Tag Archives: dense

New Hampshire Forest, Autumn

New Hampshire Forest, Autumn
Multi-colored autumn foliage in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

New Hampshire Forest, Autumn. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Multi-colored autumn foliage in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

We paused along the Kancamagus Highway to photograph at this large turnout, a place with a parking lot next to a rocky river, where the opening in the forest above the water let a bit more light into the edge of the forest. Just about every variety of New Hampshire autumn color was present where the forest ended at the river’s edge.

I have noted that there are not a lot of places where a photographer can get a bit of distance on such trees — often the opening for roadways is narrow and there isn’t usually a wide shoulder along the highways. The forest is quite dense, especially by comparison to the mostly-open forests that I’m familiar with in the Sierra Nevada. Within the density there is also tremendous diversity, with many kinds of trees growing closely together and, in the autumn, producing a kaleidoscope of almost all of the fall colors one can imagine.


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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Tree-Filled Valley

Tree-Filled Valley
A New Hampshire valley full of trees in a rainbow of autumn color.

Tree-Filled Valley. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A New Hampshire valley full of trees in a rainbow of autumn color.

We ended up at this location more or less by accident. We had just finished photographing an area that was on our list of places to visit, and as we drove away it was apparent that it was now late enough in the day that a long drive to another location was out of the question. Earlier we had pass through an area of extensive and quite colorful forest at a time when we could not stop. It was nearby, so we headed that direction… and along the way I saw a sign for a side road. We took it, ended up in a small parking lot near a trail across a bridge, and walked that way.

Later, after walking as far along this trail as slow photographers can go in a short time, we turned around and headed back. Of course, the return walk took even longer since the light was becoming more interesting. Back at the bridge where we had started, the valley along the creek under the bridge was full of trees in various states of color transformation. We stopped and made a few “wall of fall color” photos here before packing it in for the day.


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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Autumn Trees, New Hampshire

Autumn Trees, New Hampshire
A dense wall of trees with autumn leaves, New Hampshire.

Autumn Trees, New Hampshire. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A dense wall of trees with autumn leaves, New Hampshire.

This vignette of one small bit of White Mountains autumn color is somewhat indicative of the intensity and variety of the color there. My baseline for considering autumn color is California, which means the aspens (and a few other things) of the Eastern Sierra, the maples and oaks and dogwoods of the west slope of the range, and the mixture of native and non-native trees another areas of the state. It is rare to fine large, continuous hardwood forests with a mix of trees in California — almost unheard of, in fact. Yet that seems to be the norm in New Hampshire and other parts of New England we visited. It seems like the period of time with best color may be shorter here, but during the window the variety and intensity is remarkable.

The circumstances of the photography often seemed different in New England, too. (In fairness, this was my first visit, and I can see how my process might adapt to this different landscape over time.) Once I found color in New Hampshire — and, believe me, it was not hard! — in some cases photographing it was almost too easy. Here, for example, I had stopped at a popular roadside pull-out to photograph an open landscape view to the north. When that view turned out to be problematic I turned around and basically looked for colors and patterns to photograph in a large “tree wall” across the roadway!


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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New England Woods #5

New England Woods #5
A dense New England forest full of slender trees.

New England Woods #5. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A dense New England forest full of slender trees.

Slightly out of numerical order, here is another in the short series of photographs of New England woods from our late-August visit to (mostly) Vermont and parts of Massachusetts. To recap, we spent a week with a large family group in Southern Vermont, not far from Wilmington, where we rented a large place that we all shared. It wan’t primarily a photography trip — we spent more time talking, cooking, eating, and generally sitting around. But I did have a few opportunities to explore bits of the natural surroundings.

Again, the dense growth of these woods was unfamiliar to me. On the west costs I’m more likely to see relatively open forests or perhaps grasslands interspersed with deciduous trees. Here in Vermont the growth is thick , and it comes right to the edge of roadways and paths, leaving few opportunities for long views. So I often found myself walking along rural roads and photographing into this lovely foliage from its edge.


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 | FacebookEmail

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.