Spring At Last

Golden May Dummerston Vermont

West Guilford Valley Vermont

It was a long, cold and snowy winter, but happily spring has arrived with its spectacular explosion of wildly varied color. It always seems unfair that the best seasons for natural beauty in New England are the shortest. The period of maximal color in both spring and fall last for only a couple of weeks. In autumn the vibrant leaves crash to the ground burdening photographers with the torment of the long dull “stick season”. During spring, the leaves hang on, but the wonderful variety of colors that explode as the foliage arrives quickly transforms to the monochromatic shade of deep green that predominates for most of its photosynthetic life span. 

Black Mountain Cascade Brattleboro Vt

Spring Flow Dummerston Vermont

Ferns Uncoil Brattleboro Vermont

I love the colors of early spring that vary from glowing yellows to rich browns. The hillsides always take on a patchwork array of hues that I think rival the more garish colors of fall foliage. Also, as the fresh buds first open there are often bizarre forms of unfolding greenery to study with macro photography. It all pushes me to get out as often as possible to capture the brief sublime symphony of color. Included here are several of the images that I was able to collect during this year's special season. 

 

Spring Bloom Brattleboro Vt

This year my ability explore was limited by the fact that I was committed to participation in the spring concert of Keene Choral. We performed Mozart’s Requiem, a challenging piece that required intensive rehearsal and time taken up by practice at home. It was painful watching colors evolve from my studio, but I did get out shooting several times over the course of the season. We had I great concert on May first supported by a wonderful orchestra and soloist and since then I have had more time to devote to the remainder of the fresh color. 

Country Club Rainbow Keene NH

Partridge Brook Dam Spofford NH

 

Westmoreland NH

Early in the season I spent time exploring my local area, checking out some of my favorite locations including one of my favorite hilltop barns and the cascades of Partridge Brook as it flow through my village. I also was able to catch a lovely rainbow that predictably appeared as a spring storm passed over as we were having dinner at the Country Club in Keene NH. The shot shows again that, with care, great images can be obtained with the improved cameras in today’s iPhones. 

Against the Drop Brattleboro Vt

Stickney Drop Brattleboro Vt

Hillside spring Dummerston Vermont

Later in the season I was able to spend much of a day exploring many of my favorite spots in Southwestern Vermont, accompanied by Benji our very patient Golden Doodle. Benjamin loves to go for drives and on many of the quiet back roads I was ale to let him loose to explore, sniff and collect his allotment of ticks. We wandered through Dummerston, Brattleboro and Guilford. The weather varied from overcast to bright sun as I found views including overlooking the West River Valley, Stickney Brook Falls, and Guilford's Green River. Truly, even though it was a bit late, the colors were spectacular every where I looked.

Green River Bridge Guilford Vt

Green River Falls Guilford Vt

Miniwawa Gold Roxbury NH

Although the colors are calming down, just the other day when I had some time to kill in Keene, I was able to catch some nice sparkling backlit views along the upper Miniwawa Brook in Roxbury and finally the obligatory vista of Monadnock still framed by the spring gold. 

 

Monadnock in Shadow Keene NH

Ancient Cemetery Granite Spofford NH

Bonnyvale Vista Brattleboro Vt

The foliage is now rapidly settling into its mature hues, but I still have many images to work on and I must reconcile myself to enjoying the building warmth. Of course the spring rains are still filling the local waterfalls. That should keep me busy for awhile and I’m sure I’ll find something to shoot throughout the summer. Autumn will be here before you know it. 

Spring Home Spofford NH

Jeff Newcomer

 www.partridgebrookreflections.com

Spring Attractions 2025

West Guilford

Spring is progressing and I have been getting out trying to capture the beauty before it disappears.   For me, the season really comes to an end when the fresh, multi-toned green of the early foliage settles into the rather monotonous deep greens of summer. Surely, the bright spring flowers continue to explode, but once the variety of colors in the trees and scrubs begin to fade, I’m ready to move on to summer.

 

Guilford Vermont

Overall, it has been a good spring.  After a prolonged late winter “stick season”, the buds slowly began to pop.  As always, I love the variety of greens that decorate the hills and roadsides.  I call it our second “autumn” season of color and in many ways it is more interesting and longer lasting – with the  added benefit of no leaves to rake after it is all over.

