The 2009 Fall Foliage Magical Mystery Tour

G’day Everyone,

It’s late afternoon on October 2 and our small group of Magical Mystery Tour participants are becoming acquainted over cheese and crackers and a little bit of wine provided by our wonderful host, Deb Godin, at the Lakeview Clubhouse in Eden.  I glance out the window and notice that the crisp autumn light has mellowed so I muster everyone and we head over to my favorite fall foliage location, Belvidere Pond.

I’ve always bragged on Belvidere Pond, how it never lets me down, graciously offering me something to photograph nearly every time I visit it, from otters glissading on its frozen surface in winter or migrating geese relaxing on its glassy water during the spring migration, stunning fall foliage landscapes, to an occasional moose.  Belvidere Pond has typically been the highlight not only for myself, but for many participants on the Fall Foliage Magical Mystery Tour.  That’s high praise when one considers that the tour covers some of the most fabulous autumn scenery in all of New England, from the Green Mountains to the Kancamagus Highway in the Whites. 

There was nothing special about the light that evening, on the contrary, it didn’t look that promising, what with the dark clouds on the horizon behind which the sun would soon disappear.  There was really no reason to suspect that Belvidere Pond was about to yield up yet another incredible gem of a photo.  

There’s a particular view down a forested constriction in the pond with layers of forest, water, and Belvidere Mountain filling in the far background that I like and so I hurried the group to that spot.  In spite of a slight breeze that swayed the dried fireweed in the foreground, the surface of the pond was glassy with spectacular reflections of “autumn’s fire” on either side of the pond.  Indeed, that was the shot.

I kicked up my ISO a notch and adjusted my aperture to compromise between an adequate shutter speed to freeze, as much as possible, the motion of the fireweed and sufficient DOF to keep the entire, sweeping scene in sharp focus.  Then, during a relatively calm moment, I  pressed my cable release and checked my histogram.  We were all lined up shooting pretty much the same composition and a few moments later, when you could already pick out the brighter stars in between the layers of clouds, we grinned at one another like Cheshire cats as we folded our tripods.  Again, I heard the comment from one of the participants, a remark Belvidere Pond often elicits from my clients, “If I don’t get anything else on this trip, I’m already happy.”

We returned to the clubhouse feeling utterly fulfilled where we feasted on home-made lasagna and strawberry shortcake and viewed our captures on our laptops over more wine.

The next day, we chased the autumn color and the light across northern Vermont, returning to favorite haunts and exploring a few new locations I had scouted previously and determined had possibilities.  The day ended again with a fabulous home-cooked meal – venison this time, apple pie and, of course, more wine and viewing of our photos and discussing compositions and exposure and some post-processing tutoring. 

On the third day, it was off to the White Mountains and the famous Kancamangus Highway. 

Among the most outstanding autumn subjects in the Whites is the reflection of fall color on the Swift River that runs alongside the Kanc between the Bear Notch road and Conway.  Numerous convenient parking spots along the highway provide easy access to the river which runs north-south.  The morning sun illuminates the trees on the west bank of the river while the tall trees on the east side keep the river – and most importantly the white granite rocks in the river – in shade.   Many top photographers come here to capture fall foliage from this unique perspective creating kaleidoscopes of color and counterpoint abstracts among the stalwart rocks and the whimsical, dynamic water. 

There are also many waterfalls in the vicinity, so many, in fact, that one of the trails in Franconia Notch is called the “Falling Waters Trail”.  Some require a bit of hiking, others, like Silver Cascades, are hard by the road.  Fortunately, we had mostly overcast skies throughout the tour which, as you might know, provides much better light in which to photograph autumn color than a typically “nice” sunny day.  Of course, cloudy skies can also bring rain and, this year, we had plenty of that.  Rain also assures that the waterfalls will be primed and roaring against their colorful backdrops but we frequently had to take turns huddling under each other’s umbrellas or fumbling with our camera’s ”raincoats” in order to photograph the striking contrast of cascading white water and resplendent foliage.  

After the official tour ended, Rob came down from Canada and joined me in the field for a few days.  (See his recent “Hot Shots” in this blog series.)  The two of us concluded our fall tour at Lake Willoughby back in Vermont at a spot on the south shore which we discovered during the Green Mountain Workshop in Spring.  Here, fretworks of roots of cedar trees that have been exposed by waves during storms provide intriguing foregrounds against the turquoise water, the dour cliffs, and the fall tapestry beyond. 

Willoughby Lake
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 17-40mm  f/4 L IS USM lens at 24mm
evaluative metering, aperture priority
.4″ @ f/16, ISO 100
Singh-Ray 3-stop hard GND, B+W polarizer
Gitzo GT3541LS tripod, cable release, mirror lockup

Roots and Fall Color at Lake Willoughby
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Canon EF 17-40mm  f/4 L IS USM lens at 20mm
evaluative metering, aperture priority
.6″ @ f/10, ISO 100
Lee 1.5 and 3 stop GND and Moose 81A Polarizer
Gitzo GT3541LS tripod, cable release, mirror lockup  

Rob will be taking over the blogs for the next couple of months treating you to some more of his brilliant winter images while I come in from the cold and retreat to my writer’s garret to work on a book project.  Here’s a parting shot.

 

Sunset Clouds
Canon EOS 1-D Mark II N
Canon EF 70-200mm  f/4 L IS USM lens 200mm
evaluative metering, aperture priority
1/60″ @ f/4, ISO 200
handheld

While I cast about for a publisher for my second book, Nesting Behavior, The Romantic Memoir of a New England Nature Photographer, I’ll be offering downloads of the manuscript from our website for a pittance.  I hope you’ll consider reading it by the fire this winter and will let me know what you truly think of the story and the writing.   I’ll send out a brief announcement when the book is on the website.

Don’t forget, we’ll be returning to Kenya again and the immensely popular Tom Jordan Memorial Boreal Tour to Maine is coming back in 2010.  Of course, the Green Mountain Nature Photography Workshop and the Fall Foliage Magical Mystery Tour will always be among our offerings.   You can find itineraries for all of these programs on our “In The Field” page here: http://www.sojournsinnature.com/inthefield.php.

May the light be with you,

Gustav 

Sojourns In Nature is very proud to announce that we are sponsored by:

My friend, Gary Farber at Hunt’s, has generously offered to contribute $125.00 toward the cost of our multimedia presentation, “Sojourns in The Wild – Farther Afield” and all he’s asking in return is an invitation from the club, museum, theatre, campus, or organization hosting the show to attend the presentation and set up his Hunt’s exhibit.  This reduces the cost of the presentation to $225.00!  You get the presentation, a field seminar, and two pros to tap for advice, deals on gear, and otherwise abuse us until you run out of questions or they throw us out of the pub after the show.

This month’s special Hunt’s offer to Sojourns In Nature Subscribers:

 Need a tripod?  Get the promotional code from Gustav (Gustav@SojournsInNature.com), pass it on  to Gary (digitalguygary@wbhunt.com) at Hunt’s with your order, and get free shipping on any Gitzo tripod. 

Posted by Gustav under Fall,Fall Foliage,Landscapes,New Hampshire,Vermont,Workshops & Tours | Comments (2)