Autumn Color in Connecticut - Photograph America Newsletter

125
™
January 2013
Where, when, and how
to discover the best
photography in America
Published since 1989
Autumn Color in Connecticut
Northern New England is the first place most photographers
think of when fall foliage season approaches. Vermont, New
Hampshire, and Maine are favorite autumn color destinations.
After the foliage passes its peak of color and brown leaves
are falling in the northern New England states, the autumn
season moves south through Massachusetts. In the state of
Connecticut, the best fall color arrives later in mid-October
and can last until early November. In the southern parts of
Connecticut, harbor scenes and lighthouses on Long Island
Sound can be photographed with fall foliage backgrounds. Add
Connecticut to your list of locations for fall foliage photo trips.
issue 125 - page 2
onnecticut’s websites feature fall foliage
C
maps with designated driving tours looping
Bigelow Hollow State Park
Bigelow Hollow State Park, in northeastern
Connecticut, is on the west side of Mashspaug
Pond. Nipmuck State Forest is on the east
side of the pond and Massachusetts is on the
north side. Forty thousand acres of evergreen
forests make this the largest unbroken
forest in southern New England.
Enfield
Bigelow
Campbell Falls
No cabins or piers can be seen from
Hollow
Tunxis
State Park
State Park
State
Suffield
the south end of Mashapoug. The
Peoples
Forest
Stafford Springs
State Forest
Shenipsit
entrance into Bigelow Hollow is on
State Forest
Cornwall Bridge
Route 171, eight miles west of North
Hartford
Woodstock. Watch for a sign marking
Kent Falls
the entrance, and drive one mile north
Macedonia Brook
State Park
to the end of the park road at the boat
Bulls Bridge
launch ramp where a short trail leads
to the edge of the pond. Mashapoug
Stonington
Pond is surrounded by pines, spruce,
Mystic Seaport
Danbury
and countless red and yellow maples.
Mid-October is the perfect time to
Devil’s Den
Bluff Point
Preserve
photograph reflections of autumn
Coastal Reserve
d
n
color at this park (below).
u
o
nd S
Long Isla
Connecticut
Rhode Island
New York
through several scenic parts of this state. At
the peak of autumn color, these routes can
become traffic jams. Avoid most of these bus
tour routes by concentrating on state parks and
forest preserves. This newsletter describes a
photo exploration starting in Boston, traveling
west across the northern edge of Connecticut,
and then heading south to follow the shoreline
Massachusetts
places to avoid during the autumn hunting
season of October through December, if you
plan to hike in the woods.
back toward Boston–a ten-day photo
trip. By staying off the freeways and
driving only back roads (the narrow lines
on most maps), my pace slowed and the
photography improved.
I started my photo exploration by flying
into Boston. I picked up a rental car,
drove through the Ted Williams Tunnel,
and headed south on Highway 3 toward
Connecticut, a one-hour drive.
After a night in the small town of Putnam,
Connecticut, and a breakfast in a roadside
diner, I drove ten miles west through the
villages of South Woodstock, Woodstock, East
Woodstock, and North Woodstock on my way
to the first state park on my list.
Some of the dark green areas shown on road
maps of northern Connecticut are not state
parks; they are wildlife management areas,
The name “Mashapaug” is the Nipmuck tribe’s
word for Great Pond. Connecticut’s name comes
from the Mohican word (Quinnehtukqut),
which means “beside the long tidal river.”
Connecticut uses many long Native American
names for their parks and forest reserves, like
Tunxis, Wangumbaug, and Shenipsit State
Forests.
issue 125 - page 3
Stafford Springs
One of the more interesting small towns in
northern Connecticut is Stafford Springs. Ten
miles west of Bigelow State Park, it lies at the
junction of two river valleys. The Middle River
flows through the village of Stafford Springs
and joins the Willimantic River in the center
of town.
spillway. Hyde Park is behind the Stafford
Springs Library along the edge of the Middle
River, where you’ll find more color reflecting
in the stream.
