Zooming in on Spring Leafscapes

Using a Telephoto Lens to Focus on the Spring Color

 

Having survived stick and waterfall seasons we are now firmly in leaf season. Mid to late spring is a time of infinitely varied curtains of green and it is one of my favorite times of the year.  Not only can we say goodbye to the last remnants of winter (I hope), but the colors in the trees rival the autumn for warmth and brilliance.  Too soon the leaves will settle into their deeper and more monotonous summer greens, but while it lasts I feel like a kid in a candy shop trying to capture the unique beauty of new beginnings.

Not the Grand View
So far this spring I have been concentrating on macro images of the early buds and flowers, but the colors of the spring leaves lend themselves to a broader canvas.   In the Spring and Autumn, when the emphasis is on the color of the foliage, photographers often capture expansive images of hillsides with vast splashes of color.  It is tempting to focus on the grand panoramas, but for me, these images are generally monotonously busy and without direction.  I prefer to move in on the detail, arranging leaves, trunks and sky into more intimate compositions.  I had great fun this early spring limiting myself to the world seen through my 100mm Macro lens, but for the spring foliage I decided to switch to my telephoto zoom generally restricting my view to the 300 - 400 mm range.

 


The Telephoto View

Long lens' change photographic vision in a number of ways.   I found that the massive hunk of glass hanging from my shoulder quickly altered the focus of my attention as I scanned for more distant subjects that I could pull into the viewfinder.  The long telephoto restricts the angle of view making it easier to isolate arrangements of leaves, tree trunks, branches and fauna into simple but powerful compositions.  It compresses distant layers of foliage creating interesting and complex combinations of differing flora.  At the same time, depending on aperture, the telephoto creates a narrow range of sharp focus allowing soft bokeh to simplify the image and draw attention to the main subject(s).


 


 
 I started by scanning across pastures to the distant forest edge looking for patterns. The variously colored leaves created lovely montages while in other areas the dark branches provided interesting contrast with the soft foliage. Once I started looking, the compositions were everywhere. Foreground elements also helped to provide interest and context to the images. Through the perspective flattening effect of the long lens fences, sheep, and horses were compressed into the scene linking the background with the foreground interest. The effect can be subtle but still provides an almost unstated sense of connection which is very calming.




A couple of days ago I awoke to find a gentle mist hanging on the trees.   I rushed out  to shoot before the fog melted away. The depth enhancing effect of the mist combined with the compression of the telephoto produced lovely contrasts.

Spring Mist

 



 The leaves are beginning to settle into their summer hues. Sadly, the soft spring colors seem as fleeting as autumn's garish display, while it lasts it is well worth zooming in on the show.
Jeffrey Newcomer
Partridgebrookreflections.com

Read More

I'm DONE !

Daffodil Barn, Keene, NH

Enough with the Glorious Winter Already

Cold Franconia Sunrise

I had nearly completed my blog article for this week about the restoration of antique photographs and then it hit me.  I’M DONE.

I have always loved winter, especially the unique photographic opportunities that the pristine white blanket provides in the sparse angular light of the season.  We had a good share of snow this winter, but it is this year’s persistent body and soul numbing cold that has finally wrecked my spirit.  Perhaps it is my aging circulation that makes the cold more difficult to tolerate, but all would agree that this winter has been unusually frigid and without the occasional thaws that normally serve to trigger at least a breath of hope for nature’s resurrection.   I am hoping that by this weekend when I publish this article the temperatures may have moderated a bit,

Perkins Pond Spring, Troy, NH

 but at this moment I REALLY need spring and I suspect that there are many out there that share my desperate longing.   So I have decided to drop everything and spend some time strolling through my spring images, selecting a few of my favorites to share with my frozen neighbors.  These may not be my most artistic images, but rather ones that speak strongly to me of the warmth and burgeoning new  life that is the essence of spring.

I hope that these few images provide a brief respite from the chill, but if not, that's ok, this one is for me.  Feel free to prolong your vernal escape by browsing the Spring Archive on my web site.

