Winter Island Lighthouse

Winter Island is in Salem Massachusetts. On this island at the mouth of Salem's harbor you will find one of the nearby lighthouses. Derby light is further inside the harbor on Derby Wharf in the National Park. The third lighthouse is outside the harbor on Baker Island.

This afternoon was cold so I got to get out the battery life on my new Mavic Mini 2 drone. It was also a full moon and it all combined with a beautiful sunset. The island was pretty quiet this afternoon and even being just before Christmas, there were still some people around.

Once spring gets here this spot gets very busy with the campers and RV's who fill the place from Memorial Day to Halloween.

Be sure to go and see my other videos on youtube and enjoy all my autumn travels in New England.

Jeff "Foliage" Folger

Vistaphotography.pixels.com

Looking back on 2018

Looking back on 2018 in pictures.

Vermont Barn in Winter

The year started off in snow as most years. Up in Vermont, there is a small ramshackle barn that Lisa and I drive by from time to time.

WhaleBack Lighthouse

In March a good Nor'Easter hit the coast so I went out to York Maine where I could hopefully record the wave breaking on WhaleBack Lighthouse.

Grand Canyon at Sunset

In April Lisa and I drove 3/4 the way across the country to the Grand Canyon. It was as always awe-inspiring.

Cadilac Ranch

On the way back we tried to drive along Route 66 whenever we could find it. In many cases, it's no longer there or it has been renamed. We did find the Cadilac Ranch outside Amarillo Texas.

Fall Foliage Interview with CBS

As the summer wound down I was contacted by both the BBC and CBS Sunday morning for interviews about the fall foliage in New England and on 15 and 16 October I was followed around by a small crew from CBS.

And they plastered me all over their social media and website.

Fall Foliage Interview with the BBC

I would be aired at a later date in November (You can watch the CBS interview here if you missed it).

That evening Lisa and I went home, only to turn around the next day and meet the BBC at Squam Lake for a "live" interview.

As you can see here there was more to this production and what you don't see are the hundred or so people who were there to put the show on. You can view Autumn New England here.

When I compare the two, I will go with the smaller CBS crew, this interview garnered me massive attention and I came to the attention of many new fans of Jeff Foliage.

Boylston Stone Church

The Fall wound down and the weather became colder and much windier. Lisa and I went out to Boylston Ma and the Old Stone Church.

The Boylston Stone Church is on the Wachusett Reservoir and as you can see here has an American flag hanging on the side. You can view this in my online gallery, Vistaphotography.

The Old Church in Stowe Vermont

We closed out the year with this image of the old church in Stowe Vermont.

Stowe is a beautiful stop in all seasons but it can get busy in the summer, fall, and winter. Click here to view this image in my Fine Art Gallery, Vistaphotography.

Jeff "Foliage" Folger

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Snow and fall foliage on Mount Washington

A view of autumn foliage from the Cog Railway train



Getting the snow on Mount Washington isn't hard since this location is known for the worst weather in the world. But getting the glorious New Hampshire fall foliage at the foot of Mount Washington as the cog railway train is chugging it's way back down the mountain is much harder.

Today an Art buyer from Bloomington, IN. purchased this print at 48x32. I am very humbled when someone spends a large sum of money to buy my artwork.

The fall foliage in New England is winding down and now it is looking like the color remaining will be in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island this weekend. Subscribe to by blog at www.Jeff-Foliage.com and get ideas for your rambles through the fall foliage of New England.

Jeff "Foliage" Folger
Click the image to view it on Fine Art America

Why do we have autumn's fall colors?

A color palette needs pigments, and there are three types that are involved in autumn colors. On my website www.Jeff-Foliage.com I post my thoughts on planning for fall colors, come by for a visit!

• Chlorophyll, which gives leaves their basic green color. It is necessary for photosynthesis, the chemical reaction that enables plants to use sunlight to manufacture sugars for their food. Trees in the temperate zones store these sugars for their winter dormant period.
• Carotenoids, which produce yellow, orange, and brown colors in such things as corn, carrots, and daffodils, as well as rutabagas, buttercups, and bananas.
• Anthocyanins, which give color to such familiar things as cranberries, red apples, concord grapes, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and plums. They are water soluble and appear in the watery liquid of leaf cells.

Both chlorophyll and carotenoids are present in the chloroplasts of leaf cells throughout the growing season. Most anthocyanins are produced in the autumn, in response to bright light and excess plant sugars within leaf cells.

During the growing season, chlorophyll is continually being produced and broken down and leaves appear green. As night length increases in the autumn, chlorophyll production slows down and then stops and eventually all the chlorophyll is destroyed. The carotenoids and anthocyanins that are present in the leaf are then unmasked and show their colors.