Smaller water scenes, like cascades or
waterfalls, are usually too contrasty under
direct sunlight. A solidly overcast sky usually
provides the best illumination,
unless you want to wait for a cloud
to cross the sun. Sometimes the best
exposures are captured on the edge of
a cloud shadow when the light is not
too direct and not too flat. Watch as
the lighting changes on your subject.
Don’t look into the sun.
Leaving Stafford Springs by heading
north on Furnace Avenue takes
you to Route 319 and east through
Stafford and then Staffordville and
past the sandy beach at Staffordville
Reservoir. Drive north up the east
side of this lake for views of a long
From the cross roads in the middle of town, line of summer cottage reflections across the
drive north on Furnace Avenue for two blocks lake. Continue north into Massachusetts or
until you see the falls
return to Staffordsville and
dropping over the edge of
head southeast on Bradway
a dam on Furnace Brook.
Road that follows small
Abandoned textile mills
streams with many photo
line Furnace Avenue, along
possibilities as it makes a
the edge of the pond. I
large loop through the hills
photographed the falls
of Nipmuck State Forest on
(above) from the sidewalk.
the way back to Route 190.
On the far side of Furnace
Most of these back roads
Brook, yellow maples
have no shoulders. It can
reflected in the quiet pool
be difficult to find places
above the falls.
to safely pull your car off
Just west of the confluence,
the pavement. Traveling
a small bridge crosses the
alone, most of your
Middle River. From the
photography will be done
middle of the bridge, you
near places where you can
can photograph a church
park your car. Traveling
steeple to the east and the
with another driver, stop
old library to the south.
on the pavement, traffic
permitting, hop out and let
At the west end of this
your driver keep going to
village, Route 140 leaves
find a place to turn around
Route 190 and heads south
and return to pick you up.
to cross the Middle River.
With
cell
phones
or
radio communication, you
Pull off the road just before the bridge to
photograph autumn color reflecting in a pond can let your driver know when you are ready to
where the Middle River drops over a wide be picked up.
issue 125 - page 4
North side of Shenipsit State Forest
Four miles east of Somers, on Route 190, is a
sign marking the junction with Old Springfield
Road. Four miles north of Route 190, Old
Springfield Road makes a sharp bend to the
west and Gilbert Road continues north. At this
junction, pull off onto the wide space on the
right and look to the east, where a locked metal
gate blocks a narrow farm road lined with two
rows of maples (below). I shot over the gate
and framed this rural scene as mid-morning
autumn sunlight backlit the lane. My 24-120
mm zoom was set at 70 mm.
Shenipsit State Forest
Seven miles west of Stafford Springs and four
miles south of the Massachusetts state line
is the small town of Somers, Connecticut, on
Route 190. At the stoplight in the middle of
Somers, head south on Route 83 for two miles,
while watching for the sign marking the left
turn onto Parker Road. In less than a mile,
the pavement ends. If the gate is open, keep
going up Parker Road as it climbs the slopes of
Soapstone Mountain (above). You won’t need
a 4x4 for these roads. Afternoon light here
lights up a forest of red oak.
One mile east of Somers on Route 190, take
Gulf Road south into the Shenipsit State Forest.
Watch for the sign on the west side of Gulf Road
marking another unpaved road up the east
side of Soapstone Mountain, an easy, gradual
drive to the top. At 1,075 feet, this summit has
a tall observation tower for views of distant
forests stretching toward the northwest across
the Connecticut River Valley and north into
Massachusetts. Soapstone was one of the few
northern Connecticut mountaintops where the
peak of autumn color had already passed.
The foliage across the tops of hardwood forests
is the first to drop in the autumn, a week or so
before the rest of the leaves. Bare treetops look
gray from a distance. Try to arrive before all the
autumn color has blown off the tops of these
forests if you are looking for panoramic views
from mountain overlooks. Most, but not all, of
Connecticut was at the peak of autumn color
during the last week-and-a-half of October.
One mile north on Gilbert Road is the
Massachusetts state line. Turn around and
head south by following any of the narrow
mountain roads, you’ll find on your map. You
will eventually reach Route 190 and you will
probably discover more autumn color along
the way.
