2017 Autumn Gallery

Riverside Trail, Keene NH

Golden Wall, Newfane Vt

Given all the recent wind and rain, we have definitely drifted into stick season.  It is time to work my way through all the brilliant fall foliage pictures.  This year the task is sadly reduced, first because the foliage was spotty and dull, and secondly because I missed the first half of the season exploring the beauty of Italy. Again, it would be inappropriate for me to complain.  Our tour was fabulous, and I returned with plenty of “foreign” images to work through, but I did feel the need to get out as much as possible to catch the remaining autumn color of New England’s unique season.  Especially up north on Lake Como, near the Swiss border, we saw a smattering of color, but kept people asking whether the foliage in New England really was as spectacular as it appeared.  What could I Say: “Il fogliame è magico”.

Barn at Sunset, Walpole, NH

Deep Red, Spofford NH

Early November Color, Chesterfield NH

Sweet Harvest, Townsend, Vt

I got a quick start.  Just a day after my arduous thirty-hour trip home, I had to start my second annual Fall Foliage Workshop.  I had a great group of people, whose enthusiasm helped to jolt me out of my jet-lagged funk.  I have already shared some of the images from the workshop weekend, but here I wanted to hang a bunch of my other foliage pictures.  

River Red, Hinsdale NH

Hot Corner, Chesterfield, NH

Ashuelot Edge, Keene NH

Autumn Bale, Keene, NH

More Classes

October Harras, Chesterfield NH

Immediately after my workshop, I had to start preparing for my Introduction to Digital Photography course at Keene Community Education.  After so many times, you would think that the prep would be easier, but every year I try to improve and update the classes.  My first goal is always to find a way to simplify by eliminating some of my slide, but I always seem to add more.

Autumn Burst, Keene NH

Autumn Afternoon, Dummerston Vt.

Empire Bunch, Putney Vt.

Autumn Contrast, Chesterfield NH

It has become a annual tradition for me to use a blog article to splash a little color onto the our bleak November grays.  So here, without much fanfare or expostulation, is a few of my favorites for this year’s autumn gold.  It turned out that, if you looked hard enough the color was out there.

Thank you for looking with me.

Late Red, Spofford NH

October Crossing, Keene NH

Ashuelot Pool, Keene NH

Autumn Grass, Surry NH

Jeffrey Newcomer

wwwpartridgebrookreflections.com

Southern and Central Vermont Color Preview

Autumn Ranks, Reading, Vermont

Alaska Will have to Wait

Mill Brook Shack
Pomfret, Vt

This week I had every intention to add another article about our fantastic tour in Alaska. The next episode was to be about our time in Seward and our SUNNY cruise along the Kenai Fjords. That's right we actually had gloriously sunny weather for our day-long exploration, and the rocky shoreline, the glaciers and the remarkable wildlife could not have been more dramatic. I've got some wonderful photographs to share, but that blog will have to wait. I'm back in New England, and if there is one hard and fast rule of New England photography, it is that autumn color rules. My Alaska images will still be there to brighten the November gloom, but for now I must talk about the color.


 


I've been out for a couple of serious shoots in the last few days, each heading north to gauge the progression of the color. First, over

Coming Color
Jenne Farm, Reading Vt

last weekend, I cruised around the Newfane and Townsend areas of Vermont and then, on Monday, further North from Springfield, up Route 106 past Woodstock into Pomfret and Hartland.  Autumn color in New England is always spotty depending more on the altitude, orientation to the sun, and the dampness of the soil than to a specific date on the calendar. My general impression is that, as of Monday the color was fairly thin in Southern Vermont, but as I traveled North of Woodstock things improved significantly. Leaving Woodstock I climbed the justly famous Cloudland Dr and saw more consistent color as I gained altitude. My thoroughly fallible opinion is that things will be at, or approaching, peak in this area by this coming weekend, which is why I'm publishing early this week.


 

What follows are some of my images from the last few days. Obviously, I chose to shoot scenes with nicer color and this may give a false impression of the overall hillside drama, but it may be a reasonable reflection of how the color will have bloomed by this coming weekend.

Newfane and Townsend

Smith Brook, Newfane, Vt

Sunday was a bizarrely warm and sunny day for late September. I only had a few hours and limited my explorations to nearby towns
in Vermont. I cruised up Route 30 to Newfane where I was saddened to discover that the nice folks at the Newfane Country Store are permanently closing shop. I hate to see them go, but I appreciate how difficult and exhausting it is to run a country store in a small New England village. I wish them luck, but I was happy to have found a new venue in town for my New England Reflections Calendars. Check them out at the Newfane Market . Color here was scant, but I found some nice patches up nearby Cemetery Road. Heading north toward Townsend I got distracted exploring a road along the West River. The color was generally better along the damp banks and it was pleasant to explore an unfamiliar road in the warm September weather.