 

Pleasant valley Farm Rockingham Vt

First there is the Flowing Water

Partridge Brook Chesterfield New Hampshire

Chesterfield NH

Of course, early spring isn’t only about the waves of color.  The second major attraction is the flowing water. Even without much melting snowpack the streams and waterfalls have been bursting with this years spring rains.  Waterfall photography is often an early spring gift even before the greens begin to grow.

 

Chesterfield Gorge

This year, I enjoyed a fun early waterfall exploration with a short workshop for a group from the Monadnock Garden Club.  I had planned to visit a number of waterfalls around Chesterfield area over a morning in early May.  I first brought the group to Chesterfield Gorge.  The Gorge has a wonderful variety of dramatic drops and babbling cascades and it turned out that location provided more than enough to keep the folks busy for the entire morning.  The group came with a wide range of experience and equipment, from sophisticated digital SLR’s to iPhones.  I was happy that everyone had a tripod, but some barely qualified for that designation.  There certainly were many opportunities for diplomatic instruction and the brisk flow of the stream provided all we needed to capture lovely images.

Saxon River Falls

Brockway Mills Falls Chester Vt

The waterfall photography has been great all spring and I have been out a number of times to catch the action.  I love it when I discover new waterfalls.  This year, my friend Lucky introduced me to a couple of dramatic falls around the Bellows Falls, Saxon River area in Vermont.  It is exciting that, no matter how long I wander about the roads of my corner of New England, I still can find fresh areas of beauty and wonder.

Partridge Brook Chesterfield NH

There are various ways that shutter speed can render the appearance of flowing water.  Rapid exposures freeze the splash capturing the turbulent energy of the water, but I continue to be enamored with the soft dreamy appearance created by long exposures.  Previously, I have discussed my view of the optimal shutter speed, but it depends on the rate of flow, the distance to the falls as well as your own taste.  My goal is to get a soft look without losing all the detail in the water.  There is no one “perfect” shutter speed, a bit of experimentation is usually required.

Partridge Brook Dam Spofford NH

Nearby, my local falls were all brimming with action.  Partridge Brook, which flows behind my house on its way to the Connecticut River, provided many interesting cascades as it ran through the old mill dam and down alongside the road toward Westmoreland.  The Gulf Road, in the southwest corner of Chesterfield, has a number of falls which are dependent on the fresh run-off, but when the rain is strong, the falls can be dramatic.   

 

Gulf Road Falls Chesterfield

Jelly Mill Falls Dummerston Vt

I also got across to Vermont for one of my favorite falling water spots in Dummerston, where Stickney Brook drops through the Jelly Mill Falls, with a series of lovely cascades to the West River.

 

Spring Green

Roads End Farm Chesterfield NH

As spring progresses, my attention is increasingly drawn to the evolving color of the bursting greenery.  It was great to have an excuse to explore around my familiar locations in both New Hampshire and Vermont.  

 

 

Each day, I found different shades of color as the season progressed.  I could also vary the colors by simply heading north or south, or by changing my altitude. The greens are settling out down here in far southern New Hampshire, but just last week I was able to catch some beautiful hillside greens on a misty afternoon farther north in Charlestown along the Connecticut River.  

 

Twin Peaks Charlestown NH

Every year, I am amazed at how quickly the leaves explode on the trees.  They must know how short a season they have to store energy for the long winter.  It is sad to see the multitude of shades of green settle out, but I do have a pile of images to work through, and I can sit back and enjoy the relaxing shade until the blast of autumn color shakes me from my summer lethargy.

Broad Brook Guilford Vt

 

Jeff Newcomer
www.partridgebrookreflections.com

 

Monadnock Garden Club Waterfall Workshop

 

Shooting the Gorge April 2025

Upper Fall Chesterfield Gorge

It has been a while since I hosted a Photography Class or photo workshop.  It all started with my dissatisfaction with resorting to Zoom courses begun in response to the pandemic.  I missed terribly the face-to-face exposure of live classes and workshops.  As the pandemic waned it seemed hard to get back to a schedule of programs.  Of course, a touch of laziness also contributed.

For a number of years, I had offered my Introduction to Digital Photography Course through the Keene Community Education Program, but recently the program has dropped general enrichment courses such as mine and now focuses solely on academic, and vocational enrichment classes, including apprenticeships. I found myself looking for a new home. 

Big Drop Chesterfield Gorge

I have enjoyed the opportunities I have had to share my passion for photography and photographic editing and I have greatly missed teaching about the amazing advancements in digital image making.  I know that I need to find ways to get back out there.

