8/4: Mount Lafayette
I know I know this post is more than a month after I actually took the photos! I've been a bit slow editing them, since I took 1,000... given the amount I took I'm sure you won't be surprised that this post will be longer than most! I thought about making it more than one post, but it's been so long I just want to share!
Picking up from where I left off last time in Acadia, Wednesday 8/3 Alexis, Rachel, Behr and I left Acadia and drove the 5 hours to our campsite in New Hampshire. We grabbed some groceries for grilling and checked into our campsite. We stayed at Lost River Campground, which allows dogs, and it has a small river running along one side and a brook on the other that meet at the end of the campgrounds. It's a very pretty location and several of the campsites are very private and on the water. We spent the day setting up camp, exploring the camp ground, eating, and hanging out by the fire.
The next morning we got up fairly early, ate, and got ready for the day. We made sure to pack lots of water for us and Behr. We each carried a Camelbak with 70L and water bottles. I had 4 large water bottles in my bag as well! We were headed to a parking lot at Franconia State Park to do the 8.9 mile loop that crosses part of the Appalachian Trail and you summit three peaks including Mount Lafayette, the highest peak outside of the Presidential's in New Hampshire at 5,254 feet. The loop is considered very difficult with rock stair cases the entire way up and down and has an elevation gain of 3,900 feet.
We set out for the parking lot at the base of the Mount Lafayette loup and began our hike around 11 am. There is lots of information to be found online about hiking the 8.9 mile loop. We began from the parking lot, 0.2 miles to Falling Waters Trail 2.9 miles (past 3 small waterfalls on Dry Brook) to the first summit, Little Haystack Mountain on the Franconia Ridge piece of the Appalachian Trail. Then summit Mount Lincoln on the way to Mount Lafayette 1.7 miles later. Descending 1.1 miles down Greenleaf Trail to the AMC hut to stop and take a break and finally 3 miles back on Old Bridle Path to the parking lot. Map shown below.
All of this we knew ahead of time. Despite the warnings that the hike is for experienced hikers we committed ourselves to making the full loop. It was am amazing hike and most defiantly is more suited to those who hike regularly. We are all in decent shape and hike mild and shorter hikes fairly often but could have used a bit more experience for this. Before this trip Behr's longest hike was probably 4 miles and didn't have much elevation gain so we weren't sure how he would do. Surprisingly, while very tired, he made it the whole way on his own! The whole hike took us about 8 hours and I wouldn't recommend starting later than we did unless you are an experienced hiker and know what you're doing. I should probably note I obviously took a lot of photos so that made the hike take longer than it might for someone just hiking. We got lucky and it was a beautiful day, if the weather turns bad when are on the ridge, 1.7 miles of the hike that is above the tree line, you are exposed so I would recommend turning back!
Back to the beginning of our hike and some photos. We began from the parking lot right off 93 and walked the 0.2 miles on Old Bridle path that connected us to Falling Waters Trail. This was the last chance to use a bathroom until you reached the AMC hut 5.7 miles later. We quickly made it to Falling Waters Trail with Dry Brook winding along the path, and the path cross over several times.
The many exposed roots and rock stairs cases along the way added natural beauty to the man made path and make the hike more strenuous. Once we reached the first point the path crossed Dry Brook we played a bit in the brook and climbed some wet rock. If I didn't mention it before I highly recommend taking Falling Waters Trail up and NOT down if you are doing the loop, not only is it beautiful but there are wet rocks along the path and finding your footing on the way down would be more difficult.
Along the path we came across the first waterfall and stopped to take some photos and play on a nearby fallen tree that crosses 10-12 feet above the ground by the path.
The natural beauty along the way made it hard not to stop every second for a photo, okay well maybe I actually did come a bit too close to stopping every few seconds! It also made it difficult not to want to stop and just soak it in, but it's a long difficult trail so we kept moving.
We passed another small piece of the brook that looked a bit like a waterfall. The rocks ran down like staircases in this piece of the brook and it seemed like a small three tiered waterfall.