An overnight stop
Five miles west of Shenipsit State Forest are
the developed areas of Thompsonville and
Enfield on Route 190. At this point, you are 27
miles west of Bigelow Hollow State Park, a halfmile east of the Connecticut River and halfway
across the state of Connecticut. Here you will
find motels, restaurants and several miles of
shopping malls along Route 190–all the services
you’ll need for two to four days as you explore
historic villages and photograph autumn color
on the northern edge of Connecticut.
Route 190 crosses one of the few bridges over
the Connecticut River, then jogs north for a halfmile and then west, ending at Route 75. Follow
issue 125 - page 5
Route 75 south for one mile into the historic
village of Suffield, where you’ll find a long and
wide, tree-lined avenue of beautifully restored
Colonial homes dating back to the beginning
of this country. Park off the highway in the
center of the village and walk the sidewalks to
photograph historic homes and neighborhoods
in morning or late afternoon light (below).
Four miles south of Suffield is the industrial
center called Windsor Locks, where Bradley
International Airport (BDL) handles 1,800
scheduled flights a week by twenty-seven major
airlines. To avoid the long drive from Boston’s
Logan Airport or the busy New York Airports
when you travel to Connecticut, fly in and out
of Bradley International. All the major rental
car agencies serve this airport.
In this part of Connecticut, the fast and
scenic Route 20 heads west from Bradley
International Airport through the villages
of East Granby, Granby, and West Granby
then heads north to the Massachusetts
line to loop around the northern tip of
Barkhamsted Reservoir.
Surrounding the northern tip of Barkhamsted
Reservoir is Tunxis State Forest where the
fall foliage was at its peak color on the day
I arrived. (The “x” in Tunxis is pronounced
like a “z.”) The weather was perfect and the
sky was dotted with small clouds. The few
roads through this 9,000-acre forest had
no leaf-peeper traffic on the most colorful
autumn weekend in mid-October. This state
forest is crisscrossed with hiking trails and
unpaved roads leading to campgrounds.
Peoples State Forest
Route 20 heads south along the long and
narrow Barkhamsted Reservoir then forks in
the village of Hartland. Route 181 continues
south, around the east side of Peoples State
Forest. Route 20 circles the west side of Peoples
State Forest. At Riverton, leave Route 20 and
continue south, along the West Branch of the
Farmington River. The wide parking spaces
along the river are for fishermen but are used
mainly by photographers in the autumn when
forests on both sides of the river are yellow and
red. The unpaved roads through the heart of
the Peoples State Park were also traffic free.
Four miles southwest of Riverton, is the
fascinating town of Winsted, Connecticut,
settled in 1750 at the confluence of the Still
River and the Mad River. It was one of the
first mill towns in Connecticut. Here the
Gilbert Clock Company was the World’s
largest manufacturer of clocks in 1900. After
hurricane-caused floods on the Mad River
wiped out most of the industry. West Main
Street has been restored and the business
district appears to be thriving. Park at the
town square and photograph historic homes,
churches and businesses framed by the small
forest of maple trees that will be all yellow,
orange, and red in mid-October (below).
issue 125 - page 6
Drive west from Winsted on Route 44 for three
miles, then bear left onto Danbury Quarter
Road for another three miles to a spot marked
as
Grantville
on
the map. Just after
passing School House
Road, Beckley Pond
Brook flows beneath
Danbury
Quarter
Road. There’s room
to park just past
the bridge. Shoot
upstream
for
an
interesting
vertical
stream image lined
with autumn foliage.
When this narrow
back road reaches
Route 272 (Litchfield
Road), turn right and
head north to the
village of Norfolk.
need bright sunshine, preferably morning
or afternoon light. A sky with a few scattered
cumulus clouds adds more interest.
Smaller water scenes like cascades or waterfalls
are usually too contrasty under direct sunlight.
Overcast sky works best. Wait for a cloud to
cross the sun.
While driving across northern Connecticut
during the peak of autumn color season, I
was struck by the amount of intense color
covering whole mountainsides in some places.
