Every year, when the leaves change color in the fall, I try to drive from my home in central Connecticut and visit the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts. The drive is a pretty one, passing through the Litchfield Hills before crossing the border into Massachusetts. The first major town in Massachusetts is the city of Pittsfield, which is home to Pontoosuc Lake shown in this image. The lake gets it's name from a Mohican Indian word meaning “a field or haven for winter deer”. I had stopped for lunch and wandered over to the picnic area to eat. After eating, I grabbed my camera and took a walk around the lake. Along the way, this scene fascinated me with the nice color of the trees and this dilapidated building. I am pretty sure that the building is no longer used and was unsure whether the boats were abandoned or not. They looked like they were in pretty bad shape. Regardless, I was happy that I picked there to have lunch.
Island Light
After viewing Steven Perlmutter's wonderful shot of Nubble Light Monday, I took a look at one of the images that I shot there this past August. This image was taken during my tour of New England lighthouses with my son as he searched for a location for his movie short. Since the light was located on an island, he didn't consider it seriously since getting all of the equipment onto the island would be a logistical challenge. We were actually planning to skip visiting it, but he changed his mind and wanted to take a look. Once we got to the light, we fell in love with it. He wanted me to take some photos but I really didn't want to as it was mid-day and the light and glare was terrible. He insisted, so I snapped a few hand-held 5-bracketed series that he could refer to it when we got back home. After editing this particular image, I wasn't happy with it and simply put it out of my mind until Monday. After looking at it a second time, I realized that it wasn't that bad and it actually had a fairy-book story feel to it. I decided to post it today and see what everyone thinks about it.
Storm's Approach
This image is from my trip to Jasper National Park a few years ago. I had looked forward to visiting Jasper and the iconic Spirit Island on Maligne Lake. As all best laid plans, it rained pretty much all of the three days we were there. I was determined to take the boat ride to the island. We got to Maligne Lake during one of the brief moments the rain had stopped. This was the scene as we started walking to get the tickets for the boat ride. I thought that the gray of the mountains and the stormy skies contrasted well with the red roof and boats. It was one of the better shots of the day as we did encounter a significant rain on our ride to Spirit Isalnd.
It Withstands the Cold!
As part of the photography workshop I took in October, we visited the Route 66 Restaurant. The restaurant was decorated with memorabilia on the walls, hanging from the ceiling and everywhere else you looked. The owner was nice enough to allow the 20 or so photographers to have the run of the place as long as we came for dinner later in the evening. After eating dinner, we swarmed everywhere with tripods. It was quite the scene as there were still a few customers left and the waitresses were trying to serve them. I felt pretty bad for them as they dodged photographers wherever they went. Anyway, this is a shot of an old and rusty motor oil can that was on the shelf above our booth. It was a relatively small place and setting up for shots was almost comical. Regardless, it was a fun night of shooting.
Back Alley
This is an image from the archives that I took on vacation in the British Isles in 2007. We took a cruise that stopped in various cities in Ireland, Wales, Scotland and France. This is a back alley in Edinburgh, Scotland. The interesting thing is that I shot this image on one of the days of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. The Tattoo is a famous show that features military bands as part of the Edinburgh Festival that is held in August each year. The Festival attracts over 200,000 people and it seemed that there was at least that many on the streets. What amazed me most about this image is that there was no one in this alley, unlike almost every other alley that I passed that day. It's like the photography gods wanted me to shoot this scene.
Early Morning Sentry
Today we are headed back to one of my favorite lighthouses, Pemaquid Point Lighthouse. I wanted to show a different perspective of this lighthouse. There are two classic views that are normally captured. The first one is from the vantage point from the rocks on the southern side, which usually has the lighthouse reflected in the collected water. The other classic view is from the rocks on the other side that show the strata in the rocks that lead toward the lighthouse and the sea.
This perspective is from the ground level and is probably the best angle to capture the early morning sunrise. While it doesn't have the drama that the rocks provide from the classic shots, it is still a pretty sight with the right light. This particular morning, the skies had cleared up significantly from the night before (check out this post for the previous night's weather). The warm glow from the rising sun cast a wonderful light on the scene and promised a great day ahead.
