Mount Pisgah, Lake Willoughby, Vermont

I spent a weekend in Vermont recently, and wanted to share some photos and interesting experiences.

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I spent the past weekend in one of my favorite areas of Vermont, hoping to capture some beautiful fall colors. An outdoor lover’s paradise, the Northeast Kingdom is home to the Kingdom Trails, rated as one of the top five mountain biking networks in the world. Occupying the northeast corner of Vermont, the Northeast Kingdom has over 200 lakes and ponds, miles of hiking trails, and unlimited photohgraphic potential. Unfortunately, the leaves were all gone during my stay. Apparently the season was 10 days early this year, so we’ll try again next season. I tried heading west towards Stowe to see if my luck would change, but aside from slightly more color, most of the leaves were gone. I’m going to concentrate on the lower Hidson Valley for the following two weeks, and hopefully there are some suprises.

I’ve just returned from my second trip this year to Maine’s Acadia National Park during which I spent a long weekend shooting the wonderful fall colors. The weather was almost too perfect, with sunny blue skies every day and a full moon lighting the sky every night. I say “too perfect” as I usually prefer the “edges” of weather to create dramatic images. I’ll have an on-line gallery of the best images as soon as I review them all. I’ll also be publishing my own personal guide to photographing in Acadia. Stay tuned…

Autumn is my favorite time of the year here in the Northeast, as it signifies the changing of seasons from warm, long, hot summer days to cold, dark, winter nights. But in between these extremes, it’s my favorite time to be in the great outdoors with my camera. The air is cool and brisk, with the smell of damp leaves. And the trees come alive with rich vibrant colors, providing endless possibilities for creating dramatic images at virtually any time of day.

“Eagle Lake Colors” was made during my recent visit to Acadia National Park, during an atypical time for me to create my best images. I usually work during the sunrise and sunset hours, however, this particular scene caught my immediate attention one late afternoon during a hike around Eagle Lake with my wife and son. The stillness of the water combined with the relections of the trees around the edge created a perfect canvas of color and light. I tried different angles and positions while I searched for the simplest composition that would express the beauty of the scene. I used a medium zoom lens to compress the image and enhance the different hues and shades of colors.

I returned two days later for another round of shooting, but I was never able to improve on this image, which was one of the first ones made. This print is available in all sizes matted and framed, and will also be part of our new greeting cards coming soon!

I’ve returned from my Acadia trip, and you can view a gallery of my favorite images here. It was a photographers paradise, offering everything from grand landscapes, mountain and ocean views, glacial lakes, streams, waterfalls, and wildlife. I will be returning in a few weeks to focus on the spectacular foliage that was just starting to appear during my visit. I’ll have a complete trip report very soon…

I’m finally heading to Acadia National Park in Maine for a week long photo shoot. I’ll be traveling with the family, so I’m hoping to come back with many memorable images personal and professional. I’ll also be using a Garmin GPS receiver to record coordinates for all of the images I create, and I’ll provide those here so any one can pinpoint the exact location where the image was made.