it easier to capture the flowing cascades and falls. I tried to give everyone a shot at the big waterfall in the gorge before the dappled sunlight crept in to complicate the process.

Chesterfield Gorge Slide

 

Pond Brook Falls Shooting

Pond Brook Falls

Pond Brook Falls flows into the Catsbane Brook in West Chesterfield and forms one of my favorites little waterfalls. The falls faces west and therefore is partially shielded from the morning sun. 

Catsbane Brook

Tutelage by the Catsbane 

The Catsbane Brook runs through West Chesterfield over several cascades and old mill falls.  Many are difficult to reach, but one convenient view comes from a bridge which crosses the brook close to where it flattens out to join the Connecticut River. The view at this spot is topped by a picturesque barn which overhangs the embankment.

Forty Foot Falls

Rich and Joyce at 40 Foot Falls

Our final stop was Forty Foot Falls in Surry New Hampshire.  This combination of cascades and powerful falls, is easy to reach, located only a few yards off the road, but it is less well known. By the time we reached the falls it was closing in on a sunny midday, and the light was more difficult.  I did get a chance to grab a picture of workshop members Joyce and Rich.  They represent a very rare pair.  A married couple, both of whom love photography, and even own the same camera, two Canons of course.  They recognized that it would be tragic for their relationship if they had a Canon and a Nikon.

It is always amazing how quickly these workshop weekends pass.  On Saturday we spent about 12 hours shooting, and another three hours discussing our shots and eating pizza.  Sunday was another four hours of waterfall photography before everyone dragged themselves home.  We managed to visit nine major waterfalls of all types and in a variety of conditions.

Garwin Falls - My Favorite Cascade

Everyone seemed to have a great time and I was amazed by their enthusiasm and remarkable energy.  Many of the group expressed a desire to come back for future classes and workshops and I would love to see them again.

 Next week I will be announcing my up-coming programs including my next Introduction to Digital Photography Class, my Fall Foliage Workshop and Introduction to Lightroom Course.  Stay tuned!

Jeffrey Newcomer

www.partridgebrookreflections.com

603-363-8338

Catsbane Brook

I often talk about grand locations, tall mountains, restless ocean shores, or classically appointed New England villages.  Certainly, New England offers an abundance of such attractions, but I live in a quieter slice of the region and I revel in the simple beauty of our “Currier and Ives” corner of New Hampshire and Vermont.     

Meandering Catsbane

The Monadnock region in southwestern New Hampshire and also the southeastern part of Vermont are my prime photographic territories.  It is a country of rolling hills, with sweet little villages nestled in its hollows, and featuring classic farms, looking and working much as they did 150 years ago.  We glory in Mount Monadnock, our one big mountain, but as the archetypal “Mountain that Stands Alone”, Mt Monadnock does not dominate the countryside.  Rather, it contrasts and compliments the surrounding hills and fields.  

Catsbane Falls and Cascades

Gently flowing brooks punctuated by cascades and waterfalls are another feature of our region.  Spring is a great time to enjoy the flowing water and, since my second annual Spring Waterfall Workshop is coming up in a couple of weeks, I thought this would be an appropriate time to celebrate one lovely little brook in my home town of Chesterfield New Hampshire, the Catsbane Brook

Catsbane Brook winds its way through Chesterfield, meandering north and finally emptying into the Connecticut River in West Chesterfield.  It stretches though most of the town and is the longest brook within Chesterfield’s borders, but what is a Catsbane?

Catsbane Brook, What’s in a Name

 I have searched for a good definition of “Catsbane” and have found that it is a colloquial name for a variety of Orchid that may be especially toxic to felines, but why was this brook named after a poisonous flower?  A good question and, for an answer, I went to Audrey and Neil at the Chesterfield Historical Society.  These wonderful ladies possess a wealth of knowledge about our town, and very quickly, they were able to direct me to Oran Randall’s History of Chesterfield, published in 1882.  On page eleven I found a story from the town’s early history, in which two scouts rested along the brook for lunch.  When one lingered a bit too long to drink the water, his companion wished that the water was poisonous Catsbane, or perhaps “Rats-Bane” (Arsenic). Possibly just a dusty old folk-lore, but whether or not this story is true, it makes a nice tale.  You can read the story and decide for yourself.

Finding the Source

Beaver Pond , Catsbane Origin

My first goal was to find the point of origin of Brook.  Over its course, several streams contribute to the Catsbane’s flow, but its most notable origin is from a large beaver pond in the south of town. 

Beaver Dam

Beaver Dam Spring

The pond features an impressive system of well-maintained dams and the brook begins its travels as a modest stream, trickling under the logs. This week I explored the course of the brook and supplemented the many photographs that I have taken of the Catsbane over the years.

Hubbard Falls and Town Brook 

Hubbard Falls

Of the many contributors to the Catsbane’s flow, Hubbard Brook is likely the most significant.  My experience with the Hubbard Brook has primarily been of its dramatic waterfalls found before it crosses the Gulf Road and mingles in a substantial wetland.  With the addition of the waters of Town Brook, the brook eventually becomes the Catsbane before it crosses under Route Nine and flows into West Chesterfield.

