Photographs by Frank

18 October 2013

Two More Stone Arch Bridges

Filed under: Autumn,Landscapes,Monadnock Region — Tags: , — Frank @ 9:00 AM

There are five stone arch bridges of historical import nearby our house. I photographed and wrote about the nearest, the now unused, one in Stoddard (near the Antrim line) a couple of days ago. The other bridges are all located in Hillsborough.

On Wednesday, I set out to explore two of the other bridges… the Jones Rd. bridge (sometimes called the Carr Bridge) and the Gleason Falls bridge. Both of these bridges are still in active use and span Beard Brook. They (and a third bridge, the Gleason Falls Road bridge) are all located within a mile of each other.

If you are keeping count, I have mentioned four of the five bridges. The fifth is the Sawyer bridge also located in Hillsborough. This bridge used to carry US202 across the Contoocook River near the junction with NH 9, but now sits unused next to its modern replacement.  This bridge had a brief moment in the spotlight during the last presidential campaign as Romney’s “Bridge to Nowhere”.

I’ll need to get back to photograph the Gleason Falls Road bridges at some point and maybe I should also do the Sawyer’s Bridge for the record, but it is not in a particularly photogenic spot.

Anyway, here are the photos from Wednesday:

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When I spend time around running water, I can’t help but be fascinated by the patterns present in the flow. Thus, I often spend time making photos of the water with long shutter speeds (4-8 seconds in the photos shown here).

The results can be quite abstract and I helped that along with my processing.

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15 October 2013

Lakeside Foliage

Filed under: Autumn,Monadnock Region,The "New" Yard & Environs — Tags: , — Frank @ 6:00 PM

Most folks consider Labor Day the end of the season for summer vacations… not us! We leave the boats out and readily available until Columbus Day.

Thus, yesterday after lunch, Joan and I headed down the lake in the kayaks to spend a bit of time at camp and with the ultimate goal of getting the Sunfish out of the water for the season.

The afternoon was mild. The temperature was in the low 60s, there was a gentle breeze on the lake and the skies were partly sunny.  Joan decided to take one more sail around the lake. I headed back out in the kayak to photograph the lakeside foliage.

After we got the boat and rigging stowed away, we meandered back down the lake in the kayaks. By then the skies had become overcast and the wind had died out. I made some more photos on the trip back down the lake.

We had a truck load of boats (two kayaks and a canoe) on the way back to the house. We won’t put them away for good until roughly Thanksgiving… there are probably a few more nice days between now and then!

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13 October 2013

The Stone Arch Bridge in Stoddard, et al.

Filed under: Autumn,Landscapes,Monadnock Region — Tags: , — Frank @ 5:00 PM

Yesterday was a cool, gray day… there were periods of fog and light rain. A perfect day for photography!

I headed out about noon with the goal of the old stone arch bridge by Route 9 on the Stoddard/Antrim line. I had no plans other than to photograph the bridge and river along with the fall colors.

After about ninety minutes there, I headed off on a backroads drive through Nelson, Harrisville, Stoddard and Hancock. I arrived back at the house just after five. I was a bit damp and chilly but happy none-the-less.

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6 October 2013

Peterborough (NH) Photo Walk

Filed under: Autumn,Monadnock Region — Frank @ 8:00 PM

Yesterday, I spent a few hours roaming downtown Peterborough NH with a small group of other photographers are part of “World Wide Photo Walk“. The day was heavily overcast, not ideal for outdoor photography but much preferable to the harsh direct sunlight of a cloudless day… not that one gets to choose!

As a landscape and wildlife photographer in the main, most of my photography is done out in the woods and without company. Even on occasions when I photograph “in town”, I preferring to concentrate on my photography and thus rarely have a companion along much less a whole group. That said, I spent most of the group walk off by myself and for that I apologize to the group.

After the walk I did have an enjoyable time chatting with those who stayed for dinner at a local pizza place… Our Town Pizza . Recommended!

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Pack Monadnock

Filed under: Autumn,Birds,Monadnock Region — Tags: , — Frank @ 7:00 PM

Yesterday morning Joan, Suzy (Joan’s cousin) and I headed up to the top of Pack Monadnock to watch for migrating raptors. Each year, during September and October, NH Audubon maintains an observatory there to count migrating raptors.

We spent roughly three hours there along with Henry (the NH Audubon staff member) and a small group of other raptor watchers. Dozens of other folks (hikers and sightseers) also passed though.

All told, we saw 30-40 raptors but none close enough for good photographs. I had the 50-500 mm lens mounted on the tripod and at time amused myself photographing other birds and the foliage.