As usual I couldn't help taking many photos of Alexis and Behr, Behr is just such a happy dog.
The altitude and rock staircases started getting to us and we would pause more often to catch our breath and rest with Behr after the last waterfall, but even before that (as you see above) we were steadily climbing rock stair cases and gaining elevation.
The last waterfall along the path is the largest, Bridal Veil Falls. Here we stopped to eat cliff bars and enjoy the view for a bit, but not too long. And as always to take some photos!
While crossing the brook for what I believe was the lasts time, this mini falls caught my eye. The steps in the grey, yellow, orange, white rock covered in patches of green moss passing sprouts of water down a level until the flow on.
Climbing climbing climbing, on past beautiful rock staircases and exposed tree roots.
We couldn't let the beauty deter us from our destination so I'd stop very quickly, often so quickly my photos weren't always in focus, to try to capture the feeling of being there. The warmth of the day, the happy moss growing on the paths, the fungi on the rocks, lucky clovers even sprouting from moss, and the tree tall and strong.
Getting closer to the top we start to see the tree line and some of the mountains around us.
And we finally reached the first summit, Little Haystack Mountain, where a friendly fellow hiker asked if we wanted a photo. Reaching the first summit felt like a relief at this point, the altitude gain and rock stair cases were pretty steep at the end of the Falling Waters Trail. We took a break here and had another small snack and lots of water.
Before we continued on Behr got to meet this adorable little puppy who was making the loop, half walking and half carried, from the other direction headed back down Falling Waters Trail.
When we began onto Franconia Ridge it was really hard to tell along the way when we hit the second peak, the trail slopes up and down regularly across the mountains. We would hit a new part where it seemed we were at a peak and wonder if that one was close to our final destination. The 1.7 miles from peak to peak seemed to take longer than we expected.
Even along the tops of these mountains there were more rock stairs cases, and beautiful views.
We finally made it to Mount Lafayette but didn't linger, it was getting later in the day and we knew we still have 4.1 miles to go!
This ones funny if you can see it, Behr is making this awfully funny sneezy face and Alexis is looking at him laughing. While Rachel is oblivious and taking photos of the view into the valley below.
We tried to make the 1.1 miles to the AMC hut in record time (for us at least) and we're moving fairly quickly down the rock staircases. Above you can even see Behr being silly and trying to more more quickly. At one point I yelled out a warning about a slippery rock. Ironically enough pretty close to that spot Alexis ended up slipping and spraining his ankle. He had to talk the rest of way down with it sprained, irritating it more.
We stopped for a bathroom break and water refills (not that we really needed them at this point, we had enough water still) and sat for a bit outside the AMC lodge as they began their dinner.
Old Bridle Path on the way down was full of exposed rock staircases, rock stair cases and exposed roots, with a path that ran in and out of covered woods.
Once we were back at the car we all lay down on the ground feeling accomplished and very tired. We grabbed some ice cream afterwards and hung out back at camp. Because of Alexis's injury we headed straight home the next day. We'll head back up into the White Mountains this month to check out a few more areas!
8/2: Acadia National Park
At the beginning of the month I planned a last minute trip to Acadia National Park in Maine and the White Mountains. My boyfriend Alexis, my friend Rachel, and I decided to spend one day in Acadia and a few days in the White Mountains. We planned to drive up to Acadia early Tuesday morning and explore Ocean Path on the coast and hopefully see Thunder Hole at high tide. Then we would head down to our campsite in the White Mountains.
Things don't always work out as planned of course and after the 4 hour drive up to Acadia we decided to spend the first night there and head to our campsite in the White Mountains afterwards.
By the time we got to Acadia it was 2-3pm and it took us some time to find the visitors center and get a pass. Afterwards we were hungry so we stopped in Bar Harbor to grab some food on our way to Ocean Path.
