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A pair of maple leaves caught on a boulder in the middle of a stream. Perhaps they fear drowning as much as we do?!
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This is the type of shot my clients join me in Vermont to capture. This particular image was recorded in Stowe.
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| As we make our way into the heart of Vermont on day 1 of each trip, we always make a point of stopping at a country market type store where subjects such as pumpkins are laid out in abundance. There is always lots of color, and a healthy array of other subjects. |
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| Oh, hang on! This is what my clients are looking for! OK, OK, this, that and the rest below . . . |
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Above right, morning fog and colorful symmetry combine to give us this shot of young Maple trees. |
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Above left, Moss Glen Falls is widely considered to be Vermont's best looking waterfall, and that could well be. To get the 'soft' water effect on any waterfall, use a tripod and a shutter speed of one fifteenth of a second to half a second depending upon the effect you want, and the amount of water tumbling down. Too much water with a long shutter speed and the falls just looks like a white blob.
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A Maple leaf on a bed of Pine Needles. Just one of the many leaf variations available on the Vermont menu every year. |
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Here a tripod and a 'lot of depth of field' are needed to make this shot work.
A fourth of a second at f.22 was the exposure. |
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A great spot to take a short uphill walk near Woodstock, otherwise you can miss this shot.
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It looks like the middle of nowhere, but it's the main street in Woodstock. The use of a long lens compresses the perspective, and I'm able to gain some impact while omitting any town distractions.
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Woodstock number two, which is more like the Woodstock we know. Long lens again for this one. |
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The third Woodstock image is the Middle covered bridge.
To add compositional interest I included some autumn color in the foreground. |
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Below, this has 'New England' written all over it . . . even though it says 'Maple Syrup.' Well, you know what I mean!
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You know the drill. You shoot a pond reflection then turn it upside down. The kind of shot you either love or dislike. How about you? Taken near Barre one overcast dawn morning.
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| I read somewhere that Jenne farm, above, is the most photographed farm in the United States. I reckon that much is true anyway. Color, fog, early arrival, patience, and a camera . . . it's all you need. Then below, an image to prove that midday shooting is not always a washout.
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Looking down the gravel lane with some great side lighting. I couldn't ask for more.
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One last perspective of the Jenne farm reflected in the pond.
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Oh, hang on, here's a client shooting at Jenne farm.
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I made no attempt to get the background in focus as the strong black lines of the leafless tree provide the contrast and impact in this shot. One could call the technique 'selective focus' perhaps.
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Kent Pond with glorious color, and distant Doubleday Mountain providing the perspective.
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Berlin Pond at dawn. The fog adds to the aura of the shot, as does the strong black fading to gray. |
Reaching for the sky are these Maples near Barre. Of course you don't have to travel to Barre, Vermont for a shot such as this, so my advice is, please try this at home. |
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I used a tripod and a slow shutter speed to capture the movement in the water, and get a little bit of contrast with the leaves.
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As it's autumn in Vermont I thought I'd better frame the waterfall with some autumn color, rather than do a close-up. The softness of the water is an indication that my shutter speed was a 15th of a second or slower.
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Sleepy Hollow farm near Woodstock below. Over the years the original owner was very obliging to photographers with the placement of red tractors and the like, but now it's owned by one of the Aerosmith guitarists. It's still very photogenic, and who knows, I might find a spare drum kit in those leaves one of these years.
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Life goes on as a Cow gets her calf ready for school.
Besides, "It's not every dawn that a small group of photographers shows up to photograph us my son."
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A Maple leaf lying on the surface of water. The light was low in the forest and because I hand-held this shot it is not as sharp as I would have liked. The message? Use a tripod in such situations.
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Another classic Vermont farm near Peacham. The year this was taken the colors weren't as good as some other years, but the red Sumac in the foreground takes up the slack for this image.
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You're beginning to see that I'm a real sucker for these leaf shots! I picked up this particular Maple leaf from the side of a gravel road where the group were shooting, and placed it on a contrasting green leaf.
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Chelsea gets in on the act with it's church framed by contrasting trees. I keep telling ya', contrast is good!
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After Chelsea comes this Washington village view just as the last light is fading.
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A late bloomer in much of the United States are these Common Sunflowers on the edge of Stowe.
Note that I got low and behind the heads for a fresh perspective.
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The Cilley covered bridge near Tunbridge. Bridges were 'covered' purely to preserve the wooden timbers.
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And so to Waits River. These shots may look alike at this resolution, but the image at left is peppered with cables and power poles, and just won't do! So, I spent just over an hour taking out all the distractions to arrive at the image at right. If you're ever on a trip with me, remind me to show you the two images at full size.
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The classic Peacham shot in an 'average' autumn color year. Average or not, ya' still can't turn this one down!
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A second fungi shot taken in the same woods as the previous fungi shot near Killington.
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We detour for this image on our way to the Barre/Montpelier region. However, I can't guarantee that it will always look like this each autumn. OK, so I threw some Maple leaves onto the water's surface for the group . . . and don't apologize for that!
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| On one dawn run, much colder than normal at the time I might add, we were shooting in a wood near Barre when fog made it's way up the hillside and into the trees. The shot at right looks nice, enough, but the light improved soon after . . .
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The trick with fog is to get to the edge of it for a mix of sun, fog and a subject just waiting to be immortalized in pixel form. Yes, it was bitter cold on this particular morning, but we were warmed by the magical light.
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Monarch butterflies in Vermont in October? Well, yeh. The last of the summer wine perhaps. |
Sometimes it's the most simple of things that catches one's eye. Don't ever be afraid of shooting into the light to capture some nice back-lighting. |
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This is a typical scene in New England during the fall, i.e. the locals put out various artifacts to complement their pumpkin displays and such. For this shot the light source was behind me, but imagine this same scene with side-lighting.
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| This Sumac bush at right looks OK, back-lit and all, but . . .
. . . as per below, let's get in closer. There is more impact by filling the frame, and carefully recording the symmetry so that the leaves front and back contrast with each other.
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I'll only add a lot of sky if it is interesting in some form or another, say as above, or an overcast sky full of texture. Here I feel the inclusion of the sky enhances the color symphony on the edge of Curtis Pond. |
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Autumn color of the different variety shot in a cemetery at dawn near Montpelier, Vermont's capital city. |
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Vermont by Chris Hite | Vermont by Wayne Love
Vermont by Wendy Beeghley | Vermont by Celeste Wohl
Vermont by Sue Zupko | Vermont by Jim Majerle |
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