Tag Archives: jefferson

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

Autumn Creek

Image Leave a comment
Autumn Creek
A rocky creek beneath thinning autumn foliage in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

Autumn Creek. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A rocky creek beneath thinning autumn foliage in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

This is a slightly different perspective on a scene that was also the focus of another photograph I shared in the past few weeks. Both focus on this quiet little New Hampshire creek, a place we came upon serendipitously, after taking a few random turns off of the main highway and driving up a gravel road into the forest. Both photographs — this one and the previous — include the same creek and were made from almost the same camera position. In this one I expanded the field of view a bit and raised the camera to include more of the fall leaves in the canopy.

I often urge folks who ask about the “secret places” they should know about when they visit a new location to instead recognize that in order to understand the place well enough to find those it will take time… and that it isn’t a bad idea to at least start with icons while you keep your eyes peeled for non-iconic spots that appeal to you. That was certainly our approach on this trip, on which we began by photographing in one of the most iconic — and crowded! — regions for New Hampshire fall color. After the first day and a half or so of that, we started to “poke around” a bit, heading up this or that little side road that we noticed and then setting off for more distant places whose names on maps caught our attention.

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.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

Leaves, Boulders in the Stream

Image Leave a comment
Leaves, Boulders in the Stream
Autumn leaves lie on builders in the middle of a White Mountains forest stream.

Leaves, Boulders in the Stream. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Autumn leaves lie on builders in the middle of a White Mountains forest stream.

After we stopped here to photograph a couple of lonely creeks passing though hardwood forest along a remote backroad I looked around for smaller subjects within the larger scene that had originally convinced me to stop. I had been looking at the forest as a whole, set off by the stream following a path bending beneath the canopy of trees. Eventually I thought to look more or less at my feet, where I noticed fallen leaves on boulders around which the creeks flowed.

Photographing these dense forest scenes in the Northeast can be something of a challenge. I’m used to more open forests that I see on the West Coast, where the light shines in between the trees, and the view extends some distance. In New England the trees are smaller and grow more densely, and it is often difficult to see more than a few feet into the woods, and even more difficult to find a view that without a trunk, branch, or stick intruding into the frame. All of this is by way of saying that it was not at all easy to isolate this little scene!

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.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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 Forest and Creek

Image Leave a comment
Autumn Forest and Creek
A creek flows beneath autumn trees in the White Mountains of New Hampshire

Autumn Forest and Creek. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A creek flows beneath autumn trees in the White Mountains of New Hampshire

This is a photograph of another branch of the creek that was featured in a recent photograph. The creek in the previous photograph flowed under a bridge to join the creek seen here. Both flowed down gentle rocky sloped though a quiet hardwood forest that was perhaps just past the prime color. On a day when crowds were visiting the more famous sites in this mountain range, it was pleasant to stop here in the still quiet for a while.

People from the Northeast who have me advice on this trip recommended several thing. Some had to do with timing, some with the typical transitions of the color. Others were about locations — and as a first-time visitor to this area I needed that advice. In addition to pointing out some of the must-see locations, almost everyone also said to get off the main roads and poke around some of the backroads, especially the smaller gravel routes. This was one of those, a road that we followed on a whim — and we ended up off the beaten path in places that are not as frequently visited.

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.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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

White Mountains Creek, Autumn

Image Leave a comment
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.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question. (Click this post’s title first if you are viewing on the home page.)

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