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| Beaver Pond at Madame Sherri's - Currently a Meadow |
It
has been my honor to serve for more than 30 years as a member
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| Sargent Trail - Friedsam Town Forest |
of the Conservation
Commission in my small rural town of Chesterfield New Hampshire. Over the years
the commission has worked with our neighbors to provide for the protection and
appreciation of the magnificent beauty and heritage of our special corner of
New Hampshire. I have always believed that an enhanced public awareness
of the natural treasures of Chesterfield will inevitably lead to greater
commitment to their careful stewardship.
With that goal, I developed, and continue to maintain, the commission’s
web site. I have tried to use my photography to capture the beauty of our
forests and villages.
The Monadnock Conservancy
In
our corner of New Hampshire, we are fortunate to have the Monadnock Conservancy,
which is a strong advocate for 
conservation. As a land trust, the
Conservancy “works with communities and landowners to conserve the natural
resources, wild and working lands, rural character and scenic beauty of the
Monadnock region”. Conservation Commissions and other conservation
organizations have an important story to till about the social, economic and
spiritual value of protecting our natural environment, and this story can often
be told most powerfully with pictures. Although
the staff of these organizations are highly skilled in the details of land
protection and stewardship, they are not always proficient at capturing strong
images which can tell a compelling story about the crucial importance of their
work.
Conservation Photography Workshop
Earlier
this week, in response to a request from one of the Monadnock Conservancy board
members, I hosted a group of staff and board to discuss the special role of
conservation photography. We also covered a broad range of their general
questions about photographic techniques and best practices for the recording,
storing, archiving, transmitting and printing of digital images.
There was much to cover and, in almost three hours, there was a lot that
had to be left for another day.
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| Monadnock Conservancy Photo |
Members
of the Conservancy are often found deep in the woods with shovels and saws on
their shoulders, and it shouldn’t be surprising that they generally choose not
to add a full featured DSLR to their load. They came to our meeting
holding a variety of compact and point-and-shoot cameras with a range of
capabilities. Almost none had the ability to shoot in RAW – “Oh the Humanity!”
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| Pisgah State Park Trail |
Of
course, I never tire of talking about photography, especially when I am among
people who truly care about the quality of their images, and have such a
crucial need for effective visual story telling. We had a lovely time
sitting around my dining room table. They were full of excellent questions. How
many pixels are necessary, how can an image be transmitted, why doesn’t my
print look like the picture on my monitor, I couldn’t resist delivering a short
lecture on the value of RAW images, but I don’t think I convinced anyone to run
out and buy a full featured DSLR. Increasingly,
compact cameras are capable of shooting in RAW. Maybe some will consider a high
end compact like my Canon G11 that has that capability.
Gentle Critique
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| "Gentle Critique": Step Back to Reduce Distortion |
Finally,
I spent some time gently critiquing some of the images that I found on the
Conservancy web site. There were also sections of the site that were
dominated by pages of pure text. The Conservancy manages hundreds of
acres of some of the most beautiful and pristine fields and forests in New
England. They have an endless supply of magnificence to capture, and the
story of the conservancy’s work can best be told with lots of beautiful
pictures.
Before
the meeting, I considered what can be accomplished by quality conservation
photography, and came up with three major categories.
Celebrate
the Land
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| Porcupine Falls |
Celebrating
the properties that the Conservancy has under protection and stewardship would
seem to be the easiest task. Simply show lots of beautiful pictures, but
the images should be more than pretty picture-postcards. They should draw
people in and make them feel what it is like to wander the trails, stand before
the majestic vistas or feel the mist rising from a powerful waterfall.
The
Calhoun Family Forest, and its Porcupine Falls is managed by the Monadnock
Conservancy and, in a recent blog about the forest, I tried to follow this
“feet on the ground” approach to the story.
Of course the waterfall and
cascades appeared prominently in the article, but I also included pictures of
the trail sign, and the carefully maintained trail leading to the falls. This
included a set of stone steps that must have required hours of arduous labor to
construct.
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| Tom on the Edge |
It
is great when we have the luxury of using several images to relate a story, but
it is much more difficult when the tale must be condensed into a single image.
Tom Dustin standing precariously on the prominence at Mine Ledge,
overlooking the Connecticut River, tells a simple, and obvious two-part story,
the vista is spectacular and he is about to die!
It
all comes down to a simple, but essential, task, show the beauty of the land so
that people will treasure these resources and understand the importance of
their protection. Nothing will happen without the support of the
community.
Celebrate
the people
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| Audrey's Bench, Friedsam Town Forest |
Of course,
nothing can happen to protect the land without the efforts of lots of people,
and this is another essential part of the message of any conservation
organization. Showing volunteers at work is an important way to
acknowledge their essential contributions. Individual close-up portraits can be
powerful, but
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| Madame Sherri Kiosk - Anne Stokes |
here again the focus should be on the story. Individuals or
groups can be shifted to the side to allow the location and the activity to
shine through. Of course moving the people to the side can also
strengthen the composition as they are removed from the DEAD center and closer
to “Rule of Thirds” guidelines. Sorry, I
can’t write an article without mentioning the Rule of Thirds at least once.
