Scenes of Vermont Forums

Good morning everyone! I am very excited as my wife and I prepare to make our first trip to your beautiful state this Thursday the 6th-Sunday the 9th. My question..... I have noticed that the forecast for most of Vermont is showing a 40-50% chance of showers on Friday as well as Saturday. Does anyone know if this is expected to be an all day event or just the scattered variety? Also how difficult will this make our primary purpose for our trip, which is leaf peeping and photography? Thanks in advance for your responses!!!

Read my "sunny days and strong winds" post. Because the sun is predominantly south of us up here, I find that driving on east to west highways is best for foliage viewing. The next best is driving into the sun and looking either right or left. Surprisingly cloudy, rainy days bring out the best in the colors. The clouds prevent the sunlight from overwhelming the colors, the rain makes the leaves heavy so they wouldn't be affected by the wind, and the water on the leaves create a shiny surface. Unfortuneatly, the day is dreary and taking photos in the rain is tricky. I've noticed at times that the foliage is bright on a sunny day after a rainy day. The leaves have been cleaned and are heavy enough to withstand a strong breeze. For this weekend the the northeast area of Vermont east of route 100 and north of route 15 will be best. The central part of Vermont along route 100 between routes US 2 and US 4 and routes 17, 125 and Lincoln Gap should be nice but pre-peak.

Overcast and rainy weather can be some of the BEST for photography. Certainly better than bright sun and hazy skies.

In fact, this current week is about the worst for photography in VT that I can ever recall in October. Why? Normally we have crisp blue skies, low humidity and long visibility but the last few days it is like the tropics. Haze, harsh sun, milky skies, low visibility.. bleah.

A couple of keys to photography in rainy weather...

1. Keep your camera and yourself dry.. in that order. Make sure to protect the end of the lens from drips.

2. Use a polarizing filter to cut glare and reflections (also good advice for foliage in GOOD weather... polarizers are your friend for foliage.)

3. Use compositions that avoid the dingy gray sky.

4. Take the opportunity to exploit the even lighting by focusing on bodies of water - lake reflections, streams, waterfalls. These photograph MUCH better in even light than on sunny days.

5. Use a tripod.

c

I tried out my new Canon Sd 500 digital camera on Sunday. It has about 8 different settings and believe or not the underwater setting did the best for foliage.