Branching Out
Of all of the seasons of the year, my favorite one is the fall. Maybe it is the need to escape the heat of a long summer or the promise of hiking through the woods with a sweater on. For most, it is the wonderful colors of the foliage which dominate the landscape. The anticipation for me begins when there is a crispness in the air. New England is a prime destination for the foliage season. Thousands of "leaf peepers" try to guess when the peak of the foliage season will occur and make travel plans. Every year, the timing of the peak is determined by temperatures and moisture, which are very difficult to predict. I've seen the peak as early as the first week of October and as late as Thanksgiving. Maybe part of the attraction of the fall is playing this foliage "lottery", the winner of which gets to experience the peak. For those of us living here in New England, the lottery is pretty much rigged in our favor as we don't have to travel far when it does indeed peak.
This image is of a tree at a church in Sutton, Vermont. The sunlight was falling just right on the leaves which contrasted nicely with the bark of the tree.
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.
I Found Darth Vader
Okay, I am a Star Wars fan and have always believed that Darth Vader died in the Return of the Jedi. I was walking around Victoria this past July and who do I find? That's right, Darth Vader. Obviously his death was greatly exaggerated and he really survived to live another day. I'm pretty sure that if Darth (can I call him by his first name?) knew that he would end up playing a violin on a Victoria street corner for a few coins, he might have decided to really die during the battle of Endor. By the way, he plays a mean violin.
Barn Light
One of the coolest places that I visited during my recent photo workshop was the Inn at Mountain View Farm in East Burke, VT. The inn is located on a 440-acre historic farm on top of a mountain with picturesque views of the surrounding Vermont countryside. One of our workshop leaders had arranged for the Inn and all of the surrounding farm buildings on the property to be available to be photographed. In one of the old stables, I found what I believe is a storage basket that probably holds hay. The way it was shaped led me to believe that, when full, the horses could reach up and eat the hay. The light coming through the window was wonderful and lit the weathered wood, giving it a golden glow.
All in all, we spent several hours at the Inn shooting images. We could have spent at least a week there. I hope to revisit with my wife sometime in the near future to get the full experience. Click here to find out more about the Inn.
Weathered
Today's image is from Sutton, Vermont. We had arrived in full force to a local farm that was nice enough to let us shoot the Sutton Church steeple in the distance. After shooting the church, we were walking back to the cars and I spotted this barn. I was taken with it's color and weathered look and was hoping to capture the scene in a way that conveyed what I was seeing. I am very pleased with the result but how I got there was a real learning experience. I had taken this photography workshop for many reasons and one of those was to get an assessment of my composition skills. My original image is below and gives a full look at the barn's wall. During the review of this photo, it was pointed out that while it was an excellent image, the real gem was the window with the weathered wall that is featured in this post.
I heard this type of comment numerous times during the week and I realized that I had a "wide angle" tendency when composing my images. I was encouraged to continue to shoot wide angle but also to analyze the scene to see if there were any stronger compositions that could be extracted from it. As the week progressed, I found myself finding strong subjects that might have been missed in the wide view.
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.
Enter at Your Own Risk
Off to Bill Fortney's New England Photo Workshop tomorrow. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to it. Hope to learn tons as well as shooting parts of New England where I've never been. That's always exciting. I may post a few next week but I am not sure of the schedule and internet accessibility. If I am unable, I will be back to normal the week of October 17th. And now for today's photo. Every time I walk around New York City, I come across something different and unusual. This is one of those times. I was walking around Brooklyn and came across this at the entrance to a restaurant. While it is unusual and funny, it didn't entice me to enter and try the food. When I was in business school, I never learned to warn potential customers of the risks of visiting my business.
Blue Hour at the Pier
This is one of those very unexpected photos that we sometimes discover and become one of our favorites. When booking hotels for my lighthouse scouting trip with my son, I found this relatively cheap hotel within 25 minutes of Pemaquid Point. When Greg and I checked in, the hotel was the typical hotel room you would expect. We headed to Pemaquid Point to scout out the location for the next morning's shoot. After the scouting trip, we drove to Wiscasset to grab a quick dinner. Getting back to the hotel at about 8:30 pm, we walked around the hotel property and found this extremely long pier that was lit up. After seeing the pier and the great blue hour light, I ran back to the car and grabbed the tripod and camera. This was one of the images that I shot. It was a beautiful night and we spent a long time just hanging out on the pier. It was one of those totally unexpected moments and images.
