Scenes of Vermont Forums

I enjoy landscape photography as a hobby, and have done it for 20 years. I live in Massachusetts, but grew up in southern VT and NH in the Connecticut River Valley. My first efforts at photography were shooting autumn in Vermont, because I would stay with my parents who lived in the area. For various reasons, I haven't photographed autumn in Vermont for 10 years. In 2017, I decided it was time to return to my Vermont roots for autumn. Unfortunately, I went to the NEK from 10/1/17 thru 10/3/17 and everything was either green or brown, and I gave up.

Undaunted, I plotted a return to the NEK for 2018, armed with Carol and Andy's excellent photography guide book. Both Carol and ctyanky predicted that great color would return in 2018, and were they ever right I know many people were disappointed that we had so many rainy and cloudy days in 2018, but from a photographer's perspective, that just means the colors are more saturated, and the waterfalls have nice flow.

I was in the NEK from 10/03/18 through 10/09/18, and hit the peak of color just right this year. Oddly enough, of the 7 mornings that I was in the NEK, I had 3 sunny sunrises, and 2 sunny sunsets. As usually happens, most of my best images were made during brief windows of time when the light and weather offered extraordinary conditions. I had two great sunrises at Marshfield Pond (one with minnestotaman in attendance), and one of the most amazing sunrises that I have ever seen at Jobs Pond on 10/06. Nicholls Ledge was on my list for sunset, and on 10/09, my last night in VT, I enjoyed a spectacular sunset there. During the rest of my trip, I shot more waterfalls and foggy trees than I know what to do with I also prefer natural landscapes with no man-made elements, but even I couldn't resist shooting some Vermont barns and farms.

I want to thank everyone on this forum for helping to create a wonderful resource about autumn in Vermont. The advice and help distributed here is the best around !!! I met several of you while on my travels this year, and it was a pleasure. Standupphotog - consider yourself extremely lucky to have been at Jobs Pond on 10/06, mornings like that don't happen very often.

To quote Arnold "I'll Be Back".

Vermont Images from 2018 - click on the large thumbnails to see full size images.
https://www.edmcguirkphoto.com/p414588328

Gorgeous!

Ed: I am simply awestruck by these exquisite Vermont foliage photos. All I can say is wow, wow, wow. I am so happy for you to have found such peak and beauty during your trip and that you came back to find it again, after your disappointment last year. I actually think Vermont peak found you!

I was looking at these during my PT appt and couldn't wait to get home and see them on my computer. I am so excited for our trip on Sunday and to see you in your "element". It is going to be a perfect fall day! Maybe I'll even learn something more about photography from you!

Again, congratulations on these very fine photos. Outstanding is the word I choose. That's it in a nutshell. CT

ctyanky and Abby, thank you for the kind comments. I appreciate all of the help you folks provided on location advice.

Ed: They're great!!

BRAVO!!!

Thanks for sharing, go back next year for more!

Great photos, Ed. Thanks for reminding me about Nichol's Ledge. I couldn't remember the name of it. I'd wanted to go there. Oh well, next year, I guess. Was it difficult navigating your way down from there in the dark after sunset?

MinnieB wrote:Great photos, Ed. Thanks for reminding me about Nichol's Ledge. I couldn't remember the name of it. I'd wanted to go there. Oh well, next year, I guess. Was it difficult navigating your way down from there in the dark after sunset?

Oh yeah, it was a ton of fun going back down in the dark. Even with a powerful flashlight and walking with another photographer with a headlamp, I nearly killed myself several times, wet leaves, rocks, and roots are awful when you are going almost straight down.

Awesome photos!

Beauty, Ed! You've captured it amazingly.

Glad to have been there for Jobs Pond that morning.

Ed: is the quote from Arnold Schwartzeneger or Arnold Kaplan???

standupphotog wrote:Beauty, Ed! You've captured it amazingly.

Glad to have been there for Jobs Pond that morning.

Thank you standupphotog, it certainly was a special morning, the reds at Jobs Pond were at full peak, and the light was so strong that everything seemed to glow.

Andy wrote:Ed: is the quote from Arnold Schwartzeneger or Arnold Kaplan???

Andy the quote is what the Terminator would have said if he had read Arnold Kaplan's book and then followed his advice

Speaking of which, I have to give a hearty endorsement to the Vermont autumn book by you and Carol, it is a tremendous resource, whether you are a photographer or a leaf peeper. It led me to some places I never would have found on my own. My only request is for the 3rd Edition that you provide GPS coordinates for Kaplan's tripod holes

Ed: next year (after seeing your photos) I am definitely climbing Nichols Ledge. You compared the view to Owls Head and determined it was more dramatic and you liked it better. Less obstructive views?

Did you go back to Quabbin? Update? CT

ctyanky wrote:Ed: next year (after seeing your photos) I am definitely climbing Nichols Ledge. You compared the view to Owls Head and determined it was more dramatic and you liked it better. Less obstructive views?

Did you go back to Quabbin? Update? CT

Yes I prefer Nicholls Ledge over Owls Head for photography, because the view is less obstructed. Owls Head is still good though, and has the advantage of being able to drive up to the top, while Nicholls involves 15 to 20 minutes of climbing almost straight uphill (and downhill in the dark if you go for sunset like I did).

I went back to the north end of the Quabbin this morning, and there is almost no color there now, nearly all the maple trees were bare, they had turned and had been ravaged by terrible wind over the past few days. The south end is primarily oaks which probably haven't turned yet. In the western suburbs of Boston where I live, we are currently 7 to 10 days late and still 85% green. The winds have not stripped the green trees, so we may still salvage something here in late October.