Town Brook

Town Brook to the Catsbane

Through West Chesterfield

Pond Brook Falls

West Chesterfield is one of the villages making up the town of Chesterfield and it is here that the Catsbane Brook shows its most dramatic faces.  The Catsbane’s journey through West Chesterfield is marked by frequent waterfalls and cascades.  Early on, the brook is joined by Pond Brook with a lovely little waterfall.  

A number of other waterfalls can be found as the Catsbane drops though West Chesterfield’s little village, but the most dramatic no longer exists.  What I called the Catsbane’s “Little Niagara”Falls was formed as the brook passed over an old mill dam, but sadly, in the last couple of years, the dam has been by-passed.  For now there remains only a powerful jet of water feeding cascades, but I won’t object if some trees washed downstream to block the sluice way.

The Catsbane "Little Niagara"

Sluice Under the Dam

The Catsbane finishes it course meandering through flats to a broad opening into the Connecticut River.

Catsbane into the Connecticut River

For years I have enjoyed photographing the Catsbane’s beautiful features, but it was instructive to follow the water from its modest origins to the dramatic flow at it terminus.  It made me appreciate that towns throughout New England are cut by intricate webs of water, which generally go unnoticed, but are critical to the health of the ecosystem.  Take some time to explore the patterns of water in your own community, and maybe even take a picture or two.

Jeffrey Newcomer

www.partridgebrookreflections.com

Spring Waterfall Photography Weekend

Man in the Falls, Garwin Falls

I have spent years exploring the many waterfalls in my corner of New England.  Some of these, like Chesterfield Gorge and Garwin Falls, are well known and accessible, but others are harder to find. This last weekend I had a great time sharing many of these falls with a group of enthusiastic photographers, during my first Spring Waterfall Weekend.

Shooting Garwin Falls

Early spring in New England, especially before the buds begin to explode, is a time of mud, sticks and overcast skies. It can be a depressing time for landscape photographers, but it is saved by being one of the best seasons for waterfalls. The melting snow and spring rains fill even the smaller brooks and the overcast light is perfect for capturing long exposures of falling water.  I scheduled my waterfall workshop for a time when I hoped there would still be a vigorous spring flow, but at the beginning of the week I began to fear that things were drying up.  I didn’t need to worry, since the late week rains had the exact effect that I desired.  

Friday Night, Meet & Greet, and Eat

Pond Brook Falls to the Catsbane

I had a full crew of participants, with 9 being the maximum that I can comfortably fit around my dining room table for discussion, critiques and, of course, snacks.  We first gathered Friday evening for a chance to meet everyone,  and I was able to discuss key elements of the photography of flowing water.  We reviewed the importance of a sturdy tripod, a cable release and, of course, a polarizing filter.  I had sent an email listing the important equipment and most of the class was ready to go.  There were a few cheap shaky tripods, but, if the workshop accomplished nothing else, I am confident that there will be some substantial tripod purchases coming soon.  

• Essentialsof Waterfall Photography

 

Cheap Protection

The weather was threatening with intermittent rain showers predicted. I spent time discussing the importance of proper rain gear and protection for their equipment, and measures to assure safety on steep slippery slopes.  The mantra, “There is no such thing as bad weather, just inadequate clothing”, seemed well ingrained.  Happily, I didn’t loose anyone.

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Saturday 

Hillsborough County

Saturday, I led the group on a drive to Wilton NH, to explore the rich collection of waterfalls in Hillsborough County.  With so much to see, the challenge was to allow enough time at each falls, while still having time to sample a variety of locations.  We were able to visit, Garwin Falls, Frye’s Measure Mill, Lower Purgatory Falls, and Senter Falls.  With time restrictions, we had to let Tucker Brook Falls wait for another day.  I guess it is always good to leave them wanting more.

The weather was great for waterfall photography, with overcast skies, occasional fog, and some of the strongest flows that I have seen in this area.  The light, intermittent rain required shielding of the equipment, but I heard no complaints from my intrepid team.  

Garwin Falls

Twin Falls, Part of Garwin Falls

It was perhaps a mistake to start off with the dramatic Garwin Falls.  I was concerned that, after Garwin’s  powerful and multi-level cascades, other falls might seem tame, but everyone quickly appreciated that each waterfall has its own unique character and opportunities for image making.  They learned that the best waterfalls are not always the strongest.  The recent rain also overflowed the reservoir above Garwin Falls providing misty views of the veiled waterfall and underlying cascades.  

I spent much of my time chasing after people as they scattered around the locations. Prime topics of discussion included, exposure (exposing to the right but avoiding blowing out the highlights in the water), the use of the polarizer (many seemed to have trouble

Below the Reservoir

adjusting the filter for maximum effect) and the critical effect of shutter speed (finding the speed that captures soft water without loosing a touch of texture).  A particular challenge was trying to keep water droplets off of the lens.  I tried to stress the importance of keeping the lens cap on until ready to shoot and, when exposed, keeping the camera pointed down.  Despite the best precautions, drops will form and must be checked before beginning to shoot.

