A Scenic/Landscape Photographers Life: Day 1

I got up at 4:30am Sunday, to be out the door by 5:30, and headed to a spot on the Ellis to try and photograph sunrise. I bought some new Muck boots for rivers and the ocean, that come almost up to my knee. Fantastic boots! But when I attempted to wade out to the spot in the dark with a headlamp, I realized the spot I wanted, was just two inches higher than my boot, ugh. So I bailed, and quickly went to another spot close by. I waded out into the river, set up my tripod and waited. It looked promising, until the last minute, when cloud cover obscured my view. Oh well, off to work at the gallery.

I followed up a busy gallery day, with a visit to see mom at the nursing home for an hour or so. Then I headed up the Kancamagus Highway and down Bear Notch to scout the foliage progress. The Kanc’ was getting close to peak, and there were plenty of scenes already so. I took a couple pics along the Swift River, and headed home.

Sitting at home, having a late dinner with a glass of wine around 8pm, I noticed an Aurora Alert, with a strong Kp of 5 or so for the next 1/2 hour or more…..damn, I was really looking forward to an early bed. But instead, I quickly threw my gear in the car again and headed out to try to get an image. I arrived at the spot I wanted, but after my eyes adjusted, I noticed a thin large cloud cover to the North. I tried a few exposures to see if the camera was picking up anything, but the clouds were too dense. Oh well, at least I can get to bed now.

Yesterday, I did the same morning routine. and headed back out for a high sunrise shot. As usual, I arrived in the dark, and set up my gear. I sat and sipped some strong coffee, as I waited for twilight to became a bit brighter. While it was pretty, and it’s always special to watch sunrise come on, this mornings early warming sun that lit up the foliage after, was the real star of the show:)!

The first close up image clearly shows Mt Washington, with it’s summit buildings, topped with a light coating of frost or rime ice. In the second picture, the forward peak in front and to the right of Mt. Washington, is Mt. Parker, with a stunning swath of red, against Oak Ridge. The high mountain to the left is Resolution, with Mt. Langdon to the right of Parker, and the distant mountains of the Wildcat Range and Carter Dome just behind it. After capturing this scene, I went to the gallery for a full day. As soon, as I shut the doors, I headed out again, this time to the top of Crawford Notch, with foliage at peak.

I saw some clouds setting up nicely over a scene of Mt. Willard, Avalon, and Hale, with some nice soft whips of grass in the foreground, so I composed the image and again waited. This time, the clouds moved out of the scene, just before turning color. So I had to pivot immediately for an entirely new composition. Not what I was looking for, but when you get lemons, you make lemonade. So I ended up getting an image of the train station and the AMC center in the dark, with some good sunset colors lighting up the clouds and the tracks leading to it. Finishing up as it got dark, I headed back home for another late dinner and early bed, before 4:30 arrives again……and I start the routine all over again.