I traveled around quite a bit and took many photos. I hope you will enjoy seeing some of them. I decided to present them by town, alphabetically.
Does the photo above scream, VERMONT. To me it does. But have you seen this farm before? It is not easy to find. Continue on to learn its location.
Benton, NH
Here is one of two Owl’s Heads I saw this fall — one in each state. This one is along Route 25 in NH.
Farther west, near Learned Farm Road, were these two scenes.
Bradford, NH
In my last blog that focused on birds, I showed some flying Great Blue Herons at a small wetland in Bradford. Here are two photos from that wetland.
From the same spot there was a view of one of my favorite places in NH, White Ledges above Lake Solitude high up on Mount Sunapee.
Here are a few more photos from Bradford, NH.
Bradford, VT
Jumping across the river to the other Bradford, this one in Vermont, here are two photos I took when we travelled to Farm Way and walked the village before it opened. We just wanted to buy a few Darn Tough socks as Christmas presents for our kids, but it is hard to resist other purchases at this Vermont institution.
Cabot, VT
Cabot was just a drive-through. I stopped near Molly’s Falls Pond, a spot our family canoe camped very many years ago, and took this photo of an old birch trunk returning to the earth.
Canaan, NH
Canaan is much closer to our home, so I was able to tour it several times. Here is a long slide show of some of the photos I took there.
Corinth, VT
Another place I was just passing through. I drove Maplewood Road from East Orange, a long, rugged road that I will never do again. I kept wondering if I should turn back, but I made it. Near the beginning of the road I took this photo.
Once I reached civilization — a paved road — I photographed this farm in Corinth.
Danbury, NH
Danbury Bog is a nice place to kayak. Here is a photo from near the dam where one can put in.
Below the dam is this view.
But a relatively unknow spot in Danbury that I like is the Smith River along Route 4.
Dorchester, NH
My favorite drive in Dorchester is along River Road from Route 118 to the South Branch of the Baker River Reservoir. Here are a few scenes along the road.
Enfield, NH
Enfield is very close to our home, so it is easy to visit. Mascoma Lakeside Park is a great spot for sunrise and for a hike along the Northern Rail Trail. Here is a collection of sunrises from Lakeside Park the first three weeks of fall.
One morning, a photo workshop group arrived, led by a person from NY. His students walked to the edge of the lake at the end of the path, set up their tripods, and then did not move.
When I taught photography, I preached “move your feet”:
There wasn’t much of a sunrise this morning, so late in the game several crowded around the leader to try to get the same photo he was working so hard to get.
I did not take any sunrise photos that morning with my “real” cameras, but I did walk quite far to the south and took this one with my iPhone.
Here are a half dozen more photos from Lakeside Park.
Early one morning on a hill in Enfield, I found a deer and a Red-tailed Hawk.
Looking north from the same hill provided this view of Moose Mountain at the left side of the photo. To its right is Bear Hill and Holts Ledge.
George Pond is found along Route 4A in Enfield. Here are three photos of the part of the pond that is nearest 4A.
The wetlands along Bog Road in the Enfield Wildlife Management Area can be spectacular in late September. The swamp maples turn red well before other foliage. Below are nine photos taken September 25 and October 5.
At times, the other side of the Shaker Bridge from Lakeside Park affords nice photo opportunities. Here is an early sunrise from the boat launch with a Great Blue Heron also enjoying it.
One windy morning, I drove by a straw woman and saw movement out of the corner of my eye that made her look very real. I parked and walked back with a tripod. The photo below was a 1/15 second exposure to try to show motion in her outfit and hair.
Below are similar views northwest along the smaller part of the lake from the bridge were taken on two mornings, eight days apart.
I stopped at the Lower Shaker WMA mostly to photograph birds. While there I took these six photos.
Grafton, NH
I drove through Grafton when heading home. I took two photos along Route 4.
Grantham, NH
Grantham was not a destination but just an area I passed through twice. Below are four photos from near Stocker Pond (outlet and inlet), at Gray Ledges, and of the Yankee Highland barns.
Groton, VT
I travelled to Peacham a week or two too early for prime foliage. On the way home I passed through Groton and took a number of photos. Here are three from near Kettle Pond.
There was some color around Ricker Pond. The sun was playing peek-a-boo behind the clouds, so parts of the scene were spot lit from time to time. Here are five photos taken at the south end of Ricker Pond.
The Wells River drains Ricker Pond. Not far below the pond in a nice waterfall I call Groton Falls.
I drove into Seyon Lodge State Park to Noyes Pond and only took a few photos. Here are two.
Hanover, NH
We live in Hanover in the village of Etna, so it is not surprising that I have quite a few photo from Hanover. Often the best landscape photos are close to where you live since you are there often and can observe changing light and conditions.