Frye’s Measure Mill

Frye's Measure Mill

My next goal was Lower Purgatory Falls, but before we descended to Purgatory, I made a last minute addition of the Frye’s Measure Mill.  Just a few miles from Garwin, the mill provided a nice waterfall all framed with the interesting architectural feature of a classic old mill. One of my group found a perfect tableau, with a rustic shack,  old barrel and a watering can filled with greenery.  All this with the mill and falls in the background.  It must have been arranged with photographers in mind.

Mill Tableau

Purgatory Falls

Purgatory, Falls and Froath

As always, Lower Purgatory Falls was impressive, but I think we all agreed that the flow was actually a bit too strong, drowning some of the interesting rocks.  The Falls did provide an excellent backdrop for a soggy portrait of our group.  After Purgatory I decided to skip Tucker Brook Falls and instead lead the group to the isolated Senter Falls.  Tucker is a lovely falls, but I felt that the multiple falls and steep cascade of Senter could provide more variety.

Senter Falls

Just Part of Senter Falls

Senter Falls can be challenging to find.  It is distant from the other Hillsbough falls, the trail head is along a narrow road and is not well marked.  It seems I always run by the entrance before I finally get back to find it.  The falls are only a short stroll from the road, before a climb up the steep trail passes multiple interesting drops and cascades.  We could have easily spent the afternoon at this one rich location, but everyone was getting hungry and several had other desperate bodily needs.  We headed out for Peterborough and a late lunch.

• Waterfall Treasures of Hillsborough County

Harrisville and Monadnock

Harrisville Race

After lunch at Twelve Pines we worked our way home, stopping at Harrisville to shoot the brook cascading through the beautifully preserved red brick mill structures.  By this time the sun was going in and out, providing opportunity to work on capturing wide contrasts of light.  It was a great opportunity to demonstrate my variable Neutral Density filter.  By this time everyone was ready for a break from flowing water and this was happily provided by the Bernese Mountain Dog, that was carefully watching all our activity.  The Route home took us to a ridge in Marlborough NH which features one of my favorite grand views of Mount Monadnock.  No major waterfalls in view, but we had to stop for the vista. 

Watchful Bernese

View to Monadnock

 Miniwawa Brook and Gardens
We finished up with a stop in Keene for roaring Miniwawa Brook, and lingered by some beautiful nearby gardens.

Miniwawa Surge

Critique and Pizza

Frye's Measure Mill
Lindsay Freese

By the time everyone got back to my house, we were tired but generally dry.  We were excited to review our images while supping on Pizza.  There were many great shots, and some opportunities for learning.  On some I was able to demonstrate how a few simple edits in Lightroom could bring out their full potential.

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Sunday

Catsbane Brook

Shooting Across the Catsbane

Sunday was a half day, but still filled with great opportunities. We started by touring some of the lesser known falls and cascades along the Catsbane Brook as it flows through the little village of West Chesterfield. Since we were in the area, I had to show my group the eagles nest on its snag across the Connecticut River. One eagle was guarding the nest.  The other would eventually return, but we had a schedule to keep and the group wanted to see Porcupine Falls in Gilsum.

Porcupine Falls 

Porcupine Falls and Cascades

Porcupine Falls is a lovely spot that I had just recently discovered, and is the subject of a recent blog.  The falls shoot out of the rocks on a small cliff.  It is not especially dramatic, but it does feed an interesting series of cascades which flow into a lovely pool.  Swimming Hole?  Above the pool is a sturdy bridge, or at least it is sturdy enough to hold all my workshop. The tenth guy on the bridge is talented photographer, Steve Hooper, who joined us on Sunday. Porcupine Falls is part of the John and Rosemarie Calhoun Family Forest and is now managed by the Monadnock Conservancy.

• Porcupine Falls

Forty Foot Falls

Swirls at Forty Foot

A few of the group had to head home after Porcupine Falls, but the remainder made one last stop at Forty Foot Falls.  This is one of my favorite local falls.  It is next to Joslin Road in Surry NH, but I am often told that it is difficult to find.  By this time my group knew exactly what to do and immediately scattered to find their muses. I have photographed these grand cascades many times so on this occasion, I was abandoned to concentrate on detail, include capturing the swirling leaves in one of the many eddies. 

• Forty Foot Falls

 

Can’t Wait Until Next Year

Workshop at Porcupine Falls

It was an exciting weekend and the group reported that they enjoyed discovering the many local waterfalls and learning more about there cameras.  It was especially rewarding to spend time with a group of people who are so excited to learn about the amazing potential of digital photography.   I can’t wait to see their favorite images.  I will be showing the best in a Spring Waterfall Workshop Gallery on my website.  

Now I can focus on a photography workshop that I will be running for members of the Monadnock Conservancy and then getting myself ready for my Introduction to Lightroom  Course starting on the 1st of June.  I love sharing all this fantastic stuff!

• Waterfallsof Cheshire County
  
• Waterfall Treasures of Hillsborough County
• Photographing the Magic of Velvet Water 

Jeffrey Newcomer
partridgebrookreflections.com