Category Archives: Photographs: New England

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New England

White Mountains Creek, Autumn

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White Mountains Creek, Autumn
Autumn trees along a boulder-strewn White Mountains creek littered with fallen leaves.

White Mountains Creek, Autumn. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Autumn trees along a boulder-strewn White Mountains creek littered with fallen leaves.

This photograph exists because we eventually thought to move beyond the lovely but iconic area we first photographed to explore a bit. We headed away from where we were staying, driving north and east, heading toward some locations that seemed interesting for little more than their names on a map. As we drove along one two-lane highway, for no reason that I can now recall I turned off onto a smaller road that took us through some lovely flatlands. A mile or two up that road a gravel road branched off — it had an intriguing name so I took it. It entered thick forest and began to rise, often following small creeks. We stopped where the roadway crossed one of them, got the cameras out, and began photographing this lovely and lonely area.

I was encouraged not only because this turned out to be a nice locations but also because it marked a transition from taking in the icons (often a great way to begin) to exploring, poking around, and discovering subtle little treasures that one usually won’t find on the main roads. Taking this detour also confirmed some advice I had been given by photographers with more experience in this region: explore those little side roads!

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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Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New England

Autumn Leaves, Trunks

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Autumn Leaves, Trunks
Autumn leaves and soaring tree trunks in a White Mountains forest.

Autumn Leaves, Trunks. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Autumn leaves and soaring tree trunks in a White Mountains forest.

This photograph illustrates a few important take-aways from fall photography, things that can be extrapolated to other kinds of photography, too. Again, the location was not iconic, even though it is along/near iconic places. We had stopped after seeing a sign for a pond, but I ended up finding the nearby forest even more interesting. Note that not all of the trees have changed color. As overwhelming as a fully fall-colored forest can be, the colors often stand out when there is some “non-color” in the frame, too. Note, too, that I made this photograph in soft light, which intensifies the colors while opening up the shadows. Finally, I think that some non-color structural elements can help with the composition of photographs of the subject — here that comes from the verticals of the tree trunks.

One thing we learned on this trip — our first to New England in the fall — is how quickly the leaves reach and then pass their peak color. The build-up seems a bit slower, but there was literally one day when it was obvious that the peak had arrived. And only one day later the leaves began to fall more quickly, bare trees became more apparent, and the color was in decline. The show wasn’t over, but the process was clear. Fortunately, because the color doesn’t arrive everywhere at the same moment, flexible photographers and leaf-peepers can move on to different locations that haven’t peaked yet.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New England

Lake, Clouds, Floating Leaves

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Lake, Clouds, Floating Leaves
Fallen autumn leaves float on still water reflecting a cloud-filled sky

Lake, Clouds, Floating Leaves. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Fallen autumn leaves float on still water reflecting a cloud-filled sky

This photograph could probably generate a chapter of commentary, but I’ll keep to the traditional two paragraphs. Recently I was asked about making black and white photographs of autumn “color,” and I said that I do so on occasion, at least in part just to push myself to consider how it can be done — what, besides the color, can suggest the feelings of autumn? In addition, this photograph is also the result of the “wandering around” that I mentioned in the previous post — getting away from the obvious places, even when visiting an unfamiliar locations. There’s also something technically different about this photograph, though I think I’ll leave that as a mystery. I’ll bet no one figures out what I’m referring to…

A few days into our October New England visit we left the iconic Kancamagus Parkway area behind and headed north and east on, more or less, a “random ride.” This took us away from the tall ridges of the White Mountains, and into different landscapes featuring lower hills, valleys, and more rivers, creeks, and lakes. Near the northern-most point of our route the roadway crossed a quiet lake. We stopped to make photographs of the leaves littering its surface and the reflections of beautiful clouds.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: New England

Autumn Stream

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Autumn Stream
A stream flows past fall colors in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

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.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.