Sunny West River, Townsend, Vt

Route 106 to Woodstock and Beyond

Harvest Bales, Reading, Vt

Route 106 is one of my favorite paths through Central Vermont. On
Monday, I got out early and, as usual, I shot up US Route 91picking up the road in Springfield, Vermont. The Route north includes lovely green valleys nestled in the mountains and at this time of year the bales of drying hay provide interesting patterns. The weather was mostly overcast but I generally prefer softer light for fall colors. Even with a polarizer, the reflections from bright light dulls the rich colors.  This day was all about the color, but I had to stop when I spied a Zebra pacing in a pen above the road. It's Vermont, so why not a Zebra! Of course, traveling up 106, I had to

Jenne Farm, Reading, Vt

check out the famous Jenne Farm. Being a bit early in the season and on a Monday there was, remarkably, only one other photographer roaming the familiar hill. Unfortunately, every year the shrubs grow a bit higher in front of the red farm house, but I prefer the view from down the hill where the meandering fence provides a nice line to the buildings and the house is less obscured. I predict richer color and bus loads of photographers for this coming weekend. Be sure to buy some maple syrup, or slip a buck or two into the donation box on the hill.  The sugar shack at nearby the Spring Brook Farm was unimpressive, but the birch groves are always interesting and I came across some adorably friendly calves grazing on an upper pasture.

Spring Brook Farm, Reading, Vt

Who says Black & White
Doesn't Work in Autumn?
Reading, Vt

Through Birches, Reading, Vt

Cloudland Road

Cloudland Beckons, Pomfret, Vt

"Perfect" Barn
Sleepy Hollow Farm, Pomfret, Vt

My Ride into Woodstock included a stop at the South Woodstock General Store. This is a classic New England store with a
wonderful collection of traditional necessities, including my two favorites, good coffee and a clean bathroom. Happily now the store is also stocked with a supply of my calendars, so stop by. Woodstock is a lovely town, but way too touristy for me, even on a Monday. As I often do, I shot through the village and north up Cloudland Road. This road is justly famous for its collection of lovely farms and highland pastures. Of course the road is most known for Sleep Hollow, a carefully coifed "farm" which although arranged perfectly for photographers, bares no obvious

Pasture Flame, Pomfret, Vt

resemblance to an actual New England farm. Sleepy Hollow was once owned by Aerosmith's guitarist Joe Perry, and I do feel sorry for the current owners. Imagine having hordes of strangers with long telephoto lens photographing your house on a daily basis. Feeling sympathy, I respectfully took my 30 or 40 pictures and then moved on. Happily Cloudland is home to a number far more authentic farming establishments and by the time the road joins Pomfret Road your can count on being thoroughly saturated with rural New England color.

 

Climbers
Cloudland Road, Pomfret, Vt

Enveloped, Pomfret, Vt

I worked my way a bit further north then across to Hartford Vermont and eventually back home on Route 91. The fall color was definitely filling in as I traveled north above Woodstock and, again, I think it will be lovely by this coming weekend. Back home I am seeing the reds and golds build almost hourly. It is a great time to live in New England and Alaska will just have to wait.






Jeffrey Newcomer
Partridgebrookreflections.com

A Photographic Meander Along the Back Roads of Vermont

Grafton Wreath

Boldly Going Where No Lens Has Gone Before

The other day, it suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't gone out on a significant photo shoot in several weeks. First it was dealing with the Christmas orders, then the joy of having the kids home for the holidays and finally going through the extended process of moving to a great new web site. There are always distractions, even work gets in the way occasionally, but whatever the excuses I decided I had to get out at least for a few hours of photographic treasure hunting.  

When planning a shoot I often set a defined goal, a specific location at a precise time. It may be a lake at dawn or the moon rising over the mountains, but my greatest joy comes from heading out for visual adventures with no agenda. My simple goal is to wander the back roads looking for new locations and letting the light be my guide. It is a bit "Star Treky", "Boldly going where no lens has gone before".



