Photographs by Frank

23 November 2013

One Foggy Afternoon

Filed under: Landscapes,Monadnock Region,November — Tags: , — Frank @ 4:00 PM

Yesterday dawned cold and rainy; it was 38o and raining light when I arose.

By mid-morning the temperature had made it to about 40o  but  the rain had stopped and the fog began to thicken… perfect weather for some photography!

When I headed out to photograph after lunch, I could not see the couple of hundred yards across the lake by the boat launch… there was no hint of the far shore line just a wall of white!

I decided to make a loop of some of my favorite wetlands in Hancock and Stoddard. All of the photos shown are from Hancock; by the time I got to Stoddard there was not enough light remaining.

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15 November 2013

Backyard Birds

Filed under: Birds,Monadnock Region,November — Tags: — Frank @ 10:00 PM

Earlier in the week, I put out the bird feeder (both seeds and suet) in hopes of attracting photographic subjects.  I need to take it in every night to avoid attracting bears… I have only forgotten once so far!

It took a few days for the birds to find the feeder but by this morning things were hopping! Thus, after I finished a few chores, I headed out to get some practice with my new photographic tool*.

In addition to the four species (junco, chickadee, gold finch, and white-throated sparrow) I photographed, there were two other species  (nuthatches and a downy woodpecker) that I did not get good photos of.

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*All of these photos were taken with my new-to-me Nikkor 600 mm f/4 lens. Joan says “toy” but I am sticking with “tool”!


6 November 2013

Early November Olio

Filed under: Birds,Monadnock Region,November,Odontates,Uncategorized,Wildlife — Tags: , — Frank @ 9:00 PM

I was surprised to see male Autumn Meadowhawks around the yard on the weekend (2 and 3 November) since we had some cold nights (temperature in the low twenties Fahrenheit) last week. I only saw one or two individuals at a time but they were still flying strong.

On Sunday (3 Nov) Joan was raking leaves when she disturbed a very cold and torpid red-backed salamander nestled among the leaves. As I moved him from the spot where we found him, he became a bit more active. I grabbed the camera which was rigged for odes and made a couple of exposures. I then headed back into the house for the macro lens… all for naught, as he was gone from the rock where I had placed him by the time I got back. I searched the area in vain for some minutes but he was not to be found.

Tuesday evening (no…  make that late afternoon, as sunset is about 4;30 these days), I headed down to the lake in hopes of a nice sunset to photograph. I was rewarded with less than five minutes of nice pink colored clouds but this was enough to make a nice photograph.

Today (Wednesday, 6 Nov) I headed up Pack Monadnock for some more raptor watching. I arrived just before noon and stayed until about 3:30. We saw a number of raptors including two golden eagles, but none were close enough to photograph. (Henry’s full report is here).  I did, however, make a few photographs of smaller birds which alit briefly nearby.

There is another week and a half of  the raptor watch season remaining, so hopefully I still have time to get a “portfolio quality” photo… if not, there is always next year!

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2 December 2011

November Gray

Filed under: Monadnock Region,November — Frank @ 12:00 PM

November is a tough month for nature photographers in New England. Much of the wildlife has gone dormant or headed south. The leaves have all fallen and the ground is bare of snow. The predominant color is gray. A time for black and white photography!

Last Sunday, I headed out to photograph on a foggy morning. I had three thoughts in mind… winterberries, Meetinghouse Hill and Sky Farm.

Winterberries grown in wetlands and this time of year they are often the only color other than browns and grays to be found. I have a “photo” in my head of a large stand of winterberry with a distant hillside (gray and nicely blurred) in the background. I have yet to find this scene in my travels but I keep looking. On Sunday, I thought that the fog might make it easier to “isolate” winter berries photographically; it did, but not in the way I was expecting. The fog helped with some close shots of individual plants and branches.

Meetinghouse Hill and Sky Farm are in my thoughts on foggy days because they are easy to access high spots that are often fog bound and the fog can add some “mood” to photographs.. or in the case of Sky Farm, the Contoocook Valley below can be fog bound while the hill tops are clear. Alas, the fog was mostly gone by the time I got to Meetinghouse Hill. There were even patches of blue sky showing for a short time when I got to Sky Farm.

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The group of flags on Meetinghouse Hill were “found” and shot as you see them… I did not arrange or move them.


25 November 2011

Gregg Lake — Last Light on a November Afternoon

Filed under: Landscapes,Monadnock Region,November — Tags: — Frank @ 12:00 PM

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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13 November 2011

East Washington / Bradford Bog

Filed under: Landscapes,November — Tags: — Frank @ 12:00 PM

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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12 November 2011

A Back Road Drive

Filed under: Landscapes,November — Tags: — Frank @ 12:00 PM

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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