A few miles down the road, were gray forests
denuded of all foliage. Some mountaintops
were bare and others covered with autumn’s
colors. Some of the brightest and most colorful
trees stand in the front yards of the largest
rural homes and estates.
Norfolk has a beautiful, white Congregational
church with a tall steeple that is framed by
tall maples in the village green across the
street. Walk one block north on Route 44 to
the Norfolk Historic
District. Here you’ll
find some interesting
restaurants.
Leave Norfolk on
Route 44 west. In a
half mile, Route 272
continues
straight
ahead. A quarter mile
beyond the fork in the
road is a sign on Route
272 marking the left
turn into Haystack
Mountain State Park.
The one-mile road to
the trailhead passes
a small pond that
reflects a lot of color in
the fall. A one-mile trail climbs the rest of the
way to the summit where a 34-foot high stone
observation tower stands at 1716 feet. At the
top, on a clear day, you can see Long Island
Sound to the south and the Green Mountains
of Vermont to the north. Panoramic landscapes
Campbell Falls State Park
Back on Route 272, it’s three miles north to
Tobey Hill Road where a left turn will take you
to the entrance into Campbell Falls State Park.
Park in the small lot and follow the yellow
blazes on the trail leading south that takes a
gradual drop through a hardwood forest that
was beautiful in mid-October. In ten minutes,
the trail becomes steeper and drops into a
darker forest where I spotted a dozing barred
owl perching on a branch. These nocturnal
birds have a dark-brown pattern of bars on a
white coat of feathers and no ear tufts. Barred
owls are common in northeastern forests.
Their range extends from southern swamps to
northern Canada and west into California.
issue 125 - page 7
At a tall granite marker on the Massachusetts/
Connecticut boundary line, bear left. In a
hundred feet, you’ll see a wooden sign marking
the yellow-blazed trail that drops to the foot of
Campbell Falls where the Whiting River falls
62 feet in three drops to a pool at the bottom.
This waterfall was worth the hike in October.
When spring rains or melting snow is flowing,
the falls should be spectacular. The Whiting
River rushes out of the state of Massachusetts
and tumbles into Connecticut.
Like most waterfalls, this one is best
photographed on an overcast day. At the
bottom, small cascades pour over a rocky
streambed and make a dramatic foreground
for wide-angle photos of the falls. The climb
back from the bottom of the Campbell Falls is
steep but short–a fifteen-minute walk.
Back on Route 272, head south to Route 44 and
then west to the Historic town of Canaan, that’s
worth a stop and a walk through. Continue west
on Route 44 to Lakeville where you’ll head south
on Route 44 through Sharon, CT. Just before
Route 44 crosses the state line
and enters New York, turn
east onto Lambert Road. In
two miles, the pavement ends
and the unpaved road bends
southward then climbs through
a colorful forest of maples.
Late in the afternoon, I made
several stops to photograph
orange and yellow forests
lining the winding Lambert
Road. At the first cross road
junction, continue straight
ahead onto the pavement. This
road becomes Keeler Road
and heads south to follow
Macedonia Brook for five
miles through heavily wooded
Macedonia Brook State Park.
Macedonia Brook State Park
This stream drops over many small cascades
while flowing through a forest painted with
autumn color. There are many places to stop
and park as you follow Macedonia Brook.
Several trails leave the parking lots, climbing
to high overlooks on the west side of the park
and to the Appalachian Trail that follows the
Housatonic River on the east side of the Park.
Campsites and picnic grounds line this road.
In mid-October, camping season is over and
the photographers show up. Drive slowly and
watch for patches of color near cascades in
the stream. A cloudy day helps to reduce the
extreme contrast of direct sunlight on white
water cascading over dark stones framed by
yellow foliage.
Macedonia Brook was my
favorite state park. The color
was perfect. It took a whole day
to drive this five-mile stretch
of road. In the middle of the
day, under an overhead sun, I
spread out my picnic lunch on
a flat rock on the edge of the
brook while I studied more
tripod locations.
