Late last year I posted this image of "The Old Book". This past spring, I was contacted by an aspiring writer whose wife had seen my image and felt it would be perfect for his first published book. He sent me a copy of his book and it is an uplifting story about broken relationships, forgiveness, and faith. After reading the story, I saw why my image resonated with them. This is my first published book cover and I am pleased that my image is associated with such a fine book. The author's name is Douglas Patten and information about the book can be found at his website.
Basin Flow
A great place to visit if you are ever driving through the White Mountains in New Hampshire is Franconia Notch State Park. One of the easy to get to attractions in the park is "The Basin". The basin was created over thousands of years by rushing water from a waterfall, which has eroded the rock into a smooth, circular cave-like formation. It looks like a granite pothole of about 20 feet. The setting is very beautiful and relaxing and is accessible via a short hike on a paved trail. When photographing the Basin, a Neutral Density filter is required to get that silky smooth water flow contrasting against the stark rock. As can be seen in this image of a cascade leading to the basin, shooting in the fall adds some color in the form of fallen leaves.
New Hampshire Beauty
Our New England week on the blog takes us to New Hampshire and the White Mountains. This image was taken from Cathedral Ledge in North Conway. It is an easy location to get to as long as you don't miss the road leading to it. There is a circular parking lot and it is a short walk to the ledge. The sun was setting, casting beautiful light over the countryside. The ledge overlooks the White Mountains, in particular, the Presidential Range whose peaks are named after American Presidents. It is a wonderful view that I have posted previously. One of the things that I have learned when shooting landscapes is to take time to examine the scene and you will probably find numerous photos in it. This was one of those times. I spotted this small farm and zoomed in for a composition that would catch the fading light and wonderfull fall colors.
Dawn has Broken
New England's famed foliage is the subject of today's image as we revisit Echo Lake located near Conway, New Hampshire. This image was taken just after dawn and shows the beautiful light and color that was there in all of it's glory for the 20+ photographers that were at the lake. The water was still and the fall foliage was reaching its peak. I decided to shoot a bracketed series so I could make sure that the beauty of the sky and the foliage came through the image. As you can see, Echo Lake is a wonderful location to capture the beauty of the New England's fall season.
The Old Book
Just a quick post and run today. This image is from an antique store somewhere in New Hampshire. The store owner was nice enough to allow us in to photograph whatever we wanted. While there were so many possible subjects, I was attracted to this old book. I could just imagine seeing this scene a long time ago with the old-time typewriter in the background and the old pewter cup in the foreground. Have a great weekend everyone.
Fall Countryside
Today we revisit Cathedral Ledge in North Conway, New Hampshire. The setting for this image is the White Mountains. This particular group of mountains are known as the Presidential Range whose peaks are named after American Presidents and other historic figures. Cathedral Ledge is easily accessable with a short walk from the parking area. On this particular night, the setting sun gave a beautiful glow to the New England countryside with all of it's fall colors and splendor. This image contrasted significantly from the same composition that I took the next morning which can be seen in this post. As you can see, weather can dramitically change a subject's appearance.
No Private Boats
Echo Lake is a state park located mear Conway, New Hampshire and is the scene of this fall foliage image. In 1943, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests joined with the state to raise funds to buy Echo Lake, protecting it from commercial development. Echo Lake is open to the public for swimming, canoeing, kayaking and picnicking. There was no one to be seen when we got there before dawn. As the 20+ photographers in our group quickly set up their tripods and cameras, I am sure that there was no part of the lake that wasn't captured that morning. The water was still and the fall foliage was reaching its peak. I wanted to capture the reflections in the lake and was intrigued by the small dock with it's sign "No Private Boats". I started to wonder what a public boat was in contrast to a private boat.
Echo Reflections
Wow, what a long strange week it has been. Not sure how much national press was given to it, but here in New England we got hit with a storm 8 days ago. It was a typical northeaster that dropped up to 18 inches of snow. What wasn't typical was that it was October and the foliage had not yet fallen. The unusually heavy snow weighed down on the leaves and caused a massive number of trees to fall. The end result was a massive power failure that affected over a million homes. What made in even more challenging was that huge areas were 100% out which resulted in no available food or gas. We lost power on October 29th and were only restored Saturday night. Seven days of no electricity, limited gas, no heat and no hot water. We are still without internet and TV, but that seems insignificant now as there are thousands still without power.
This event has given me a new perspective on how much we take for granted and rely on power. It also gives me a new perspective on what others have gone through with the recent hurricanes and floods in CT. We only lost power and still have our homes to go back to. Victims of the recent flood and hurricane haven't been as lucky.
This image is from my recent photography workshop and is of Echo Lake in New Hampshire. I hope to have the internet back soon and will be back to posting.
Fall Foliage Graffiti
Today we visit New Hampshire's famed Kancamagus Highway. The Kancamagus Highway (also known as the "Kanc") is a 34 mile scenic drive that is known as one of the best fall foliage viewing areas in New England. The Kanc in October is the destination of choice for thousands of "leaf peepers" from all over the country. With the weather being unusually warm (high 70's and low 80's) as well as being Columbus Day week, the crowds were at all-time highs. The Kanc has many attractions but one of the most popular is the Albany Covered Bridge. Being part of a photography workshop, we arrived after our dawn shoot at Cathedral Ledge (see yesterday's post) in hopes that it was still early enough to beat the crowds. As the 20+ photographers in our group arrived in the parking lot, we found it totally deserted. Little did we know that a tour bus was on its way to the bridge.
This is the first time that I have shot with so many photographers, so it can be interesting to see where everyone goes to set up their shots. Trust me, we had this bridge covered from every angle. This shot was taken inside the bridge with a 16-35mm as I wanted to get a wide view of the river, the surrounding foliage and the bridge structure along with it's graffiti. I will say that despite the number of photographers, everyone was conscious of not walking into one another's shots and would remain motionless whenever someone was shooting so as to prevent the bridge from shaking.
Rolling Fog
Finally back to posting after a great two weeks off. The first week was spent on my first photography workshop hosted by famed photographer, Bill Fortney. I must say that it was time extremely well spent. I learned more about photography during the week than I had in the past year. Bill has a wonderful way of teaching and making you think differently about approaches to shooting and composing images. More importantly, the fellowship exhibited by Bill, his team, guest instructor Matt Kloskowski and the other participants was wonderful. I highly recommend Bill's workshops. Hopefully, you will be seeing some new looks in my photos. The second week was dedicated to a little R&R including an extended family party to celebrate my Aunt's 105th birthday. God bless her!
Anyway, this image is from Cathedral Ledge in North Conway, New Hampshire that was taken during my workshop. We had gotten to the ledge to photograph the sunrise but instead were faced with some great fog that quickly covered the valley after we got there. While we were hoping for a spectacular sunrise, the fog made for an even better subject against the backdrop of the White Mountains.