There are several parking lots along Ocean Path but we parked at the very beginning by Sand Beach. We had Behr with us and dogs aren't allowed on the beach so we began immediately on the trail behind the restrooms. The trail follows the coast and often runs along the road with many little paths running off it that allow you to see the views along the coast. We took many of these side paths to see the scenery and take photos. (photos of Rachel and I and Alexis, Behr, and I below. Rachel and Alexis were my human tripods for these)
By the time we made it to Thunder Hole it was low tide (we made it between 4-5pm and high tide was at 11am). Below is a photo of how it looked at low tide, at high tide the water roars far past that area and splashes anyone along the walk.
Behr and Alexis were a treat to take photos of along the way. Behr is so goofy with his tongue always hanging out he takes the funniest photos and he was just so happy to be there you can feel it.
Eventually along the path we entered an area in the woods. At this time the sun was getting lower in the sky and the light filtering through the trees created this radiant supernatural glow that felt very fairy tale. It seemed like the perfect opportunity for a conceptual photo so I attempted to take a photo with myself as the model. However, I was unable to take my shoes off because of animal holes in the ground so I like the one without me better.
In that same area of the woods this red squirrel tried to make friends with us. Behr kept accidentally scaring him off but he kept coming back.
We walked the full 2 miles (plus all our side stops) to Otter Point before we turned around.
On the way back we stopped at Thunder Hole again and walked out on the rocks in the area to get a little closer for photos of the visiting seal and to rest a minute.
The full loop is about 4 miles without getting off the path, with all the side trails we're guessing it was more like 4.5-5 miles.
After we got back to the car we drove up to the top of Cadillac Mountain to see the sunset.
6/18: Blue Hills
I must apologize again for the lack of posts but as I said before I am moving at the end of this month so it's been a bit of a whirlwind! From this trip I will have two blog posts for you, this post is the fun hiking photos while the other is some planned shots for my 50 faces project & working to take photos in black and white as I've mentioned in previous posts.
Behr and Alexis were reunited for the weekend, after 2 weeks apart (since we are in between places Behr isn't with us for the month we only see him on some weekends), which made Behr was a very happy puppy! Saturday Alexis, Behr, and I set out for Blue Hills in Milton to let Behr get wet in the water and do a bit of hiking. First we had to drive around to find some available parking and we got lucky and found a spot near Houghton Pond. We set off first towards the pond to let Behr do a little swimming.
Behr likes to swim for the most part but prefers when he can touch the ground, when he can't touch the ground he looks like he's struggling a bit, and one he is back on ground he seems to frustratingly gurgle up water he got in his mouth, and he is quick to shake himself dry throwing water on the rest of us.
That last photo is so dramatic and the others so silly I might just have to print all three as a series for a wall in our new home!
Once Behr seemed sick of the water and even Alexis couldn't coax him back in we set off for the woods and did a leisurely loop with lots of stops to take photos with Alexis modeling for me... coming in the next blog post.
Bear's Den - Getting Elemental
Towards the end of the summer last year I was getting antsy to take some more conceptual photos with models. Two of my friends, Jacqui and Jenna, both actresses, quickly volunteered and got excited about the photo shoot. They were most excited about being involved in coming up with a concept for the photos and exploring a new hiking spot. It was so easy to move forward with a plan with models as excited about the project as I was. We quickly researched and choose a location. We chooseBear's Den in New Salem, MA, somewhere we had never been before but it wasn't too far away with pretty waterfalls in the woods.
When we reached our destination we were surprised to find even more than we expected! We parked right off a main road and took a quick hike through some woods to a small clearing where there were a few steep paths that lead further into the woods. Once in the woods we found a stream on our right that wrapped around in front of us and to our left where there were large rock formations. By the stream we found the remains of an old foundation. Having planned our concept based on trees, rocks, and waterfalls without having prior knowledge of the foundation we did not include it but it was exciting to find more possibilities than we expected.
We walked around the huge stone formation by the stream and came to the waterfall. The girls started pulling out their dresses and showing me what the possibilities were. The concept we had agreed on ahead of time was elements and they had chosen their clothes with it in mind. We hadn't decided if our concept of elements would juxtaposed the natural landscape or match it. We started with both girls together in a shot each matching a different piece of the landscape, rock and moss. I love the the idea of this shot, but it was early in the day and we we're getting comfortable working together, just warming up. I'm not used to work with two models together either so these didn't end up being my favorite photos. I plan to challenge myself to work more successfully with two models in the same shot.