Speaking of close to home, here are four photos from our yard: a pair of deer, a chipmunk with a very colorful background, brightly colored foliage outside my photo studio, and some white birch glowing with very late day sun and a dark sky to the east. We cut our “grass” once a year whether it needs it or not.
Hanover has a number of red barns. One of these red barns, photographed in winter, was used last year by the Mascoma Bank as their holiday card for key clients.
Mill Pond on Moose Mountain was a favorite spot of Kay Shumway, who with her husband, Peter, ran a wonderful lodge nearby for many years. I visited the pond several times this fall, mostly looking for birds to photograph. But while there I took some landscape photos. The bench was one of Kay’s two favorite spots to sit by the pond and watch the beavers. They moved on several years ago, as did Kay who now lives in Maine. One of the photos shows the now-abandoned beaver lodge.
Old Dana Road in Etna is a favorite place to walk and photograph. When Jann and I walk it, we normally park part way up Moose Mountain Road. I love this area when there is morning fog and the sun is just starting to peek over Moose Mountain.
Beyond Old Dana is Three Mile Road and a nice field below the slopes of Moose Mountain.
Below are two views of Mount Ascutney from Hanover, taken 10 days apart.
Below is a slide show of nineteen more photos from our home town.
Hartford, VT
Just passing through Hartford, I took this photo. I love “sun stars” caused by bending of light around a small diaphragm (large f/number) with, typically, a wide angle lens (to give the smallest opening and the most diffraction).
Haverhill, NH
Haverhill has some great views of one of my favorite hiking mountains, Black Mountain. Our whole family hiked it many years ago, and in recent years I have hiked it around a half dozen times. Here are five photos from Haverhill. Black Mountain is in the background in four of them. In three photos, the mountain in the far distance to the right of Black is Moosilauke.
Lebanon, NH
Lebanon has at least one covered bridge, the Packard Covered Bridge spanning the Mascoma River.
Like Hanover, Lebanon has some nice spots to view Mount Ascutney in Vermont. Here are four photos from three spots.
From one of those spots there is also a great view of Killington.
Here are ten more photos from Lebanon. The first two are from True’s Ledges, south of the plazas. The last eight are from the Rail Trail near Ice House Road, a favorite place to walk since it is close to where we live. I gave a “creative” touch to the last one, minimizing details.
Lyme, NH
Acorn Hill and Pinnacle Road are favorite spots in fall. Here are photos from that area.
These two photos of Post Pond were taken two weeks apart.
I very much enjoy River Road in Lyme, especially in spring for ducks at the mouth of Grant Brook. But it is nice in the fall too. Here are photos from along River Road on both sides of the East Thetford Road.
Below are five more photos from my wanderings around Lyme.
Marshfield, VT
Perhaps my first visit ever to Marshfield was on a loop through Peacham. I stopped at the Village Store for coffee and then photographed some of the creations at the funky and creative Bent Nails Studios art gallery nearby. Unfortunately, it was closed or I would have gone in. Its not foliage, but it is interesting and colorful.
Newbury, NH
I passed through Newbury heading elsewhere and decided to stop at the wetlands for a few photos. I’m glad I did. Here are five of the photos I took.
Newport, NH
Newport is another town I was just passing through. I took a short detour to photograph the Sugar River near the Corbin Covered Bridge.
Norwich, VT
I visited three nice bird areas in Norwich, north along Route 5. At the Pompy Oxbow, I found a surprise, a wonderful field of sunflowers.
Kendall Station and the Old Bridge area can also be great for birds. Here is the boat launch off Old Bridge Road.
I took two photos as I looped the corn field at Campbell Flat. This beautiful spot is open to all, on foot or even horse. In spots it appears that beavers come up from the river to feast on the corn or steal stalks. Do beavers eat corn?
I made a three-image panorama with my iPhone and photographed a horse rider after she stopped to photograph the foliage with her phone.
A favorite drive in Autumn in Norwich is Bragg Hill Road. There are a number of great spots to photograph the mountains in NH across the river. Here is a six-photo panorama.
You might be able to identify the peaks, but to help you I have cropped a portion of the left and right sides and labelled some of them.
Below are eight photos from Bragg Hill and its extension, Tucker Hill Road. The prominent mountain in some of them is Smarts.
Orange, NH
Just passing through, I took one photo near the Great Cut at the height of land separating two great watersheds — the Connecticut and Merrimack.
Orford, NH
I found some Devil’s Darning Needles near a wetland in Orford. Also called Virgin’s Bower, these Clematis virginiana are favorites of mine in fall.