St Matthew's Lupine, Sugar Hill, NH

The Annual Lupine Festival in Sugar Hill New Hampshire, just north of Franconia Ridge, is a blast of spring color is a spectacular setting, but for me, the real attraction of spring is the endless variety and richness of the newly erupted greens. 

Fresh Green, Brattleboro, Vermont

Too soon the soft colors become fixed in their deeper shade of summer green.

Huntington Cascade, Dixville Notch, NH

Early spring is waterfall season, with the vigorous winter run-off being the main attraction until the leaves start popping out. The season comes late to New Hampshire's North Country and it is possible to follow the early spring north much like the fall colors can be tract as they move from north to south.

Table Rock, Balsams, NH

The Balsams Grand Hotel seen from Table Rock in Dixville North, New Hampshire.  Sadly the resort is now closed, but there is hope that this classic might open again with plans for an expanded ski resort.

Curious Goat, Dummerston, Vt

Spring also is reflected in the excitement of the animals as they escape from the barn into fresh pastures with the sweatiest grass of the season.  

Dawn Pasture, Dummerston, VT

This exuberance is no better seen than in Stonewall Farm's annual "Dancing of the Ladies" when the cows go wild,  running jumping and head bumping, as they are released to pasture for the first time.

 

Dancing Lady, Keene, NH

Central Square Blossoms, Keene, NH

Every spring for just a few days Keene's Central Square becomes a festival flowers.  The trick is to fine the day when the sun is full.  I can look back on the dates of old images from the event to gauge when the vigil should begin.

Orchard Maple, Walpole, NH

 Sadly, I can't anticipate that all these favorite icons of spring will return.  Tragically, the great Oak on the Hilltop at Alyson's Orchard in Walpole, New Hampshire is now only a memory It was devastated by a  lightning strike and had to be removed last fall. 

Wildflower Barn, Westmoreland, NH

Openings, Marlborough, NH

I found one of my favorite Birch groves by accident in Reading Vermont, while looking for the famous Weathersfield Birches.  I eventually discovered that fable grove is now overgrown and no longer the treasure about which I had read.  This spot was a worthy conciliation.

Spring Birches, Reading, Vt



As I complete this prayer to spring, I'm thrilled to report that yesterday the temperature climbed tentatively into the 40's.  Anything above freezing brings hope, but next week promises colder temperatures and a chance for another storm.  That's New England.  All we can do is make the best of what nature gives us and occasionally escape into our photographs to be assured that spring will come.

Slide Show of My Full Spring Archive


 

Oh, and one more sign of spring arrived yesterday.  I discovered that the eagles have  returned to their nest on the Connecticut River, and they appear to be faithfully on guard.  Hopefully chicks will be emerging soon.

Bald Eagles on the nest, one guarding, the other bringing supper.

Spring in New England (Photo Archive)


Jeffrey Newcomer
Partridgebrookreflections.com

Read More

Get Yourself Some Farms Album

This week it is my turn to post and article on the New England Photography Guild's Blog. Given the high quality of work which is routine from my fellow members, it is always a bit intimidating to offer something of mine for publication. I can't get away with my usual whining about the weather or about all the deadlines I am missing. I also have to deal with the strict rules of the NEPG Blog. They actually check spelling and grammar! There is also a limit on the number of images I can include, so, as has become my habit, I will use this week's personal blog as a supplemental photo album for main article.

For my NEPG article I chose to talk about "My Farms", the three local farms that I have adopted as sources of photographic and personal inspiration. The real purpose of the article is to encourage you to find your own local farms. Getting to know and be known by local farmers can open endless photographic opportunities and allow a deeper appreciation of the work these folks do to preserve a way of life that is at the base of what it means to be a New Englander.

So check out my article on the New England Photography Blog, enjoy the many moods of MY farms and go out and get your own.

Hubner Dairy Farm, Chesterfield, New Hampshire

 

 

   

 

For more images check out my Hubner Farm Flickr Set 

 

Roads End Farm and Riding Camp, Chesterfield, New Hampshire

 

 

 

For more images check out my Roads End Flickr Set

Stonewall Farm Educational Center, Keene, New Hampshire

 

 

 

For more images check out my Stonewall Farm Flickr Set

Back to my NEPG article

Read More

Fresh Sap

Finding New Images in an Old Location

What do you do to find fresh subjects for photography when you are shooting in familiar locations?