Sunrise at Portland Head
Arguably the signature lighthouse of Maine, the Portland Head Light is actually located outside of Portland on Cape Elizabeth. The light was initially commissioned by George Washington in 1787. The light stands 80 feet above the land and 101 feet above the water. Edward Rowe Snow wrote about the light: “Portland Head and its light seem to symbolize the state of Maine—rocky coast, breaking waves, sparkling water and clear, pure salt air.” The lighthouse is surrounded by a huge park and when I visited it the day before to scout, it was swarming with people. I was sure that I would not be alone the next morning when I went to shoot the light at sunrise. Much to my surprise, the only other person there was a cameraman from the local television station who must have been telecasting a live shot of the light. As a result, I had the run of the park and shot the light from all angles. This is the first one that I have posted and it is the most familiar composition. The sunrise was beautiful and it was very serene except for the fog horn which blasts every 15 seconds 24 by 7. Look forward to posting other compositions of this wonderful light in the next few weeks.
On the Rocks
I relearned two Photography 101 lessons on this one. We went to Camden, Maine where I had been many years before. I remembered the rocky beach in nearby Camden Hills State Park and I wanted to get a sunrise shot there. Rather than visit the site the night before, I thought I knew exactly where I would go the next morning. Up before dawn, I drove down to the park and walked down toward the beach. Mistake number one: I forgot to pack any light. It wasn't pitch black so I wasn't too worried. At the end of the trail, I hit a T intersection. Mistake number two, I didn't remember which way to turn because I hadn't scouted the night before. I seemed to think it was to the left and went that way. Couldn't find the trail and hit the end of the park. I quickly turned and went to the other end hoping that I would find the access point before sunrise (good thing it wasn't too long of a trail).
I finally found what I thought was the access point and quickly scrambled down to the beach. Only problem was, there were no rocks. I was able to shoot some images, turned around and saw the rocky beach about where I had originally looked.
I ran up the slope, and hurried back to the other end. Since the sun had already risen, I spotted a very small access point which got me to where I wanted to originally get to. Out of breath, I was able to get this shot while the light was still good.
I have relearned my lesson and will not make these mistakes again!
Campanile View
I am really excited this week. On Friday, I saw that there were some last minute openings in Bill Fortney's and Matt Kloskowski's New England Photo Workshop. I've never taken a photo workshop before and have always admired Bill's and Matt's work. I decided to take the plunge and I am heading back to Maine on Saturday for the workshop. Looking forward to it so much. Now to today's image... Venice is one of the most unique cities in the world. It is a photographer's paradise with views on every street / canal. The center of our stay in Venice was St Mark's Square (Piazza San Marco). The square seems to be the designation of every traveler to Venice and is also a popular meeting place for the locals.
The piazza is home to the famous St Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace. To get a different view of St Mark's, you can enter it's campanile (bell tower) and go up 323 feet to see the basilica from above. The view shows the five domes of St Mark's against the backdrop of the surrounding city.
Cliff Living
Southwestern Colorado near Durango is home to the wonderful Mesa Verde National Park. Like most national parks, Mesa Verde contains some beautiful scenery but it's ancient cave dwellings are what make it world famous. In fact, it's Cliff Palace, shown in this image, is thought to be the largest cliff in North America. The Cliff Palace was inhabited by ancient Pueblo people between 550 AD to 1300 AD and often referred to as the Anasazi (Navajo for "Ancient Ones" or "Ancient Enemy"). The Anasazi kept no written records and it is hard to learn about their life other that the men were hunters and farmers while the woman were skilled in basket weaving. They mysteriously disappeared from the Cliff Palace and it is speculated that they left the are after a 24 year drought.
Walking among the adobe structures is like walking on hallowed ground. The Cliff Palace is a remarkable structure that is even more amazing that it was built about 1,500 years ago and still is in great shape. I highly recommend a visit to Mesa Verde if you are ever in southwest Colorado.
Tribute in Bronze
Walking around the cities in Europe often serves as an informal history lesson. There are monuments that everyone recognizes and then there are others that commemorative some special time or event that may be less known. I came upon this monument on a street in London opposite the London Eye. It is an amazing tribute to the men and women who fought in the Battle of Britian which, in essence, saved England from being overrun by the Nazis. Not only was England ill-equipped for the battle (4,000 planes vs. 1,660 planes for the Allies), but their pilots were inexperienced and not well trained. It was through their sacrifices and efforts that England won the 3-month battle for air superiority over England. The victory led to Winston Churchill's famous quote, " Never was so much owed by so many to so few." Unveiled in 2005, the monument is a granite structure that has bronze panels that depict various aspects of the battle in the air and on the ground. While the sculpture contains a number of scenes, the most amazing one is this section that shows a group of pilots scrambling off to their planes. I was quite taken with the textures and details of this monument and think it pays great tribute to the airmen.