2019 Calendar
The 2019 calendar is still available just click on the Buy Now link. With several great trips planned this year you may want to check back later for the 2020 calendar.
Following are the stories behind each of the 2019 calendar images.
January, The Newport Bridge, Rhode Island. I knew the night before that temps were going to be cold, very cold. When that happens along the shore line it can generate what is called sea smoke. Before sunrise on New Year’s morning I went out into the -5 degree weather and headed to Taylor Point in Jamestown. Having been there before I knew the exact spot I wanted. Walking down the path to the water I could see the sea smoke all across the surface of the water. Now it was just a matter of waiting for the sun to rise and back light the sea smoke. Click Click and back into the car quickly!
February – Lenticular Clouds over Mount Washington in New Hampshire. After a small snowstorm the previous evening a friend and I headed out along Route 112, the Kancamagus Highway or the Kanc, in the White Mountains to see what snow scenes could be found. Turning left onto Bear Notch Road heading towards Jackson I spotted this cloud formation over the mountain. I had never physically seen such a formation and at the time did not know they were called lenticular clouds. Formed when air moves over mountains and cools enough for condensation to take place, lenticular clouds do not move and continually reform over the same location. They have been regularly confused for UFOs due to their smooth, round/oval shape. We sat, watched and photographed these clouds continually reform for over 30 minutes before moving on.
March – Moonrise over the Nubble Lighthouse. For this classic photographic scene in New England I had done research to find when the moon would be rising behind the lighthouse. Given that the lighthouse is just over a 3 hour drive for me I also had to keep an eye on the weather and traffic. It is actually quite common for full moon rises to be obscured by clouds and for traffic to back up on I495 in Massachusetts. On this day everything looked good for the shot so I made the drive arriving about an hour before moonrise. I had two locations about 5 minutes away from each other that I wanted to photograph from. With that hour I investigated both sites and looked for others. The moonrise came and I spent about 30 minutes shooting between the different locations and then drove back to Connecticut. This shot is from one of my original two locations I wanted to shoot from. It was taken from Long Sands Beach along Route 1A in York, Maine.
April – Sakonnet Lighthouse in Little Compton Rhode Island. Staying in Newport for the weekend I took a quick run over to Little Compton to try and catch the lighthouse at sunset. As the sun was setting I realized that with my long lens I might able to get slivers of the sun to show on either side of the lighthouse. With the winds blowing strong I envisioned small star bursts on either side of the lighthouse along with a wave crashing down on the rocks to kick up the spray. I switched to my large lens to make the sun look bigger, closed down my aperture to try and capture the starbursts and then started to try and position myself for the shot. With the sun moving at a slight angle as it set I had to continually move the tripod to evenly split the light on either side. Of course all the while hoping for a good wave to crash down! I knew I would have only a couple of seconds for things to all come together. As luck would have it, a wave crashed down when everything else was perfectly aligned!
May – Sunset over the Connecticut River. While visiting some folks we know in Old Lyme Connecticut I noticed that the sky was setting up for a colorful sunset. Always having my camera with me paid off this day. We walked to the end of the road where there was a pathway to the banks of the Connecticut River. After taking a couple of shots right on the bank I stepped back to see how the fence posts could be incorporated. A quick glance told me that I could use the pathway as a leading element to draw viewers eyes into the scene, where their eyes could then follow the reflection in the water further into the scene and take them right to the horizon where the setting sun was glowing in the sky.
June – Sunrise at Boulder Beach in Acadia National Park. Popular with photographers at sunrise Boulder Beach holds a surprise for anyone who visits the beach. I remember the first time photographing at the beach, it was early morning and no one else was there. The rocks on the beach are tumbled by the waves of the ocean. I knew this coming in, I knew the rocks would be smooth and rounded because of this. What I didn’t know was the sounds the rocks would make when being tumbled! At first it was erie, it rattled my cage a bit. Now, I’m just in awe and find myself at times sitting there just listening to the rocks tumble. Stop off and take a listen sometime, you will be in awe too!
July – A scene that I call “Homeport” taken in Westbrook CT. The only planning that went into this image was having my camera in the car with me. The rest was all by chance! Jules (my significant other) and I had left a restaurant just around sunset. We were in an area that she knew much better than I so I ask, how do we get to the shore? This is going to be a good sunset! I couldn’t find a good composition so we started heading back home. She suggested I take a short cut through the local marina. At the far end of the short cut, was a newly install gate. It was no longer a short cut. Jules apologized for getting me into a dead end. I looked to my left and said no need to apologize I’ll be right back! This was the scene to my left.
