New England Foliage Blog →
Sugar Hill Travels Amid New England Fall Foliage
Rainy day fall color is still pretty, photo tip for rain
by Jeff "Foliage" Folger
Lily pond on Kancamagus Hwy
Sugar Hill marker at intersection of Easton and Lafayette
Road to the Cemetary, I didn't tkae it this day... Maybe I should have.
Easton road..
view from the farm
I left the farm behind to go and find new views... It actually got better after this...
Greetings Fall Foliage Peepers
Last week I talked about how the rain dampened my spirit for capturing the color but I know this, if you choose good subjects and compose your shots (Google the rule of thirds and you will understand) you will still be able to come away with good shots. But you tell me what you think!
The first shot on the right is a crop in from a pond where a woman was discouraged of the amount of color she was or better yet wasn't seeing. It was late in the day and over cast and I told her it wasn't the best color I had seen all day (Yeah, I'm sure That really helped) :-) but I told her that by getting up close (get out of the car!) she would find some good pictures. (I hope she did)
This little technique is critical for getting a different aspect or viewpoint on your subject when what you are seeing isn't making you excited... Just move your feet to a new location. You'd be surprised by what a difference this makes.
So ignoring the on again, off again rain I drove up 302 to 117 and headed east (towards Sugar Hill) I pulled off at a crossroads that was really pretty where Lafayette Rd and Easton Rd join into 117 (across from a cemetery road). I stopped here and consulted my Gazetteer and saw the Easton joins Toad Hill road and back to Lafayette road.
(Toad Hill? I had to go see that) :-)...
All these roads circle around Ore Hill and I believe this hill is what is pictured in several of the shots. I would say it is 85-95% covered in sugar maples. I didn't think to record which direction I was pointing my camera when I took these shots :-( Maybe I'll get back up there this fall:-)
So heading down Easton I was greeted by a little country lane that was paved but not recently. The road was wet reflecting back the color of the trees which I tried to capture. I was only slightly successful.
I came back up Lafayette and pulled over by a farm and was amazed by the view these folks had out their front door. I think most of the opposite hills must be sugar maples and it was so pretty to be painful. Then I finished up where I started on 117. I continued up 117... But that's a story for another day:-) If you want to hear it let me know in the comments because the pictures get better (IMHO) :-)
Jeff's Contest the winner gets six handmade cards (by me) with six of my images.
But you can't win if you don't play! The idea is to guess how many miles I will drive looking for fall foliage between mid-September and 1 November. You can put a guess in the comments below or in the forum or email me direct at jeff.foliage@gmail.com. Remember you can always go to the forums on the Yankee Magazine website and click on the forums then go to the foliage forum and look for Jeff?s contest 2009? Or you can just click here to go direct? but the scenic route is more fun.. ?
Did you know that Yankee is up on Facebook and Twitter? Well click on the links and you can get your updates all year long!
Yankee?s Foliage Fan page on Facebook and Yankee on Twitter.
Autumn is getting close and I hope to hear from you throughout the rest of the summer that we have and if you have any questions please feel free to ask them here in the comments section or over in the \[foliage forum\]\[1\]and I and the other forum members will do their best to answer them
Visit my Facebook fan page for Vistaphotography
[1]:
Reader Comments
Comment from Theresa Barr on August 25, 2009
Would definitely love to hear about your travel up 117 and looking forward to even more great photos----thanks!
Comment from Betty Pauwels on August 26, 2009
I add your link to my journal. http://mydaymyinterestsphotoblog.blogspot.com/
I am looking forward to your suggestions for photographing Fall.
Comment from Kathy Radford on August 29, 2009
Hi Jeff, love your articles.
I love to shoot in inclement and overcast weather. A number of years ago we went to the North Conway/Kanc area for the fall foliage holiday weekend (my favorite area, by the way to shoot the foliage). Unfortunately it was a very wet and soggy weekend. Saturday was a torrential downpour preventing us from going out at all to shoot. Sunday the weather was pretty much intermitting between misty and a light rain. My husband thought I was crazy when I told him I wanted to go out and shoot that day. None the less I got some of my best shots that day. I also ended up walking downtown North Conway taking close up shots of the quaint little stores with all their beautiful fall flowers gracing their front doors. I have one shot of the scenic vista on the left side of Rte. 16 between Conway and North Conway with the misty sky over the water with the fall foliage and that shot always gets many comments when I do the craft fairs and asking where it was taken. I took many shots of piles of pumpkins for sale. One of my favorite shots was pumpkins mixed with geraniums. So for people out taking shots don't be afraid of inclement weather, they have such a great feel to the shots and you don't have to worry about all the harsh shadows you will get on a bright sunny day. Just keep shooting and you will be amazed at what you get, just be sure to keep your camera dry.
Kathy in NH
Comment from Jeff Folger on August 29, 2009
Hi Kathy, hopefully others will try this out.. it's not much fun if it's raining (pouring) but a cloudy misty day can really add something special to your shots.. Do I love to have a sunny cool afternoon with the late afternoon sun slanting in?
You bet!
I just don't let it stop me from going out to catch Mother Nature's little show of color if it isn't.. The color is still there, it's just different...
Good luck everybody and let me know how you did this fall, either here or in the foliage forum! Jeff Foliage
Comment from butch lombardi on August 30, 2009
I used to get mad when it rained. One day I went out and shot some foliage in the rain. When I looked at what I had I decided that rain wasn't so bad after all. I now go out on rainy days in the fall as much as I do on clear days. The rain brings out the color with out sharp contrasts in light. I've since read articles from several different photographers who all recommend shooting in wet weather. here's a few things I found useful. You can experiment with white balance. I found the cloudy setting is one of the best for wet foliage. I use my tripod. I'll set the camera up and work under a large golf umbrella. It keeps everything dry. Just be sure to keep the umbrella out of the top of the photograph. I also use a rain sleeve. You can get them from any camera store or online. Before you spend the money though try what I did. If you have an old waterproof windbreaker try this. Cut off both sleeves at the shoulder. I used one sleeve for my 100-400mm Canon Zoom lens. I cut it long enough so it fit over the lens and camera with the lens fully extended. It fits good because it gets wider as it gets to the shoulder so it fits over the camera. The elastic cuff fits snugly over the end of the lens. The back is open so you can access the camera controls. The second sleeve I cut to fit my 18-200mm Sigma lens and the camera. Both work well. I've used this setup in rain, snow, and in my kayak and it's protected the camera from the rain, snow, and any splash in the kayak.
Comment from Mary Jo Mappe on September 3, 2009
Thanks for the tips... that's very clever, and we all want to recycle, don't we. I do have one old windbreaker that about to bite the dust so I'm keeping this in mind when the time comes.
Registered users can add comments.
Registration is free, and just takes a moment.
Login or Register.