Every where we turned there was something new to use for the backdrop of our photos and it was all very close together - we didn't have to walk or carry our things any further! I began to work with each of them individually, and while one was changing I would shoot the other.
Jacqui and Jenna got into it, deciding on their own to jump in the water to get the shot, pointing out to each other things to try or poses they've done before that might work, and when to hold a pose... they almost didn't need me! The lighting was a beautiful soft light, but it was coming from above the trees so to get the right lighting I often had to have the girl looking up especially as it got later in the day.
After we tried the group shot, I worked on a few photos with Jacqui that didn't come out quit like I'd thought, still warming up to the shoot, I'd say. We played with her green dress as almost part of the moss and tree tops but I wish I was just a little taller, I'm only 5'3", then I might have gotten the angle I wanted.
Then Jenna and I climbed up the steep hill next to the rocks we had just been playing on to shoot with some exposed roots. Jenna was wearing a red dress to represent fire and against the landscape. Complementary colors and the brilliant hue of the dress made for some striking images. Jenna ended up keeping the dress on for more than one shot. In these photos the destruction of some trees where the power of the roots still held it in place and moss and other plants flourished was a nice balance to the fire red of the dress, destruction to life.
Jenna then jumped on top of one half of the water fall in the red dress and we took some awesome shots showing a lot of the landscape. Fire to water, opposite elements quite literally, but also using the movement and shape of the dress to match the soft organic beauty of flow of water against the harsh geometric shape of the rocks. These images embody a lot of what I love to do in my work, subtly juxtaposing different elements.
Jacqui switched to a brown dress (one image above, more on my FB page: facebook.com/mswphoto) for more of an earthy dirt and soil element against rock and moss. Then she switched into a stunning yellow dress like the light of the sun and we started playing on the rocks by the waterfall (image above) using the human organic form against the harsh geometric form of the rock, I'm seeing a pattern here. Then Jacqui took the plunge and lay down right in one of the falls like she was climbing up the falls. Here I snapped the only portrait from this shoot and one of my other favorite images. Green life and earth to Stone to Water and Sun. Jacqui also then jumped right in the pool of water above the second falls and we played with her dress under water.
These are my favorite photos I have taken in recent times, they embody what I love to do with my work, I hope to show you more like this as summer begins, and put even more story behind them in the future. I'm sure you'll see Jenna and Jacqui again.
P.S. be careful carrying lots of things over rocks... I managed to drop my camera, no damage luckily!
Summer Photography Class in High School
By the time I was in high school my interest in photography was evident and my parents offered to send me to a two week summer program for photography in Waltham, at the CDIA of BU (at the time). They got me a low level DSLR, a Nikon D40, with two lenses, and I took the class. I learned more about composition and lighting, I started learning Lightroom 2 and Photography CS2. That’s when I began to think more about how to make a good photo instead of just capturing the moment.
It was a fun class, and I don't use the word fun randomly, one of our teachers would say "That's so fun" to every photo we took, she was very enthusiastic. We spent the two weeks both in the class room and exploring the immediate area. We shot on Moody St., at theDeCordova Sculpture Park, Walden Pond, and other locations. We tried studio lighting out for the first time and more.
We got silly with the Police horses at Walden Pond; yes I was in high school and still just as obsessed with horses.
I took another photography class in my high school, but my school was a bit behind in the programs and last minute the photography teacher was unavailable teach our class. A first time teacher with a background in ceramics ended up filling in as our photography teacher for the year. It was an interesting dynamic as she had a different perspective on the work and little knowledge of photoshop. It was a unique class seeing how photography critique worked from more traditional background. I also had the opportunity to help many other students who had no previous experience with a camera and the Adobe programs.
I took these photos on the playground while in high school when I was learning more about composition and aperture. And... in case I made you curious, yes, I was still trying to get the perfect picture of a chipmunk, that is just as silly as when I was younger.