It was with all this I mind that I was excited to hear from my friend and former student Robin Turnbaugh with a request to lead members of the Monadnock Garden Club on an abbreviated spring waterfall photography workshop.  Last Thursday, I was joined by a group of enthusiastic club members for a morning exploration of some of the local falling water.  A half day is short, but after a brief discussion of the key aspects of waterfall photography, we headed out to sample the beauty of the spring runoff at Chesterfield Gorge.

The Gorge provided the opportunity to sample a variety of falls and cascades in one compact area.  As I suspected the group came with a range of equipment from sophisticated Digital cameras to one iPhone.  Everyone had tripods, but a few of them were quite flimsy or actually falling apart.  Regardless, there were great opportunities for teaching, and everyone seemed to come away with some nice images and, hopefully, many important lessons. Given that this was a garden club group, my only disappointment was that the early date precluded any exploration of streamside spring wildflowers. While coaching the participants I was able to grab only a couple of my own images, but my shots were all hand-held with no chance to break out my tripod.

Gorge Cascade Teeth

Catsbane Brook Falls

For my part, I finished with a desire for more.  I would have loved to have had more time to tour some of the other waterfalls in the Chesterfield area, including those along the Catsbane Brook and the Gulf Road.  My usual waterfall workshops span a day and one-half over a weekend and include classic spots in both Cheshire and Hillsboro Counties. Perhaps I can drum up some interest in a more extensive workshop in a few weeks.

Spring Waterfalls and a Happy Surprise

 

Gulf Road Veil

With the recent rain, we are well into the spring waterfall season.  After a barren, snow deprived winter, the return of flowing water provides a welcome release from my dark seasonal malaise. 

Partridge Brook







A couple of days ago I ventured out to explore some of my favorite waterfall locations.  I first I stopped locally to capture the water of nearby Partridge Brook as it tumbled past the old factory building in Spofford. It is currently a sad site with the deserted brick structure crumbling by the stream, but there is exciting new local interest in rehabilitating the structure to meet a new purpose.
 























After a fresh rain, one of my favorite waterfall locations is along the winding Gulf Road in West Chesterfield.  The dirt road can become difficult following a heavy rain, with thick mud and deep ruts, but the road passes steep uphill cliffs that gush with spectacular cascades of water.  


































The various falls weave around the rocks in beautiful veils and interweaving flows.  The roadside falls only become dramatic after heavy rainfalls and tend to disappear to a trickle in just a day or so.  
















On that day 

the falls did not disappoint.


 



The light was threatening to fade, but I had time to rush to another favorite spot.  The normally placid flow of the Catsbane Brook in West Chesterfield can fill following a good downpour.  One the best places to appreciate the action is from the bridge across the brook at the Farr Road, near where the Catsbane joins the Connecticut River.  




Farr Road Bridge Cascade




As expected the cascades from this spot were dramatic, but then I noticed a surprise.  




A short distance upstream from the Farr Road bridge is an old mill dam. Seven or eight years ago the mill pond behind the dam had filled resulting in a spectacular flow of water.  I bushwhacked up to the falls and captured what I could only describe as a little Niagara.  The unique scene was amazing, but the next year I was disappointed to discover that it had disappeared.  For whatever reason someone had cleared a sluice at the base of the dam draining the mill pond and eliminating my little Niagara.  It was disappointing and I felt I may have captured the last of this wonderful waterfall.
 

Catsbane Mill Falls 2015

While I was shooting the Farr Road bridge cascade I happen to look up and in the distance I noticed what look like the water cascading over the old dam.  I worked my way up stream and was thrilled to see the mill falls roaring again!  



Catsbane Mill Falls Returned 2024




I don’t know whether the bypass had become obstructed, or the heavy rain had overcome the capacity of the sluice.  For whatever reason my little Niagara was crashing. But the surroundings had changed.  There was a curtain of blowdowns obstructing some of my best views, but even through a screen branches the view was impressive.  Hopefully, the falls may become more accessible after the stream calms down a bit, but I have learned that the mill pond could be drained at any time. 




The Falls Through the Blowdown


I’ll take what I can, but the waterfall season has just begun, and I am sure there will be more excitement to come.


Jeff Newcomer

jeffn49@myfairpoint.net
www.partridgebrookreflections.com