Scenes of Vermont Forums

I was unable to make it to Vermont this year after being there 10 out of the past 13 years. These photos are fabulous and I was able to identify where many were taken. All were good and the valley shots were great. I will be anxious when you get them all identified so I can visit some of these areas next year as I did not recognize all of them. There must have been an emphasis in the Northeast Kingdom. Your photography is fantastic as for all you have put on the forum for the rest of us to enjoy. Your pictures are a treat to one who could not make it this year and also for those who contribute to the forum.

Great photos, Carol! I always enjoy seeing your photos, as they really capture the essence of Vermont in the fall! I especially liked the one of the kids riding bikes down the road - what a great capture! Thanks for sharing!

Holy Toledo! Mesmerizing! Outstanding! Carol! This set of photos is unreal! My eyes were wide open as each shot went by. For once, I don't have enough words to describe what a great job you have done here. I'm sure everyone will be totally WOW'ed with your photography skills.

To know that I was with you for over half of these shots makes it even more special to me. You have brought my entire trip back again. Making all those stops every inch of the way was TOTALLY worth it in my mind's eye. I could not have captured these scenes in my camera like you have done. If I was prodding you along at some points, I hope you forgive me! To see these on the screen gave me the chills!

The cloud formation over the barn in Bragg Hill. No words to describe that one. I had a smile on my face as I relived the places Thelma and Louise traveled for their week in Vermont!

You have so many award winning photos here. Vermont should choose you as their official photographer! Like I have said many times before, you are going places with your work. I feel honored to have trekked around the state with you as you shot all these gorgeous scenes!

YOU GO GIRL

Really nice stuff there Carol. If this was an off year foliage wise, you wouldn't know it looking at those!

PS The selective color shot needs a bit more work.

Carol,
You have some really fantastic shots in there! You did a great job of finding the color this year. As someone else mentioned, you wouldn't have known it was a a tough year looking at your shots. I'm impressed with the job Picasa was able to do with the raw files. I guess Google does just about everything well.

My favorites are #32, 36, 41, 47, 75, 79, and 108. That shot of the egret(? I don't know my birds well) in flight is fantastic and was probably not easy to pull off. I can tell by looking at the exif information that you know what you're doing. But I think my absolute favorite is #95. Beautiful, really, with the light on the mountain. That belongs in Yankee magazine.

We all know or heard Vermont landscape is beautiful. Now, we have your excellent pictures as further proofs. Thank you for sharing your pictures and knowledge. This year, I spent 5 days, August 4 through 9 mostly in Southern Vermont and saw its share of beauty. Even with rain, clouds, fogs, leaf drops, I could come home with "hundreds" of pictures - beautiful views are everywhere.

What a great tonic for me sitting here in the gloom of a nor'easter downpour. It's so dark I have to have the lights on to seen the keyboard. Abby, go back to my write up on the Middletown springs tour I did with BM and Ctyanky. You will flip over the views and color down there.

Absolutely stunning, Carol. My wife and I have returned to Texas and are already in withdrawal mode. Don't know if your shots made it worse or better!

I can't help but laugh at one of Carol's photos. It is the one of the old truck filled with pumpkins that Charles said needed some touch up. Carol parked in this guy's driveway and I was fretting that he was going to come out and yell at us while she was clicking away. I kept saying let's get out of here!

On the way out she almost took out one of his shrubs! No damage of course, but I couldn't wait for Carol to finish whatever she was trying to capture! We had a good laugh afterwards but she did make me nervous! Another Thelma and Louise adventure! What a trip!

Ahhhh, what Carol will do for a good photo op!!!!

Good stuff, always, Carol. I think I recognize a few of those locations . Need to get that PS back up and running!

My "unconventional" favorites: #85, with the "Al" curve in the road, and especially #108.

Someone help me out though, I couldn't seem to find the one with the kids on the bikes?

Thelma: I think Brad would prefer "What Happens in Vermont, Stays in Vermont."

Louise

P.S. Your shots of the kids on the bikes down that Vermont country road is something you might see in a travel magazine. Leave the barn in from the tourist point of view.

Andy's probably right about too much sky, but sometimes the sky is just too nice to leave out. You caught that sky just right, so keep, and don't even think of cropping out a barn in a Vermont photo. Jeezum Crow !

Carol: I think the important part about that comment is "as a rule." In other words, there are "guidelines" which photographers generally use, including the "rule of thirds" and keeping horizons either high or low relative to the center of the frame, and avoiding the "bullseye" effect of dead centering your subject. These "rules" generally produce more interesting and "dynamic" composition. But rules are made to be broken. You have a really good "eye" for composition and sometimes what you should do is follow what looks best to your eye!

Agree with Phil 100%. Sometimes the sky adds great drama and interest -- indeed, sometimes it IS the subject.

I prefer the second crop, with the barn out. The "subject" here, to me is the children on the bikes -- in a bucholic Vermont fall setting. I wouldn't change the composition a bit.

All I can say is WOW!! Iam speechless, no one would know it wasn't a banner year from your great pictures. They brought tears to my eyes and spoke to my very soul. It just doesn't last long enough!

Carol, I'm finally going to weigh in on your photos.

First, I'm going to disagree about the photo with the kids on their bikes. I don't think the subject is the kids at all. I see this photo as a "curve in the road" photo just expanded a bit. These kids are on their way somewhere around that last curve. I wonder where it is and what they will do there. I think the sky adds a lot to the photo. It conveys the ruralness (if there is such a word) of the area.

Now for the countdown. These are my favorites:

#5 on my list is your number 18. You left a little too much sky above the steeple and I'd like the church better if it weren't so centered but I like how it is surrounded by color and framed by the shrubs all around.


# 4. I really like photo number 11. That's the canopy of maples that I liked so much when we drove through there. You captured it just right, with the dappled sunlight on the road. Had those maples been in full color, this may have been my favorite.

#3 I like your Number 42 waterfall. It's a perfect exposure. I think you cropped it a bit too tight on the bottom. I would have like to have seen a little more there and maybe a little less at the top.

#2 This was a tough choice but my runner up is #48. This is a photo of the sheep. I just couldn't get over how the texture and color in the sheeps' fleece matches that of the fence. I think you could crop out the dark area above the fence and even if you took off a proportionate amount on the left, I think it would make my #1.

I do like the curve in the road in #108 as Andy said, but it didn't make my top five. So number 1? Drumroll please..... My favorite is, no surprise,
#75. I love reflections almost as much as I love a curve in the road. This one is really, really nice.

Congratulations on some very nice work. Thank you for sharing with all of us.

I've finally posted photos at my website at http://www.goldimagesphoto.com/new

Al