Certain colors are characteristic of particular species. Oaks turn red, brown, or russet; hickories, golden bronze; aspen and yellow-poplar, golden yellow; dogwood, purplish red; beech, light tan; and sourwood and black tupelo, crimson. Maples differ species by species-red maple turns brilliant scarlet; sugar maple, orange-red; and black maple, glowing yellow. Striped maple becomes almost colorless. Leaves of some species such as the elms simply shrivel up and fall, exhibiting little color other than drab brown.

The timing of the color change also varies by species. Sourwood in southern forests can become vividly colorful in late summer while all other species are still vigorously green. Oaks put on their colors long after other species have already shed their leaves. These differences in timing among species seem to be genetically inherited, for a particular species at the same latitude will show the same coloration in the cool temperatures of high mountain elevations at about the same time as it does in warmer lowlands.

Jeff Foliage
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Splash and dash - 36th annual Quechee Vermont balloon festival 2015

This is a short video shot at this years 36th annual Quechee balloon festival. Lisa and I arrived on Friday afternoon and set up out camp at lake Mascoma. We scouted out the fair and saw several locations but the 6PM flight didn't go but the glow did and the next morning broke to fog but that soon burned off and we had a glorious morning for hot air ballooning. If you'd like to read more about this even please follow this link to The Four Corners of New England and see my full write up there..



Jeff Folger

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A study in perseverance | The Old Round Church Richmond Vermont

The Old Round Church is in Richmond Vermont.
Years ago I saw an image of the Old Round Church in Yankee Magazine. The image was similar to the one on this page and I wanted to create my own version of it.

A study in perseverance

This is a study in perseverance, as I have been going up to Vermont  for almost 10 years now. Each December we go up for our Grandaughters birthday and then again just after Christmas.
It's all about timing. Just like the stock market is tough to time (buy LOW sell HIGH), finding a fresh snow scene with the candles lit and not a ton of people in my shot.  Some years I had no snow and some years the candles were not lit. Some years I even had rain.

2013 the pieces fall into place

Well 2013 was the year it all came together. Fresh snow, over about 1 inch of ice and the candles were lit! It was a cloudy day threatening more snow. Lisa sat in the car as I walked around taking in all the different angles.
Savoring the moment in my mind. As the light faded, this was becoming one of those very scarce moments where all the elements fell into place.
One thing that made this really special was that they had strung lights on a evergreen outside the church on the front green. Even this was lit up and glowing warmly in the fading light.

The image below is my favorite and I have it up on Fine Art America in my Vermont Art gallery and you can look through all my artwork, if you are so minded.

Background

The Old Round church was built in 1812/13 and under the direction of craftsman William Rhodes. This 16 sided sixteen-sided polygon round church/meetinghouse was to be (and I find this amazing) a meeting hall and place of worship for five protestant denominations. (Baptists, Christians, Congregationalists, Methodists and Universalists)

Why 16 sides? Well there are no documents saying why the Old Round Church has 16 sides but the three claims on its origin are:
The first was that with no corners there was no place for the Devil to hide.
Someone postulated that Rhodes had 17 workers, one for each side and one for the belfry.
But the most viable answer is that Rhodes who grew up in Claremont New Hampshire, modeled this one on the octagonal church in his hometown.
Within a few decades the different denominations began to move out and establish their own churches. The Old Round Church reverted to the control of the town. It was used as the town’s Meeting hall until 1973 when it was closed due to safety concerns.
Present Day
The Old Round Church of Richmond Vermont is open for tours by visitors from late May to late in the fall foliage season, Along with Weddings and group tours. Visit The Old Round Church website [http://www.oldroundchurch.com/index.php/home] for more information and the history of this landmark of Richmond Vermont.

Snowy Owls arrive in New England

I met with a couple of photographer friends up in Biddeford Maine yesterday. Our goal was to find some of the snowy owls that were visiting from the Arctic and Canadian northern territories. You can view the following image on Fine Art America. It's available in many sizes of prints both framed and even cards.

http://vistaphotography.artistwebsites.com/featured/snowy-owl-in-morning-light-jeff-folger.html

They call this an Irruption. What this means is that the population of Snowy owls for one reason or another grew too large for the population of their primary food source. (The Arctic lemming) This causes the Owls to head south in search of food. We in New England happen to have lots of voles which are similar to lemmings and the owls will often make their home here in New England.

The owls look for an environment that is similar to the tundra and they end up near the seashore or in fields or grassy marshes where they can hunt for their prey.

They enjoy being high up on telephone poles or the rooftops of homes where they can look out into the fields with their sharp eyesight and look for their next meal.

Their biggest threat tends to be man, namely photographers who dearly love to follow them from telephone pole to rooftop in hopes of seeing one actively hunting. Most of the ones I find seem content to sit instead of hunt so I sit and wait for the time when I get lucky enough for one to leave their perch and find and dispatch a meal... 

Until that time I will be patient and wait for my chance. If I'm patient they will sooner or later go hunting and if I'm lucky I'll be there.

Jeff Folger

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