Autumn Stream. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.
A stream flows past fall colors in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
This month’s visit to New Hampshire and Vermont to photograph autumn color reminded me of some things about photography in unfamiliar places. I usually photograph where I have long-developed place knowledge or at least experience with very similar subjects. That wasn’t the case in New England. We started out by visiting “icons” — which isn’t a bad strategy at the very beginning. They are “icons for a reason,” and they let me start to figure out the personality of a new place. But on several occasions I was also reminded of the value to pushing beyond those boundaries — just poking around, keeping my eyes open to possibilities, looking in the opposite direction from the obvious thing, and sometimes just wandering a little bit.
The “wandering” took various forms on this trip. Sometimes it involved driving long distances or turning off the highway to head up a side road. In the case of this photograph, we had pulled out at a “picnic area” for a moment, and I wondered what was beyond the trees surrounding the parking lot. I could tell there was color in that direction and it seemed like there might be a creek. So off we went to find this lovely little stream flowing through the forest, and we ended up photographing there for a half hour or more.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.
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