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Trail Opening : Moon Ledge, Black Mountain
I'm NEVER in the Picture! |
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| Hide the Scruff |
Like
most such organizations, the Monadnock Conservancy has group pictures of their
staff and Board of Directors. This is an excellent way to personalize the
organization, but I couldn’t fail to notice that in the staff picture the hot
girls were up front while hiding the scruffy men in the back. A very
smart technique.
Show the Challenges
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| Planned Cut - Friedsam Town Forest |
Along
with an appreciation of the natural beauty should come an understanding of the
effort that goes into protecting and managing these environmental treasures.
The challenges can be both natural and man-made. Insensitive
logging techniques, fire, erosion and the encroachment of invasive species can
all represent important threats. Again pictures can be crucial in
demonstrating these issues and showing concrete examples of the constant work required
to combat these problems.
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| Clearing the "Party" Trash - California Brook |
Chain Saw Opportunities
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| Clearing the Bridge after a Storm |
The
Chesterfield Conservation Commission manages mile of trails that provide access
to our forests. In recent years we have found help from dedicated volunteers
who have agree to become trail stewards.
Each steward monitors a particular trail, managing the small problems,
and letting the commission know when more serious issues arise.
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| Ravine Bridge Saved! |
The “more
serious issue” usually means that a large tree has fallen across the trail,
requiring the help of our “chain saw” friends.
It is often a great
chanced to document the effort that is required to maintain our lovely system
of trails, and everyone feels safer when I have camera and NOT a chain
saw in my hands. When a tree fell across our beautiful ravine bridge in
the Friedsam Town Forest my fellow commission members saw only, “more work”. All I saw was a
chance for More Pictures!
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| Madame Sherri Castle |
It
was great fun sharing a little of what I know about photography as it applies
to the protection of our natural environment, and as always, I ended up
learning as much as I taught. The group brought up issues that I had
never considered. For example the staff was concerned about using
photography to help perform more formal documentation of the extent and value
of the properties that are being considered for protection.
I
was very impressed by the dedication of these individuals and there desire to
learning anything that might further their mission. While reviewing the
Monadnock Conservancy web site, I was especially inspired by their lyric
description of the special character of our corner of New England. I
can’t imagine anyone saying it better. You can find it on their web site,
but I can’t resist repeating it here. It
may become my mantra.
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“Vision
Rolling
hills and mountain ridges, broad expanses of woods and open meadows surround a
village, a meetinghouse, a stone wall, a narrow dirt road. This beautiful
landscape — anchored by Mount Monadnock, bounded by the eastern hills and the
Connecticut River — has working farms and forests as well as wild lands. Moose
browse on spring buds and black bears forage for blueberries; the deeper lakes
are home to nesting loons and native brook trout thrive in coldwater streams.
There are places to hike, to hunt, to paddle and to simply enjoy the quiet
outdoors. The water is clean, the air clear and the night skies dark.
The
New England that has disappeared in so many other places is alive and well in
the Monadnock region. The people who live, work and play here value and care
for the land, embracing the connections between the landscape and the economic
and social vitality of the region. There is a strong sense of community, and
people work together to ensure that the region’s unique rural character will
remain through the changes of today and tomorrow.”
Well
said!
Jeff Newcomer
partridgebrookreflections.com
603-363-8338
With
the fall foliage season fading away, the time is overdue to get people thinking
of there 2019 calendar(s). Actually, October
is late to be pushing out my New England Reflections Calendar, but there are
two important factors that make this year’s calendar especially desirable.
First
and as is always true, my 2019 calendar is the best I have ever offered! It is difficult to choose the pictures for
the calendar, but I am excited about the image selection and, once again, how
beautifully they have been printed by Silver Direct. 
As
always, my images focus on the Monadnock Region and southern Vermont. Pictures include lots of flowing water (four
pictures), ice coated Harrisville during the crippling 2008 December storm,
spring flowers, and intense autumn colors along a road in Chesterfield. I always include at least one animal picture,
and for the 2019 calendar, it is of new-born lambs at Harrisville’s Mayfair
Farm. This year’s seacoast picture
captures sunrise at the icon Portland Head Lighthouse. In November 2017 we saw
a spectacular “Super” moon and I managed to capture the moonrise over Mount
Monadnock. 
For
the first time, this year, all the proceeds from my calendar benefit the great
work of the Monadnock Conservancy. The Conservancy is a nonprofit land trust
for southwestern New Hampshire. Since
its founding in 1989 the Conservancy has protected nearly 20,000 acres,
including farmland and open spaces. This
is a wonderful group of hard-working conservationists who have been strongly
supportive of the New England Reflections Calendar. 
It is refreshing to partner with folks who
have enthusiastically taken on the work of distributing and promoting the
calendar. Even if you don’t like the
calendar, please consider supporting this excellent organization to any extent
you can but remember the New England Reflections Calendar make a great gift for
family and friends, anytime, but especially during the holiday season. What better gift than to promote the
protection of the natural beauty of our amazing corner of New England.
The
calendars are widely available. We are
still working on expanding their distribution, but here is a partial list of
the quality local establishments who have agree to carry the calendar. You can also get one or more from me, or from
the Monadnock Conservancy.
