I didn’t make it to Acadia National Park this year. Next year, perhaps. I’ve been there in summertime, and once I enjoyed a quiet October weekend there as well (from that trip comes this picture of the Bubbles). I’ve never been there in snow season. Have any readers paid a visit to Acadia in the wintertime? I’d love to hear from you. Winter camper, or stayed in town? Snowshoes or cross-country skis? What’s open?
The Bubbles (Acadia National Park), mid-autumn. Ellen Kolb photo.
Today’s Photo 101 assignment finds me reaching back into my archives. I found nothing around me yesterday or in my archives to meet the “swarm” prompt. Today’s “landscape” prompt is another story.
This is upstate New Hampshire – close to home and well-loved. I’ve been to Yosemite and many other beautiful places where I took landscape images. This one, though, speaks of home. Great luck, too, to have a clear summer day for this photo. Twenty-four hours later, the area sweltered under heavy humid haze.
First Connecticut Lake and Mt. Magalloway, seen from Prospect Mountain
This is a skill I have yet to master. How can I capture the look of the watercourses I see on my hikes? I experimented with my camera at a brook near my house, and abandoned several shots before I was happy with this one.
Baboosic Brook: 1/10 sec., f/11.2. Fairly close to what I hoped to capture.
I did manage to learn that a fast shutter speed without an adjustment to aperture resulted in a nearly-black photo. Thumbnail only; this one doesn’t deserve a featured spot.
The architecture of fire towers is pretty simple, stark and functional. With the exception of the glorious stone tower at Weeks State Park, they all look pretty much the same, distinguished only by the number of antennae and dishes attached. But oh, the wonderful hikes I’ve had to each one of these towers … with more to come.
This photo is just a tease. It’s not snowshoe weather in southern New Hampshire just yet. I’ll be back on Windblown’s trails (like the one in the picture) soon enough. It’s time to prepare for the season, though, and Windblown cross-country ski area’s annual ski swap is coming up on December 6, 9-11 a.m. at 1180 Turnpike Road (routes 123/124) in New Ipswich. Keep an eye on Windblown’s Facebook page for updates.
Is it mysterious, or just poorly focused?
November, Naticook Lake
I walked to Naticook Lake again this week – a familiar place to me in summer, but I’d never really noticed it in autumn before, so every recent walk there has been a little journey of re-discovery. I came across it in the oddest light late in the day. I saw the last of the colorful leaves floating on the lake, so out came the camera phone for a quick shot. When I reviewed the photo later, there was this muted hazy look. The camera itself was fine; other shots taken that day were sharp as could be. Somehow, I had caught the light on the lake at just the right time for this almost-smudgy look. I used a high-resolution setting, with Auto exposure and no adjustments to white balance. Had there been a macro setting, the shot would probably be clearer, but less interesting IMHO. I deleted a photo of the same scene taken on the “Cloudy” setting, because it imposed an unnatural shade of yellow on everything.
The park has grown quiet with the athletic field no longer humming with youth football, now wrapped up for the season. Too cold for tennis, I guess, since the courts have been empty on my recent visits. I share the lakeshore with only a couple of people at a time, all of us just passing by on our walks, shedding our workdays one step at a time.
Granite State Walker 