Photogaboutit

...but I promise to do better. Really! 1. A bun in the oven. 'nuff said. Thanks Julia for doing all the hard work! Julia's tummy is growing... ...and so is our family! 2. I've been working my butt off on the waterfalls book for Falcon Guides. Monday was my last day of fieldwork and now I'm knee deep in driving directions, hiking directions, mapping, photo processing and hike descriptions. I've been to 113 waterfalls all over New England, and most were hiked in the last three months. Well, I've seen some beautiful places, that's for sure! Bailey Falls, VT Bash Bish Falls, MA 3. I started graduate school. I've decided to get a masters degree from the MALS program at Dartmouth. And since I've never wanted a graduate degree, and I don't need one for my profession, I figured I'd focus on what I love, which is long distance hiking. I'll follow this up with a more detailed description of the program and what I hope to ...

It's nice to discover a cool waterfall, or series of small cascades and nice swim holes, only a half mile out of the way on the trip back home from work. A locals' favorite, I haven't been here since I was a student, a long long time ago. Playing with an ultrawide lens has been a liberating experience. I'm just glad I didn't liberate my camera down the falls. By using a three stop neutral density filter, I was able to keep my aperture at f/11, maintaining a massive depth of field but eliminating the effect of diffraction when using even smaller apertures. A benefit of low water flow is the ability to get shots that would otherwise be too dangerous. The parking is just off True's Brook Road, 0.8 miles from the junction with NH route 12A just south of the "strip." Water is pretty low right now, but it's still very beautiful and the pools are warm and deep enough for a solid dip in just the right spot. Low water also allows me to explore the r...

...Did I mention waterfalls? As I continue on my race to visit, photograph, map and write about one hundred waterfalls across New England, I'm continually challenged to think of creative ways to capture these simple wonders of nature in unique ways...and to do so quickly, because there are always more waterfalls to visit. Emerson falls, just below a dam in Saint Johnsbury, VT shows you don't need to be out in the wilderness to capture the beautiful movement of water. The shutter speed of 1/5 of a second blurs the water enough to create smooth lines, yet is of short enough duration to maintain the feeling of movement with little lines of spray clearly distinguishable. As I'm visiting most of these waterfalls alone, I look for any opportunity to capture people in my waterfall photos. Usually that involves a quick shutter speed. Luckily here I was able to do a long exposure on the tripod, and the fisherman remained still enough to remain sharp. Wadsworth Big Falls, Mi...

Although there is a long fence precluding nice views to what appears to be a dramatic gorge deep within a forest, the views you can get make it worth the trip if you're nearby. We were in a bit of rush, but you can get to the stream at the bottom of the fence and walk back up the stream bed in low water. That is where the second photo was shot...just before I slipped on my already sprained ankle, dunked my body (and phone, luckily no damage) and saved the camera from going in. All in a day's work. Although getting down to the gorge is difficult due to a safety fence, you can still get some nice shots through the foliage from a safe vantage point. Above the gorge, there is no fence and you can climb on the rocks if the water is low. Below the gorge the path beyond the fence meets the stream. I was able to climb up the stream a bit to get this shot. The main part of the gorge is much steeper, and I wasn't feeling very confident after having just dunked after re-...

So I'm busily spending every last minute working on a book for Falcon Guides about waterfalls in New England. I need to visit, map, write about and photograph 100 waterfalls throughout New England. Today I visited four more, one of which is Beaver Brook Falls in Keene, NH. It's just three quarters of a mile up an old closed road, paved but experiencing the effects of nature's quick work. Anyways, the falls, although nice, are really nothing to write home about. However, I noticed these incredible spots of light on the water shining through the canopy, leaving a cool top and lighting up the red-brown tannin-rich water. On top of that, the large white bubbles emanated from the base of the falls. Ten to twenty second exposures revealed a bubble outline with streaks as they slowly migrated downstream. It actually seems as if these are creatures swimming upstream. I used a three stop neutral density filter to enable especially long exposures. Anyways, I went there...