At one point a flock of more than a dozen cedar waxwings alit in the mountain ash trees just down slope from our position and began to chow down in the abundant berries.  I took more than a dozen photos hoping to catch more than one bird with berry in beak, all to no avail. In every frame I caught only a single bird in action!

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3 October 2013

Autumn Color: Local Edition

Filed under: Autumn,Landscapes,Monadnock Region — Tags: , — Frank @ 11:00 PM

It is important to remember that good photos can be made anywhere and that one does not always need to travel to “exotic” locations for photo opportunities.

About three this afternoon, I was headed home after running some errands in town when I pulled the truck over at the boat launch on Gregg Lake (about a mile from the house) to photograph the fall colors. The conditions were ideal… high scattered clouds for good light and interesting skies* and foliage that is closing in on peak.

I had my little “take everywhere” Nikon 1 V1 with me and spent about thirty minutes exploring the possibilities.

On the way back to the truck, I chatted with a woman from Florida (whose name I have forgotten). She had a camera in hand… the conversation started “Great minds think alike!”.

Here are the results:

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*We have had a string of bright, cloudless days recently. Landscape photographers like nice weather as much as everyone else, but dramatic clouds make for much more interesting photographs!

Lyme Center (NH) & Environs

Filed under: Autumn,Landscapes — Tags: , — Frank @ 3:00 PM

Yesterday, Joan had another “botanizing”  trip. As is often the case, I went along to drive and to explore somewhere new. Thus, I spent the day roaming the area around Lyme Center.

This is not exactly new territory as Joan and I went to graduate school at Dartmouth about 10 miles south of Lyme. However, since we had not been in the area for more than thirty years it was almost like new territory.

Lyme Center has not changed much during those years… the same cannot be said for Hanover!

I drove a number of back roads and found many interesting things to photograph. The foliage was a bit past peak but still very nice. I ended the day with a hike along the Appalachian Trail up to the top of Holt’s Ledges. I walked this area many times back in the late 1970’s; it was nice to recall fond memories.

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1 October 2013

White Mountain Foliage Tour

Filed under: Autumn,Landscapes,the White Mountains — Tags: , — Frank @ 6:00 PM

Yesterday, I took another drive around the White Mountains to “leaf peep” and photograph.

I did not get going until mid-morning so I decided to concentrate on the west side… Franconia Notch and Crawford Notch. I got off the interstate at Campton and took US 3 (the Daniel Webster Highway) north to Franconia. There, I  stopped for lunch at a favorite spot, Wendle’s Deli, for a sandwich.

From there I wandered north and east through Whitefield and Jefferson, my goal was the north end of Jefferson Notch Road, where I turned south. Jefferson Notch Road is a lightly traveled, summer only, well maintained dirt road that leads from US 2 to Crawford Notch.

Heading south from Crawford Notch, I took the Bear Notch Road (another summer only, but paved road) short cut from Bartlett to the Kancamangus Highway and arrived at the pass just in time for the sunset. From there it is just a short drive to I-93 in Lincoln and the roughly 90 minute drive back home.

The day was just OK for landscape photography… the sun shone brightly and there were widely scattered clouds which never seemed to be in the “right” direction.

Here are the results:

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28 September 2013

Pondicherry NWR

Filed under: Autumn,Landscapes,the White Mountains — Tags: , — Frank @ 11:30 PM

Yesterday, we (Joan, her cousin Margie and I) took a drive to the Pondicherry NWR in Jefferson, NH.

I can report that the foliage in the White Mountains is just about at its peak for this year.

The two ponds that make the centerpiece of Pondicherry are an easy hike from the road. The route is mainly along an old rail bed.  Cherry Pond ((the larger of the two) offers spectacular views of the Presidential Range*. Little Cherry Pond is also worth the extra walk as it is a very different habitat than Cherry Pond.**

This was our first visit to Pondicherry and I am certain that it is not our last; highly recommended.

Here is the crop of photos, all but the last one made at Cherry Pond. The last one was made from a pull off on Bear Notch Road in Bartlett on the way home.

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*From Cherry Pond (looking south east), the peaks of the Presidential Range are Madison, Adams, Jefferson and Washington (left to right, or north to south).

**The light was not very good during the time we spent at Little Cherry Pond, so I do not have any photos from there that are worth showing.

22 September 2013

A Windy Day in Early Autumn

Filed under: "Camp",Early Fall,Landscapes,Monadnock Region — Tags: , — Frank @ 9:00 PM

Late this afternoon, we took a quick “spin” on the lake in the kayaks. It was breezy and cool but the interesting clouds made for good photography.

September Skies #1 (Gregg Lake Near Our Camp)

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September Skies #2 (The Gregg Lake Shore)

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A Hint of Things to Come

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