Last week I returned for the fourth year in a row to photograph the Sap Gathering Contest at Stonewall Farm in Keene New Hampshire.



Don't Distract the Teams

Stonewall is a working farm which is run as an educational resource for the community. For some years it has been my privilege to support the farm by photographing some of the many public events offered every year. In return, I have been allowed special access to the farms activities. The Sap Gathering Contest is a chance to see maple sap collecting using traditional techniques. Horse drawn sleds wind through a forest trail collecting sap from buckets. Teams are judged based on their efficiency and control as well as there speed, but the real winners are the folks who line portions of the course for the opportunity to step back to a time when sap gathering was closer to the land, when the forest wasn't entangled in a web of plastic tubes and the air was free of tractor exhaust. It is a unique experience and I had the advantage of being one of a very few photographers and videographers who were allowed to escape the public viewing areas and follow the sleds through the forest trail.

Over the years I have been able to capture great images of the teams

When There Was Snow

expertly working their way through the course. Most of best images came from a few years ago when we were blessed with a idyllic coating of fresh snow. This year our dry, snowless winter provided a rather gray and dull background for any new "sled in the forest" shots and, anyway, it occurred to me that I had about as many pictures of horses and sleds as I will ever need. Of course I had to get the team shots, after all that is what the event is supposed to be about, but in the last couple of years I have also been trying to expand my view. I am working at doing a more complete job of telling the story, and that is what event photography must be about.  So where to start?

Go for the Detail

When caught in a rut like this my first approach is usually to start zooming in on the details. It is interesting that I have to literally flip my cognitive "detail" switch to kick myself out of my usual "broad landscape composition mode" and start seeing this stuff. There was a wealth of detail to celebrate at the sap gathering. The expressions on the horses faces, their ornate and gleaming tack, brightly colored buckets and rusting antique farm machinery all made great subjects. Last year I focused on the misty interior of the sugar shack, but it all makes the point that the specifics often tell a more compelling story than the broad "establishing" shots.

 




It's All About the People




Shootin the "Sap"

Of course an event like this is really about the people. The drivers and assistants, the volunteers and the specters all have their roles to play in the story, and this year again I tried to focus on the faces. The participants often travel from all across New England for the event and I have come to appreciate that they are attracted as much for the comradery as for the competition.  The small army of community volunteers fill many roles that are critical to the smooth operation of the contest, including staffing the gift shop, filling the buckets and keeping the evaporator running.   I particular enjoyed learning from my interactions with my fellow photographers. Many of these folks concentrate on horse photography and actually know what they're doing out there! In the woods we had great fun jumping in an out of each others shot while trying to avoid disturbing the massive teams that were passing by.




Stay Out of My Shot!

 

There MUST be an Angle I Haven't Shot Before !




By Grimes Brook

Finally, You can't shoot the sap gathering without getting the mandatory pictures of the magnificent horse teams. The goal every year is to try to fine different foregrounds and backgrounds that help to tell more than the simple facts of "horses, sled, driver. It has become increasingly difficult to find an angle that I haven't used many times before. This year I tried to incorporate the little stream that parallels a portion of the route. The angles were not easy, but at least it is something different.




Happy Feet



The Long Pour

As hard as it can be to find freshness in an event like this, I will continue to come back. It is always a unique opportunity and never quite the same. Over the years I have learned a great deal about event photography and I think I have finally assembled the range of photographs needed to be able to tell a full and coherent story about this great contest. And, of course, I have to come back every year for my wonderful Maple Syrup Sundae.

  And A final Tip. If you want gobs of Maple syrup on your sundae, just tell the server that you are a "Professional Photographer" and you need a couple more shots to fully document the generosity of the pour.

Check out more of my images from the Sap Gathering Contest over the years at my Sap Gathering Flickr Set



Also a previous blog article about last year's contest:



You can find out about Stonewall Farms many programs on there web site .You'll find that the farm is about a lot more than just horses and sleds

Jeffrey Newcomer
www.partridgebrookreflections.com

Read More