On this day, I decided to explore in Vermont. We still have snow

cover and although the snow is no longer fluffy and coating the trees, it is still a blessing that we are firmly out of stick season. As is typical, I got out a little later than I had planned, but in the dead of winter, the sun is persistently low in the sky making the soft morning light linger until it is replaced, early in the afternoon, by the equally soft evening light. In January, the days are short, but we never get the stark, flat overhead illumination of summer. My plan was to head north through Putney and Townsend and then wander off onto every obscure back road I could find. I often talk about the

Stranded Rake

value of getting lost in country side, but it is hard to get truly lost these day when I have my GPS, iPhone and a dog eared but detailed Vermont Atlas. Of course the GPS is not infallible, especially in the country. It is surprising how often it has directed me to a road which turned out to be an impossibly narrow cow path, but the great thing about confronting a dead end is that you get to turn around and go back . Country roads often appear completely different when traveled in the opposite direction. Never assume you know a road until you have traveled it both ways.


On this day I had a lovely, relaxed exploration and, along the way, I was reminded of a number of challenges and opportunities that are unique to winter photography

Wanderings

Mill Brook

Most of my wanderings on this day were in Townsend and Grafton Vermont. I first came across Mill Brook weaving around the ice encrusted rocks in Townsend. When photographing a stream, I often rotate the framing to favor one side, changing the banks from monotonously centered parallel lines to a more dynamic diagonal path. A little change that can make a surprising difference in the energy of the composition. Nearby was a lovely farm with attractive foregrounds and framing provided by trees, farm equipment and stone walls. I spent about 45 minutes working through the various options, but my exploration had only started. The nice thing about back roads is that you can slowly inch along
looking for attractive scenes without having to deal with as many impatient drivers roaring up from behind. As I did my meander along the forested roads I was on the lookout for interesting arrangements of trees and light. The dense and chaotic New England forest provides few of these opportunities, but at times the foreground and background elements come into alignment with an almost audible snap. I find it relaxing to scan the forest for the "snaps", but I have to occasionally remind myself to check to see if I am going off the road.

Challenges of Forest Lighting
The day was consistently sunny, making capturing the high contrast between brilliantly illuminated snow and forest shadows a constant

Snap

challenge. As always the histogram was a critical aid. Watching the graph, I was able to avoid muddy shadows by exposing to the right, while also guarding against going too far and blowing out the highlights. As I often say, the key was to get the best image data that would provide the raw material for the best post-processing results. Back in the digital darkroom, Photoshop’s “Shadow/Highlight” tool is especially helpful in maintaining texture in the snow without making it look gray. It is remarkable how precise exposure control and the expanded dynamic range provided by shooting RAW can tame previously impossibly contrasty scenes and can be superior to HDR and tone mapping techniques for all but the most extreme situations. The result is images that look like what I actually saw on site.

Brooks

Simpson Brook

I came across several lovely little brooks in the forest. Winter
waterfalls are often more challenging to capture without the contrast of sparkling water cascading next to dark, rocky ledges.  In fact, in winter, the relationship between the water and the surroundings is reversed, with the water best seen dark against the white banks. When flowing water is surrounded by soft snow, I tend to use shorter exposures to provide more texture to contrast with the flat, homogenous appearing snow. I love to shoot flowing water with long exposures, but the velvet streams can become lost in the surrounding white. 

Grafton Inn

Grafton
After wandering for a few hours I made it to the Townsend Road. Sadly I was back on pavement, but it led me to the classic New England Village of Grafton Vermont. The town is known for the traditional warmth of the Grafton Inn, but I was drawn to the Grafton Village Store where the Chili was outstanding. 

Great Chili, Car Needs a Wash!

 
From Grafton I discovered a few more back roads and old farms. By the time I got to Saxton River, I had been out for about six hours and 80 miles. I was ready to head home to see what I had on the memory card. I find I get a bit hazy after 6-7 hours of head swiveling. On the way back, I got a chance to revisit Westminster West and it's famous sign post. It is always interesting to be reminded that London and the North Pole are both about 3000 miles away. 

Add caption

Back in Spofford I resisted the strong urge to dive right into the images and instead, went through my usual post-shoot workflow. I downloaded the 97 images, applied the GPS coordinates, inserted appropriate meta data and renamed the collection with the date and successive numbers. Then I FINALLY got to actual look at the images. I always feel that a shoot has succeeded if I get even one true “keeper” and although I didn’t find any “breath takers” there were several definite “keepers”. This was as expected with the nice, but not spectacular, light and the somewhat settled snow. Nevertheless the pictures are interesting and quintessentially New England. They may be just what someone is looking for. I have learned that it is impossible fully anticipate someone else’s taste, especially from those who don't have the good fortune of living in the midst of all this beauty.

Most importantly I explored some interesting terrain that I have filed away for future visits when the conditions may be different - they are always different. Learning more about your local country-side is never a waste of time and can be exciting even without a camera in hand.