On a drive up the river early one morning, there was dramatic light in the fields along Route 10 and on the hills of VT in the distance.
Peacham, VT
I visited Peacham September 29, a week or so too early for great foliage. Even though the day was somewhat dark and cloudy, I enjoyed this charming area. First stop, at 6:40 AM, was my favorite cemetery. Here are three photos from there.
I “snuck up” to a classic view of the church and barn in Peacham. Here is a sequence of photos.
Here are seven more photos from Peacham.
Pomfret, VT
Pomfret is a very popular spot for leaf peepers from afar. In particular, Sleepy Hollow Farm attracts crowds. Rightly so. It is a beautiful and very photogenic spot. This year the town went so far as to make the stretch of road past it one way and posted “no parking zone” signs. The first measure seemed to be successful, although the driver of one car with Florida license plates asked me, “how do we get out of here”. The no parking signs seemed to be widely ignored.
I avoided the crowds at the top of the driveway and instead tried to get photos that included more that just the home and barn. Here are a half dozen.
I made a nostalgic trip to Raymond’s Farm. I visited his ramshackle sugar house years ago with Fernando, a good friend who lived nearby. Raymond was boiling sap and had a visitor who drove from Maine each year to purchase Raymond’s maple syrup. A winter photo I took of his farm was used on a magazine cover. Here it is plus a recent one.
In addition to Sleepy Hollow, there are some nice scenes along Cloudland Road.
The area I really like in Pomfret is north of Cloudland Road. Here are four photo from that area.
Here are three more photos from Pomfret.
Reading, VT
Reading has another icon that attracts many with “foreign” license plates, the Jenne Farm. I stopped, mainly just to see the tourists who seemed particularly obnoxious this year. One even parked down the road below the tree right in the way of the classic photo of the farm.
The person in the photo below was flying a drone. He arrived in a car with MA plates.
To his left you can see a bit of a sign. Here it is full frame.
One could argue that the sign says no drone operators are allowed in the fields, but I think that is a stretch. The intent of the sign is clear and was clearly ignored.
Conditions were poor, drizzle and a blank sky, so I made an “artistic” image after asking the person cluttering the scene with her car to move it. I actually had to ask twice because the first time she just moved it a few yards forward but still below the tree along the road seen below.
I have always felt that the farm next door was almost as photogenic, but I seem to be in a minority.
I particularly like the areas to the east of the Jenne Farm. Here are five photos. The mountain in several is Ascutney.
Royalton, VT
Many years ago I stumbled upon Maple Grove Farm and took a few photos on slide film. I figured it was time to try it again in the digital era. I arrived a bit after 7 AM. No one was around. The light was dim but no problem with a tripod. And there was nice fog in the valley below the farm.
Below are seven more photos of this farm that seems to really epitomize Vermont.
Sharon, VT
I crossed the White River in Sharon while heading to the Maple Grove Farm. I parked and walked onto the bridge and took a photo in the pre-7 AM dim light.
Springfield, NH
Just one photo to show, McDaniel’s Marsh with mist on the water in the early morning.
Thetford, VT
Heading home along Route 5, Jann and I swung by Stevens Road for a view of Smarts Mountain.
Washington, NH
A friend, who lives in Washington, told Jann that the foliage there was great. So I headed southeast for a look. I’m glad I did.
After photographing in Newbury and Bradford, I stopped in East Washington. There is a wide part of Beard Brook just above a small dam that forms this picturesque pond.
This is a view below the dam.
I stopped at the Eccardt Farm and purchased some beef from their honor-system farm store. I stopped along the road south of the farm and took a few photos as a field was being mowed. I love S-curves in photos.
Heading to “downtown” Washington, I stopped at a small wetland along East Washington Road.
I remembered Indian Pond Road as a short, narrow road that led to a small boat launch. I parked near the boat launch and walked back along the road taking photos. Here are seven.
I photographed some scenes along Route 31 in Washington.
Pillsbury State Park is great for kayaking, biking, hiking, and camping. I’ve done them all except camping. The easily viewed ponds are Butterfield, May, and Mill. Here are two each of Butterfield and May and one of Mill.
West Windsor, VT
Looping home from Pomfret and Reading, I passed through West Windsor and took one photo of a fog-shrouded hillside.
Wilder, VT
One photo from Wilder taken with my iPhone while photographing birds shows New England Asters. A true sign of early fall.
Wilmot, NH
In Fall, I often visit Wilmot. This year it was just a short drive-through along one favorite back road.
The experts had predicted that the dry summer would result in a poor foliage season. As usual, the experts were wrong. At least that is my opinion.
Onto stick season for my next blog. Each season is enjoyable in its own way.