To photograph long stretches
of cascades coming straight
toward my camera, I set my
tripod in the stream. To frame
head-on images of distant
cascades, I used a telephoto
lens and a small aperture to
increase my depth-of-field,
giving me a sharp image from
front to back. With a low ISO number, my
exposure times were long enough to produce a
softer, smoother flow of water over the stones.
For some images, I used a neutral density
filter, dark enough to require 3-4 stops more
exposure, extending my exposure times to tenseconds or more for a very soft effect (useful if
you like the angel-hair effect).
issue 125 - page 8
With these long exposures, a tripod is always are still in that guidebook looking like they did
necessary, especially if you want to bracket the day I saved them.
your exposures for HDR processing to control
your lighting range. Try shooting a comparison
test using single exposures with overcast
lighting and multiple bracketed exposures in
direct sunlight. Sometimes I prefer the richer,
smoother colors shooting under the diffused
light of a cloudy day and sometimes I like the
snappy, sharp lighting with sunny conditions.
The road through Macedonia Brook State Park
ends at a crossroads, called Macedonia on the
map. Bear east onto Route 341. Drive two miles
and you’ll reach another fascinating village
called Kent, where you’ll find a photogenic
old railroad station at the north end of town
(above).
There are several tight bends on Macedonia
Brook where the stream crashes over stacked
layers of flat stones and smooth boulders. The
action becomes dramatic when you can move
in tight with a wide-angle lens. With my tripod
legs collapsed and spread, and some deep-knee
bending, I lowered my camera almost to water
level. With a 10 mm lens, the bottom half of my
viewfinder was filled with the whole cascading
stream while the top half of my viewfinder is
solidly filled, corner-to-corner, with a bright
red and yellow forest.
With a loupe, I check every exposure, making
the necessary corrections and sometimes
shooting dozens of variations. When I shoot
bracketed exposures for HDR processing, I
shoot one extra frame with 3 or 5 fingers raised
to remind me to treat those images differently.
When I shoot multiple panoramic images to
be stitched together later, I shoot one extra
frame of my hand with one finger pointed
horizontally. When I shoot autumn foliage
on trees I can’t identify, I pick up a sample
and slip it into my tree guidebook for later
identification. Those leaves, some 25 years old,
The Cornwall Covered Bridge
A long covered bridge (below) is located eight
miles north of Kent. It was built in 1864 and is
one of three covered bridges still standing in
Connecticut. A concrete support in the middle
of the Housatonic River holds up this 242foot town lattice truss bridge. Pedestrians and
bikes have the right-of-way on the bridge. Cell
phone photographers usually moved out of my
way when I set up a serious-looking digital SLR
camera on a tripod. I moved in close and low
to shoot the sunny side of this bridge with a
wide-angle lens. Include a blue sky to contrast
with the red bridge and an interesting pattern
of clouds, if possible.
issue 125 - page 9
Four miles south of Kent on Route 7, Bulls
Bridge (1842) crosses the Housatonic River.
This single span is 109-feet long and is still used
today. Photographers should park in the lot
near Route 7 and walk across the bridge. Inside
the bridge, you can see the structure called
town lattice and queen post truss. Depending
on the background foliage color, the lighting
conditions, and the time of day, photograph
this bridge from either end or walk down to
the river’s edge for a low angle image. Look
upstream for some dramatic waterfall action
over a spillway on the river.
Devil’s Den Preserve
By the third week of October, autumn had
spread across Connecticut, down to Long
Island Sound, where I was driving back roads
in southwestern Connecticut between the city
of Danbury and the coast, looking for places to
photograph more color.
Three miles south of Bulls Bridge is the village
of Gaylordsville, Connecticut. Watch for
the right turn onto Route 55 to the village of
Sherman. Bear left in one mile onto Route 39
where you will find some farm scenes with red
barns, silos, split rail fences and some large red
maples. Two miles south of Gaylordsville on
Route 39, at the junction with Anderson Road
is a large red barn next to a maple that was in
full mid-October color when I arrived.
