I haven't had enough time this year to go riding around looking for colors, but there doesn't seem to be much color action here in southern Connecticut. I shot this photo about a mile from my house last year on October 29th, but drove by the pond just yesterday and there's no sign of color. Of course, I get antsy every year waiting for the leaves to turn and I don't know why I should want to rush them along, but just curious how colors are doing elsewhere in the northeast (and around the country). Post a comment if you're north of Connecticut and let me know how the colors are doing. I used to make a big event out of the colors each year and would take off for a week or so in my van, chasing the colors around New England. I just don't seem to have the time (or a new enough car!) to do that these days. I used to fantasize about doing what Steinbeck did in Travels with Charley and just packing up a truck and spending a few months on the back roads (not sure the cats would be too thrilled with the trip, though). Steinbeck's book is a wonderful read, by the way. Years later a guy named William Least Heat Moon spent several months cruising the back roads (the blue highways) and wrote a book about his journey called Blue Highways that is one of the best travel books ever written. If you're looking for a few great travel books to read, those would make a great pairing. And again, please leave a colors comment if you have anything to report.
Photo Notes: This photo was shot with a Nikon D90 with a 70-300mm Nikkor zoom. Exposure at ISO 200 was for 1/40 second at f/11 with +.67 stops of compensation. The scene was recorded in RAW, converted from NEF to DNG and worked in Photoshop CS3.
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7 comments:
I'm 18 mi. west of Boston and the fall colors have been very muted and uneven. Stands of trees are either green or almost leafless.
Last wknd. on the Kancamagus, color not really there. Bear Notch Rd. was bright with color.
same in England, trees are either green or bare, you get the odd yellow but not enough for a good contrast.
thanks for the neon page :)
neil
Hi Jeff,
Like Anonymous, I live near Boston and things are just bad all over. My wife and I took a trip at the end of September into Vermont and, nothing. We went to Franconia Notch last weekend and it was very hit or miss. It looked like it was either green or dead.
Frank
@Anonymous. I saw my first moose on Bear Notch Road many years ago. It was twilight and I thought it was a horse in the road :) As I got closer I realized what it was and it was taller than my van...it was looking down at me. Thanks for the color report. Kancamagus is often "thee" color road in New Hampshire. jeff
Hi Frank,
Yeah, I don't know if it's the weather, or something to do with Hurricane Irene or what, but no one is raving about the colors (yet) this year. I'm hoping NW Connecticut will pick up in a few weeks. If you and your wife are looking for another road trip, the Litchfield, CT area is sometimes more beautiful than Vermont. You had rain in Vermont as I recall, too, by the way, that doesn't help! jeff
Here in Seattle and the Great Northwest the colors seem to be slow turning as well. Went out this weekend to a popular park I frequent for fall colors and they just weren't quite there yet. A couple more weeks I think.
Thanks Jenn. So then this isn't just an east-coast thing, good to know. Everyone here is blaming it partly on Hurricane Irene (and that may, in fact, be part of the lack of colors in Vermont this year). We'll see. Send me a photo of Seattle when the colors come to town and I'll post it on the blog :) jeff
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