With the temperature in the mid-40’s, we were tempted outside and on another hike this afternoon. Our goal was Willard Pond. We headed over there via the beaver swamp and came back via the “new” trail.
I spent a little time photographing the pond, but the light was not particularly good nor were the clouds. I spent much more time photographing the stream which feeds the pond.
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Late yesterday afternoon Joan and I headed out for a “quick walk”. We ended up at a large beaver swamp that lies between the house and Willard Pond. There had been a couple of very light flurries earlier in the day, but just as we arrived at the beaver dam it began to snow a bit more earnestly. Nonetheless, I persisted in making photographs from a position just below the beaver dam.
The walk back, in fading light, was “interesting” as the snow made it difficult to pick out the icy patches along the road! We proceeded slowly arriving back at the house in the dark.
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We, and our neighbors, share the back of our lots with a beaver or two. The beaver swamp runs roughly north-south for about half a mile and we live at the southern end. There are two dams and two lodges. Last summer I spent a lot of time stalking odes in the marsh and around the deep water near the southern dam and lodge; these are probably on our property (although its hard to say for sure).
Yesterday afternoon, I headed out to photographed this wet land from the northern dam. In the afternoon, the light is better in this direction and as I headed out I was hoping for some dramatic clouds as the weather broke.
I was well rewarded for a mile-and-a-half (round trip) walk and the ninety minutes or so that I worked the scene; staying until the light in the foreground faded. The temperature was about thirty degrees and there were three or four brief periods of snow. The wind was blowing which meant lots of changing clouds. All of that sounds worse that it was, dressed properly and thoroughly engaged in “the moment”, I did not feel cold at all.
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Warning… photo geek talk ahead! Proceed at your own risk!
The right equipment really helps. Both of these images were taken with a graduated neutral density filter. I have had a couple of these filters for years. In the past, I often left them at home and ended up regretting not having them with me. The reason? No room in my backpack. I recently bought a much larger (and better fitting) backpack. This time I had the filter with me!
While on the subject of gear… On Saturday I put a winter coat on my tripod. Aluminum tripods make for good heat sinks and thus very cold hands (even with gloves on) . Thus the winter coat!
My tripod’s winter coat consists three pieces of foam pipe insulation of the appropriate diameter and a bit of duck tape. An eight foot length of the pipe insulation cost $3.49 at the hardware store. Less than 10 minutes after I got home, my tripod was fully clad with insulation on the upper sections of each leg and ready to go. I even had enough left over for a fourth leg! Come spring, I’ll remove my tripod’s winter coat and store the pieces away until the following winter. Hopefully, I’ll be able to find them again!
Yesterday, Joan and I took a drive wandering through the towns of Windsor, Lempster, Unity, Bellows Falls and Alstead; all in NH except Bellows Falls, which is Vermont!
We had an enjoyable time. However, the falls in Bellows Falls are not very photogenic… way too much anthropogenic “stuff”. Oh well, I guess I should have known!
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Overnight on Thursday, an inch or two of snow fell… just enough to add some photographic interest to the ground. Around mid-day yesterday (Friday) the overcast looked like it might break up so I headed out to photograph the landscape.
The ultimate goal was “my spot” (e.g. see the first image here) for photographing Mount Monadnock. On the way there I stopped at a number of roadside wetlands. As I got to “my spot”, the clouds to the west were beginning to break up but Monadnock was hidden in the clouds and it did not seem like it would be appearing any time soon. I did not stay long. This was probably a wise decision as the cloud cover did not really start to break up until almost sunset.
Instead, I spent some time exploring the back roads of Roxbury and discovered a high spot near Otter Brook Lake with great views to the west (the last three images were taken here). I am quite sure that I will be revisiting this spot.
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The “in between” season… in between the last foliage and reliable snow cover… is a difficult time for a nature photographer. There is not much wildlife about and the landscape is rather drab.
However, I get antsy if I do not get out to photograph at least once a week so I headed out yesterday afternoon under slate gray skies.