August – “Happenstance” a chance happening or event. As a nature photographer you tend to be aware of things in nature like when the full moon rises or sets. You also tend to carry your camera with you wherever you go on that off chance of capturing something! On this morning I knew that the full moon was going to be setting. As I started my ride into work I spotted the moon getting low to the horizon. Passing through Deep River, Connecticut I thought there might just be a good scene over a field around the corner a short distance ahead. As I rounded the corner I found fog in the field and the Belt of Venus in the sky. The Belt of Venus is the pinkish/purplish belt you see low to the horizon in the morning and evening. I pulled over to grab a shot but before I could get setup the moon disappeared behind a cloud. I continued to setup on the off chance the moon would come back out. As a photographer you take those off chances to be prepared for a few seconds of something spectacular. This morning it paid off, the moon came out under the cloud hence the name, Happenstance!
September– “Chittenden Sunrise” Chittenden Vermont. The weekend before I captured this shot I was in Dallas with Jules for a Patriots/Cowboys football game (I’m a Patriots fan, Jules is a Cowboys fan). The day after we returned I was to hop in the car and head south to the Great Smokey Mountains for a week of fall photography. While in Texas I had been seeing reports that the foliage in Northern New England was much better than expected and the foliage down south was slow to show itself. The night we came back I made the decision to head north instead of south. As I drove north I made calls to cancel reservations I had in North Carolina and Tennessee. The first night in Vermont I pulled out the laptop to research the area I was in. On the map I found a lake with a little island on it that appeared to have deciduous trees on it. Thank you Google Maps! This scene at Chittenden Reservoir is that island. It was my first stop of the day. While there I ran into a couple of local photographers who offered me the opportunity to follow them around to all their hidden spots. I took them up on their offer. Sometimes those last minute decisions can really pan out!
October– “Autumn Scene of Jenne Farm” in Southern Vermont. Jenne Farm is considered by many to be the most photographed farm in North America. Given this I just had to stop by and see what it was all about. Before going I had spoken to a neighbor who had been there previously and whose family has ties to that area. The best advice he gave was to stop in and visit with the farmers, don’t just show up and start photographing their property. Jules and I were on a trip to the White Mountains of New Hampshire and we took a side trip to Jenny Farm. Driving past the barn we saw the farmers in there talking. So we stopped. It was the end of the day, they were having a beer and gave us this look like, who are you? We introduced ourselves and told them the story about how we had heard from other locals that it was polite to stop in and say hi, talk for a bit. That set them off about how they love it when folks stop in to chat and how they view folks who just drive up, walk onto their property and start taking pictures differently. After about half an hour we started to say our goodbyes and then stopped on the front porch of their house to buy some
maple syrup. How many photographers that have been there know that they produce and sell maple syrup? Oh and by the way, when we walked past the barn on the way out, they gave us permission to venture out into the fields to take pictures and to tell the others up on the hill that if they want to venture into the field, stop down and talk to them first!
November – “Swan Bridge” in the Boston Public Gardens. It was already well into November and the fall folaige was pretty much gone from most places. I had been toying with going to New York City’s Central Park but I was just not able to get a good read on the foliage there. I knew that Boston normally runs later than most areas in New England so I decided to head there early one morning. The foliage was very spotty. I found some in Mount Auburn Cemetery and then in the Public Gardens. For this shot I had to do a little moving around to get the apartment building just off the Gardens to be hidden by the trees. I accomplished that and then it was a matter of waiting for that elusive moment when no one was in the scene. Not an easy thing to do in Boston! Turns out that todate this image has been my biggest seller with 1000 post cards going in just one order!
December– “Hadlyme Light” taken one year ago on December 9th we had a small snowstorm passing through the area. The Essex Steam Train is just too irresistible when it snows! This was the last daylight run of the day. At this location the train passes by and returns about eight minutes later, but backing up. I normally do not shoot the trains backing up but on this day decided to give it a try. The tell tale sign that this train is backing up is the steam in front of the train. That is the reason, in the past, I have not shot the trains going this direction. I like the way the light and the steam interplay in this shot though, so from that day on, I no longer hesitate to shoot the trains in reverse!