Covered Bridges
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Towns
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Backroads
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Kancamagus Highway (and Franconia Notch)
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General Practical Information
The Basics
In Maine,
they've got the ocean. In New Hampshire, they've got high mountains covered in
pine trees. Pine trees do not change color in the winter time. It took me awhile
to figure this out, but I'm pretty sure that it is true. In Vermont, they've got
lower mountains covered in deciduous trees. Deciduous trees change color in the
winter time.
Dead Trees
Start with the
Michelin Green
Guide to New England. This book has excellent driving tours with all the
important sights marked with stars. They have a particularly nice tour for the
White Mountains of New Hampshire. Call up Robert Hitchman, author of
Photograph America, and ask for his back issues on Autumn in New
England (#2) and Acadia/Maine Coast (#13) (+1 (415) 898-3736; 1333 Monte Maria
Avenue, Novato, CA 94947 USA; I think back issues are $8.50).
Finally, pick up the state
tourist board maps as you cross borders. These are useful for pinpointing covered
bridges and such. None of these maps show the tiny little roads that you'll be on
for the best photography. If you have a really good sense of direction and don't
mind being mildly lost much of the time, then enjoy your rambling. If you are
overly analytical and want to know where you are, then pick up the moby Delorme
atlases for
Vermont,
New
Hampshire, and/or
Maine
.
A Plan
You have to allow at least
three or four days in each area. I'd say that you could productively stay in
Woodstock, Vermont for a whole week, straying no farther than 50 miles from your
hotel. The White Mountains deserve at least three or four days. Franconia Notch,
north of Lincoln, tends to peak around October 1st so don't get there too late.
If you like the fading grand resort idea, stay at the Mt. Washington Hotel in
Bretton Woods, which gave its name to the system of exchange rates that prevailed
into the 1970s. It is a long 6-hour drive from Boston to Acadia National Park in
Maine. Allow a week for the Maine Coast and Acadia or give up on the idea and
come back another year.
My friend Bill grew up in Vermont and his favorite inn throughout the state is
Ten Bends on the River (802-888-2827) in Hyde Park (NE of Burlington).
Here are some driving tours:
Equipment
Here's in the order in which I would fill my camera bag:
-
Tripod
-
Ektar 25 (for prints) or Fuji Velvia (for slides)
- Wide angle lens for all-around work. In the Canon or Nikon systems, I'd
choose a 20-35/2.8 zoom
- Macro lens for leaf patterns and such. I'd choose a 50 (Canon) or 60
(Nikon).
- Telephoto lens to isolate and compress elements. In 35mm, I'd use an
80-200/2.8 zoom.
- Camera body. If you were a real stud like I used to be, you'd take a medium
or large format camera. If you are a lazy slob like I am now, you'd just stick
with a
Nikon or Canon 35mm SLR.
Live Free and/or Die
The motto on New Hampshire license plates, "Live Free or Die", is reasonably
photogenic, especially when one considers the motto's history of litigation. A
woman sued because she wanted her car registered in New Hampshire but wanted a
plate without the bellicose motto. The courts told her that she was out of luck.
Perhaps she's moved to Boston where people save their bellicosity for the actual
driving...
Anyway, my favorite New Hampshire picture is the side-by-side State Safety
Rest Area and State Liquor Store. New Hampshire used to be one of the few states
where you could legally drink a beer in your car, i.e., they had no "open
container law". Anyway, you don't need PhotoShop to create this absurd image.
Just pull over at the first stop off I-93N from Boston.
Stay Home
Or almost home. I snagged a fairly reasonable foliage picture just north of
the Boston suburb of Ayer, Massachusetts.
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