New England: An Autumn Adventure in Vermont and Maine

 

Once in a lifetime, everyone should have the opportunity to behold New England in its autumn splendor. This has been a wish of mine for many years, and I finally had the opportunity to explore the hidden woods, weathered barns, rustic churches and sweeping coastlines of the Atlantic Shore.

 

Thanks to wonderfully gifted photographers Clive Minnitt and Phil Malpas at Light and Land Tours in the UK, along with 12 other incredible shutterbugs, my ten-day photo tour of New England was a transformational experience for me. Clive and Phil  are masters of what they call "intimate landscapes," a term I had never heard until this tour.  They encourage their students to "see and not only look" at subject matter to which most of us would not even give a passing glance. A  weathered barn,  yielding to the weary hand of time, becomes a study in texture and light. A classic New England church, whose windows reflect the colored hues in its panes, proves an outstanding subject for an autumn tale.   A junkyard of bygone  automobiles becomes a veritable wonderland of intimate landscapes. Rounded stones on a pounded Atlantic shore, find refuge among the driftwood. And of course, the blood-red leaves of autumn hold their own power over the soul. 

 

My time with Light and Land in New England taught me that a photo is everywhere, (yes everywhere!)  if we learn to truly see. The best camera in the world is meaningless if you cannot see the possibilities before you, and even an iPhone in your hand can create truly striking photos if you open your eyes.  So to prove my point I am including a series of iPhone photos in the gallery at the bottom of the page!  I am also including several digital paintings that I found to lend themselves perfectly to the pull of autumn in my summer soul.