I was able to visit New England in mid October for a week to shoot the autumn colors there. I had not photographed this area before so I was really excited about the opportunity to get more shots of the great reds and oranges of the deciduous trees. Thanks to the people who took the time to email me suggestions of where to go based on my previous blog post about  my planned trip. I flew into Boston and headed straight for the "Kanc" Highway in New Hampshire, which was a good call because that spot was where the colors were really happening. Most of the images I selected from the 2000 frames I took were from that region. I was very impressed with the colors and scenery in that area along the Swift River. I had to contend with wind, snow and freezing weather but I was able to get a series of shots I am pleased with. I decided to forego Vermont due to the bad weather in that area and instead headed out to Acadia National Park in Maine. I was really pleased with the great color in this area as well.The week of shooting in this new region was intense, most days were 14 hours straight of shooting and or driving or managing files - I wanted to make the most of my limited time there. Thanks to the great file management software available (Aperture & Lightroom)  I was able to efficiently sort through my work and select 18 images for my website - here is the link the the New Release Autumn Colors portfolio on my site.

I had a quick trip down to the Eastern Thursday thru Saturday to photograph the autumn colors at the higher elevations. It was very colorful at North Lake and Lake Sabrina. I have posted 5 new images to the Autumn Colors I portfolio on my web site that were taken from these 2 locations (the first 5 images in that portfolio are the new ones). It was a very clear & calm morning on Friday at sunrise, so I got a shot of the classic sunrise reflection at North Lake. The aspens around North lake were very colorful, with many turning wonderful shades of red. My favorite image was from Saturday morning - it was a very stormy sunrise with high winds. I was perched up on a ledge above Lake Sabrina to get the shot shown below - I had to earn this one, it was freezing, windy, and I was getting pelted with small hail. You can see the wind streaks on the lake. The sunrise was spectacular -  wonderful pink clouds with the autumn colors accenting the hillsides. I hope there are some leaves left along the lake after those high winds! I had to keep my tripod very low to the ground and weight it down with another camera to stop it vibrating in the high winds. I used a split neutral density filter to hold back the sky exposure on all the sunrise shots. The rest of the aspens at the lower elevations (conway summit, lundy canyon, etc) are still green so there will be plenty to photograph in the coming weeks. The road up to south lake out of Bishop was looking very colorful as well, many of the aspens along that stretch are turning.

this is awesome!

Sac Bee Interactive Guide to Sierra Fall Colors

Thanks to Outdoor Photographer Magazine for presenting one of my images as this month's cover shot (Image titled Brilliant Autumn, taken in Colorado). They also have done a great article in this issue titled 'Sierra Light" about my upcoming book "The Changing Range of Light."

This month's October edition is now available at newsstands and bookstores.

October is one of my favorite months - there is so much to photograph! This year I am planning to get out to New England to photograph some of the autumn colors in that region in mid-October. Mid to late October is a great time for the autumn colors on the vineyards in Napa. I also want to photograph autumn colors in Zion, which happens more in November. The Eastern Sierra region can be done in a 3-4 day trip so that will be on my calendar as well. There are so many great resources on the internet for monitoring autumn color - here are a few links that I have found helpful:

Journal of My Travels for the Perfect Photo

Calphoto

New England Foliage Alert

National Park Webcams

Hopefully I will have plenty of new autumn shots to share over the next few weeks. Below is a shot taken a few years ago from a favorite location north of Truckee - the Little Truckee River in Jackson Meadows:

For more information on the book please refer to the press release & downloadable media kit that is posted on the book's web site:

http://www.hawkspeakpublishing.com/hawkspeak/Download_Media_Kit.html 

I have a project for a client that requires me to photograph a spectacular sunset at a specific location - I have been watching the clouds all summer trying to determine when a good time to photograph will be. I have found the best sunsets often occur in the autumn and winter months, but I wanted to share this useful link from photo.net about predicting sunsets. Any other people with insights on this topic are welcome to comment to this post. I have found the iphone software focalware is great for predicting the time and location of a sunset, now if someone would write an app that predicts how colorful it would be based on cloud cover, etc that would be great.

My new book "The Changing Range of Light, Portraits of the Sierra Nevada" is at the printer in final production. It should be ready to ship by early November 2009 if not sooner. This book will be a hardcover 12"x12" 136pp. "coffee table" style book with 61 8x10" color plates of Sierra Nevada landscapes. The book also features inspiring poetry and important information about how climate change is affecting the Sierra Nevada. I have an online site where people can pre-order signed copies of the book and they will be shipped when available in November. Unsigned copies are available to order from all major bookstores and from Amazon.com (for Amazon use this link:The Changing Range of Light: Portraits of the Sierra Nevada).