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Apogee Photo Magazine

Photographing Autumn in Vermont

by Michael Goldstein  

From the Interstate highways of Vermont, as they swoop from high vantage points down into the valleys, you can fully appreciate the extent of the autumn foliage in the Green Mountain State. For mile upon mile, hour after hour, the mountains are a riot of color. The far hills are shaded with dark blue to purple, while closer elevations appear to be a soft rose madder. Mountains on either side of the road constantly surprise the eye with spots of deep orange, cherry red, and the bright crimson of the sumac patches.

NAVIGATION

To comfortably explore a road system that's seldom shown on the usual state maps, you must develop some navigational skills. If you're following step-by-step instructions from a photography guidebook or tourist brochure, you'll soon learn not to take the information too literally. A road junction that goes unmentioned will take you twenty miles from where you wish to be. In fact, you'll need a compass in your vehicle, so you can keep track of your general direction. To know where you are at all times, you must trace your progress on a map that shows all the dirt roads and names most of them. Such a map system is Delorme's Vermont Atlas and Gazetteer, a book of small-scale topographical maps that are exquisite in detail. An odometer with a trip meter is very useful, as well, to indicate when you've driven a specified distance.

PHOTO FILTERS

In autumn, I often add a warming filter (81B or 81C, or an FLD), use one of the new 'enhancing' filters, or a combination of these. Be careful about making bright colors look garish. If you're stacking filters, be sure to allow for changes in exposure, and watch for vignetting if you use wide-angle lenses. I carry a selection of Cokin filters in the "P" size, and two different holders, which allows me to quickly change lenses. In most cases, use of a polarizer is mandatory. In Vermont, the use of metal roofing (which blends with dark backgrounds!) is becoming popular. The Cokin blue-yellow polarizer (CokinP157) will cause roofs of this sort to turn blue on a sunny day, separating them nicely from the background. The steeple of the multicolored church in East Orange, just off Highway 25 west of Waits River, can hardly be seen when you shoot down on the village, if you don't use such a polarizer. 

On really cloudy days, the light is extremely flat, and you'll often achieve nothing by using filters to change the color of the world. You can't change the quality of the light with a filter. On these days, it's best to concentrate on close-ups of colored leaves and trees, and keep the sky out of your composition. The colors will jump out of the film under lighting conditions such as these, and you'll return with exciting images. Users of the Cokin colored polarizer, which comes in a square holder, have learned that if you interchange this filter with a cheap one that comes in a round holder (such as the Cokin 057 Star filter), you can use the polarizer with various split colored or neutral filters. The two holders will easily snap apart, and the filters can be quickly interchanged.

COMPOSITION

1) From the west side of the church in East Barnard (pronounced BARnard), the Allan Hill Road runs straight up. Almost a mile along this road on the left-hand side, the Maple Grove Farm provides a good opportunity to employ leading lines. From the road, an open wooden fence parallels a curving driveway down to a large red barn. At the east side of the fence is a wide stretch of grass, upon which the fence throws strong curving shadows in the late afternoon. Behind the barn, the opposing hill makes a colorful background.

2) Just to the west of the East Barnard church is a large cemetery. By shooting from the corner of the cemetery with a short telephoto lens (135mm), you can fill a good portion of the frame with a few gravestones, which can be superimposed against the church itself. Working inside the cemetery and closer to the church, you can create interesting compositions by using a wide-angle lens (24mm) and a low perspective, again employing superimposition. The low perspective will allow you to "break the horizon" with the gravestones, making a more dynamic composition. Superimposition may also be employed in photographing at Waits River, a famous Vermont "photo op." The village is located about twelve miles west of Bradford, on Highway 25. You can stop in front of the church, then take the small road down the hill and across the bridge, stopping just after the bridge and looking back.

The road and the bridge make a natural leading line to the church. However, if you move to the left, you can superimpose one of the dark buildings in the foreground on the church, thus adding more depth to your image. This technique also has the advantage of reducing the visible part of the building's metal roof, which reflects a lot of the morning light, to a thin line.  

3) Framing techniques may be employed for photographing the multicolored church in East Orange. You can reach this viewpoint by driving 1.8 miles west from Waits River, then taking the small road on the left to East Orange. At the church, turn left up the hill, for three-tenths of a mile, keeping to the left. You'll find that, by looking down, you can make a lovely composition of the church, framing it with the trees on the road. Different lenses will allow you to emphasize the frame or the church, as you please. A blue-yellow polarizer will help to separate the dark-toned church steeple from the background.

4) To enjoy an excellent "look-down" opportunity, go west from Barnet (off Interstate 91) toward West Barnet, about 2.5 miles, then up the steep hill on the Barnet Center Road for almost a mile. You'll be looking down on the Hillside Acres Farm, which you can photograph from a variety of angles. The sumac bushes by the side of the road may be used for framing as well as for hiding some of the junk at the left side of the barn. If you're a well-prepared photographer, you've equipped yourself with several cows in your camera bag. Place these in a dominant position in your foreground, using the farm as a background for your shot.

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REFERENCE MATERIAL

Delorme Vermont Atlas and Gazetteer
PO Box 298
Yarmouth Me. 04096
Telephone (207)846-7000
http://www.delorme.com

Photography guides

How to Find and Photograph the Photo Scenics in Vermont
Arnold Kaplan
236 Nottingham Drive
Centerville, MA 02632

Photograph America Newsletter
Robert Hitchman
Pacific Image
1333 Monte Maria Avenue
Novato, CA 94947