Southwest Connecticut is densely populated
and it can be difficult to find public
hiking trails into these woods. When
I spotted a Nature Conservancy sign
along the road south of Danbury, I
had to check it out. I found Devil’s
Den Preserve (above), the largest
contiguous nature preserve in
southwestern Connecticut, with
1,756 acres of woodlands, wetlands,
streams, rock ledges and rugged
north-south ridges.
One mile farther south of the village of Sherman
on Route 39 is a large cluster of barns, silos, and
farmhouses. The Happy Acres Farm (above) is
at the junction of Route 39 and Tabor Road.
Turn right and drive up the hill to find a wide
place to park for a view looking back toward
this dairy farm. Move up close with a wideangle lens to use the wooden fence as a line
leading toward the barns. Late afternoon light
should be perfect here.
Traveling east or west on
Connecticut’s Interstate 15, take
exit 42 and head north on Route 57
for three miles to Weston. One mile north of
Weston, Connecticut, bear right onto Route 53
for two miles then turn left onto Godfrey Road
West. Watch for a narrow country lane called
Pent Road leading north to the marked gate
at the entrance into the Nature Conservancy
Preserve at Devil’s Den. Trails through the
Devil’s Den Preserve are open to the public
from dawn to dusk.
Drive to the trailhead parking lot at the end of
Pent Road where a large map shows a dozen
trails heading into the preserve. Trailside signs
issue 125 - page 10
warn hikers to stay on the trail because of deer
ticks in the area. The home of Lyme disease is
only a few miles from here.
On the trails, my 24-120 mm zoom lens was
perfect for photographing the forests of maple.
Set at 120 mm, I could isolate small details in
the woods (above). With the 24 mm wide-angle
setting, I filled my viewfinder with meandering
streams leading into the woods.
Trail junctions at Devil’s Den are marked
with numbered posts that correspond to
numbers on the free maps you’ll find in
a box at the trailhead. These numbered
posts also have yellow directional signs,
which point toward the shortest route
back to the parking lot at Pent Road.
It’s easy to get lost here. Be sure to
take a map. If the map box is empty,
photograph the large map to refer to
along the trails.
Most of the trails lead to the north,
making large loops into the Saugetuck
River watershed, following streams
through deep forests and winding along
ridgelines for scenic overlooks of the
surrounding countryside. The Great
Ledge is a high rock formation with a spectacular
view. Ambler Gorge is a picturesque ravine
with a stream cascading into Godfrey Pond.
The Saugatuck Wildlife Refuge is an extensive
shrubby marsh along the West Branch of the
Saugatuck River.
On the Coast
After driving back roads and city streets
eastward, along the coast, from the New York
state line to the Connecticut River, I can
tell you that southwestern Connecticut
is too developed to be included on any
photo trip. Along the southeastern
corner of the state, Bluff Point Coastal
Reserve, near Groton, Connecticut,
is the largest remaining portion of
untouched land along the Connecticut
coastline. Three miles east of Groton on
Route 1, turn south onto Depot Road
and drive to the trailhead parking lot
at the end of the road. I found some
excellent autumn color along the easy
3.5-mile trail out to the rocky point. This
is a good spot to photograph sunsets.
Back on Route 1, drive four miles east to
Mystic, Connecticut, a fascinating little
harbor town. Route 1 passes through the center
of Mystic, then crosses an old drawbridge.
Tall masts are visible to the north and south
along the Mystic River. I drove north along the
river by turning left onto Holmes Street, the
first street east of
the drawbridge.
One block north
is a small harbor
where I found
some interesting
sailing
vessels
and small dories.
I photographed
this scene from
the water’s edge,
then I walked
back across the
drawbridge,
through the town,
and north along
the west side of
the Mystic River
to photograph the
same scene, with
different lighting and different perspective,
from the other side of the river with a 300 mm
telephoto. Looking north, a mile up the Mystic
River, were the masts of much larger sailing
vessels. This was the scene I was looking for.
issue 125 - page 11
Mystic Seaport is a 37-acre reproduction of a
nineteenth-century New England seaport with
16 historic sailing vessels and more than sixty
original historic buildings. Mystic Seaport was
established in 1929 as one of the first living
history museums in the U.S. At this nineteenthcentury seafaring village, fully-rigged fishing
schooners and a square-rigged whaler, the
Charles Morgan, date back to 1841. Currently
undergoing restoration, this is the last existing
wooden whaling ship in the world. You can
walk the decks to photograph this antique
while the shipwrights are working.