I had no real goal in mind but I headed south through Hancock and Peterborough figuring that I would scout for vantage points from which to photograph Pack Monadnock and North Pack Monadnock when we finally get some snow cover.
I ended up over in Harrisville, site of a old but well maintained mill complex, thinking that architecture is a good “in between” season subject. The mid-afternoon (around 3 PM) light was at a nice low angle and very soft due to the cloud cover. One of the mill complex’s bell towers was already in shadow but the other was still nicely light, as was the tower on the town library. The mill buildings are a tough subject; there are wires and poles galore making it difficult to find angles clear of signs of modernity.
Heading back towards home, I stopped (at about 4 PM) to photograph the sunset over a small wetland in Hancock and about forty five minutes later (after a stop at the store) I got a shot of the very last light over Gregg Lake.
I arrived home with very cold hands (aluminum tripods are great heat sinks despite gloves); the thermometer was reading in the mid-twenties.
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Yesterday, was a nice November day… cool but not cold and partly cloudy. My goal for the day was Washington, NH but I planned stop at Sky Farm on the way there.
Sky Farm, in Deering, NH, is part of the High Five Reservation of the Forest Society. Among its features is a hill top pasture with a great west-facing view of the Contoocook Valley. This time of year the grand vista is not particularly photogenic in its coat of early winter gray. However, I have been exploring the photographic possibilities of the scattered pasture trees against the sky This view can be had by walking a bit down the hill and looking back more-or-less west. There was a very photogenic sky this trip… deep blue sky and wispy white clouds.
The town common in Washington has three examples of classic New England public buildings… a church, a schoolhouse and a meetinghouse (from left to right in the second photo, below). All in white clapboard and all still in regular use (although the schoolhouse now serves as the police station). I found the architectural details as photographically interesting as the overall view.
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This photo was made at about 4:40 PM on Tuesday; sunset was about 4:15.
Joan and I were on our way to town to run some errands and she wanted to stop to see if there were any cranberries in the bog on the north side of the road. Thus while Joan was foraging, I was photographing.
Joan found many berries but all had gone mushy from too many freeze-thaw cycles.
I noticed the patch of warm light at the far end of the lake. This provided a nice contrast to the cool blue of the rest of the sky. There was not much detail in the clouds… I would have liked more. Landscape photographers don’t have much control over these things.
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Joan and I headed back to East Washington yesterday. The weather was better; a bright blue sky with scattered wispy clouds. My goal was the Baptist church I had “missed” the day before and the nearby Bradford Bog.
I had noticed the church on Friday. It sits atop a small hill less than a hundred yards from the Purling Beck Hall. I had even headed up towards it in the truck, but I was unsure if I was trespassing or not so I turned around. A bit of research on the web revealed that it was still publicly accessible. So, back I went.
While looking at the map after arriving back at home on Friday, I noticed the Bradford Bog, a white cedar bog, not more than half a mile from the Purling Beck Hall. Thus once we finished photographing the buildings in East Washington, we donned our blaze orange (always a good idea in hunting season) took a walk along the boardwalk in this delightful bog. The boardwalk ends at a raised lookout overlooking the bog ringed with hills. From this vantage the bog was not particularly photogenic in its suit of November gray. However, at other times of the year, I am guessing that it is very photogenic. I’ll be headed back at some point.
After the bog, we drove another back road loop getting as far north as Lake Sunapee before heading back south towards home. As we passed though Washington, the buildings on the green were unencumbered by signs of modernity but alas, the light was gone… next time!
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Yesterday, I took a “back roads” drive through some of the towns just north of Antrim. My route took me through Windsor, East Washington, Washington, Lempster, East Acworth, Marlow and Stoddard.
The weather was classic November in New Hampshire… cold, gray and blustery; there were snow showers on and off all afternoon. The day was made for black and white photography.
The classic white clapboard buildings on Washington Common were surrounded by signs of modernity when I went by so I did not stop to photograph them this time. However, I “discovered” some other buildings of the same ilk in East Washington that were unencumbered. I also “discovered” the town hall in Lempster which is in the middle of a renovation but will make a nice subject in the future.
Here are the “keepers”:
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