There are a dozen
floating examples of
historic vessels and
more in workshops
and exhibit galleries
scattered
along
several harbors on
the edge of the river.
Out near Lighthouse
Point, the Joseph
Conrad, a threemasted,
iron-hull
sailing ship dating
back to 1882, is
open to the public. I
found many close-up
details to photograph on the deck of this ship.
The background across the river was covered
with autumn foliage. A blacksmith shop and an
authentic rope factory are fascinating subjects
for photographers. Horse-drawn wagons on
cobblestone streets through the village add to
the atmosphere (above).
Stonington
Five miles east of Mystic, down in the southeast
corner of Connecticut, a half-mile from Rhode
Island, is the village of Stonington, established
in 1649 by settlers from the Plymouth Colony.
If you are interested in photographing
Connecticut’s lighthouses, visit the Lighthouse
Museum at #7 Water Street, near DuBois
Beach at the end of Water Street. From here,
it’s a short walk along tree-lined Water Street
to photograph beautifully restored historic
homes, like the 1772 home of Rev. John
Rathbone at #87 Water Street. My 10 mm
wide-angle lens captured the building and their
neighbors from the middle of narrow Water
Street (below). A wide-angle lens is useful for
your travel photography. My 10 mm lens was
used for all three photos on this page.
An early cold snap or a long hot summer will change
the fall foliage schedule. Search Internet hotline
pages for upcoming foliage information. Some have
interactive maps that change color when you click on
calendar dates. Plan your trip to travel from north to
south following the color. It starts in the Laurentians,
north of Montreal in late September, and reaches
Cloudland State Park in Georgia by mid-November.
If you arrive too early or too late, just drive north or
south a few hundred miles.
I stayed in six different budget motels scattered across
Connecticut. I made lodging reservations four months
in advance. All the places where I stayed had vacant
rooms. I didn’t need to make lodging reservations
this late in the season, but I like to thoroughly plan
my travels in advance. You may enjoy more freedom
by following autumn color as it moves south.
Four days in Danbury, down in the southwest corner
of Connecticut, gave me time to explore the western
edge of the state. Since it takes only 2-1/2 hours to
drive across the whole width of Connecticut, you can
stay almost anywhere there’s a town with a motel. I
filled ten days with explorations of the northern edge
of Connecticut and two days to drive Highway 1, along
the edge of Long Island Sound.
Have a great trip and send me an e-mail !!
My life-long career in photography began at San Jose
State University in 1957. After college, I enlisted in the
U.S. Army Signal Corps, serving as a photographer and
darkroom technician. In Germany, my skills and experience with equipment and lab work were developed
and polished. I took the opportunity to photograph
the beauty of nature in the Black Forest. Returning to
California in 1965, I produced industrial and military
training films for Raytheon Electronics and began
showing my color nature prints. From 1969 through
1981, my photography was exhibited and sold in West
Coast galleries. During the early 1980’s, I taught color
darkroom workshops, then expanded to include field
trips. Former customers, who had purchased my
framed photographs, wanted to learn photography.
My Pacific Image Photography Workshops offered
adventures to the Pacific Coast, the Southwest deserts,
national parks, Hawaii, New England, Canada, England, and the South Pacific. The workshops evolved
into writing and sharing my adventures with others.
Photograph America Newsletter provides information
on where, when, and how to discover the best nature
photography in North America.
Photograph America Newsletter
is published quarterly (four issues/year)
by Robert Hitchman
assisted by technical associate/wife, Katherine
Post Office Box 86, Novato, CA 94948-0086
1-415-898-9677
www.photographamerica.com
All contents of this newsletter
copyright © 1989-2016 Robert Hitchman
Please don’t make copies for your friends.
This is a violation of Federal copyright laws.
This newsletter survives on subscriptions.