556 - Flume Gorge
I didn’t even try to avoid the crowds today. In fact, I decided to embrace them.
It was the last day of Columbus Day weekend, and I picked arguably the most popular spot in town to shoot- Flume Gorge. Why? Because I always love a good challenge.
Well… that’s not exactly the truth.
I’m just rationalizing this ridiculously dumb decision. The real reason I picked this place was because I was so excited to shoot it that I simply couldn't wait any longer.
So here I was. Standing in line of 100+ people waiting to get into a single state park. But somehow, deep down, I knew it’d be worth it.
Flume Gorge is an iconic, 1/1 location.
See, the thing with shooting “icon” spots is that you need to have a healthy balance of them in your diet. You can’t shoot all icons, or you’ll never learn how to shoot places that aren’t popular. But you can’t avoid them completely, or you’ll miss the coolest spots on Earth.
An old woman that looked like she should run a safari handed me a map. Turns out, the whole park centers around one 2-3 mile long dirt loop. It takes you through the park’s “greatest hits,” giving you a little bit of everything. Kind of like a haunted house tour, but for landscapes.
So on this blog post, I’m going to walk you through the loop, step by step.
First off, we’ll start with the reason everyone comes here. This scene, right here:
“Flurry of the Gorge”
Taken with Sony a7rIV + Sony 12-24mm f/4 G
[ISO 50 ~ 16mm ~ f/9 ~ 1/3s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
A green, moss covered gorge complete with wooden bridges. Pair that with fall colors, and the place is basically another planet.
Don’t ask me how I got that shot. I was borderline about to throw my tripod in the stream and never take a photo again. That’s how long it took to get a reasonable gap without any people.
But that shot is beyond worth it. Where else in the world can you see anything like that?
My next shot happened completely by accident. I moved up the stream, and was trying to get a 1/4s exposure of the waterfall up close. But I curved my hand by accident and the image got twisted:
“Spiraling”
Taken with Sony a7rIV + Sony 12-24mm f/4 G
[ISO 100 ~ 12mm ~ f/9 ~ 1/4s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
PURE INSANITY. That’s completely in camera. No wonky Photoshop effects. So lucky.
Now my adrenaline was starting to pump. I knew I had two bangers in the bag, so the rest of the shoot was just going to be pure fun.
I wandered up the hill to an overlook, while a baby screamed in my ear for dear life. The mother tried to calm it down by singing it a nursery rhyme, but that only made the baby scream louder.
What are these people doing with their lives? LEAVE YOUR BABY AT HOME. IT DOESN’T WANT TO SEE WATERFALLS. IT WANTS PUDDING, NAPS, AND LINCOLN LOGS. Jesus Christ.
I arrived at the overlook, and my first instinct was to take a photo of this dead tree:
“Stark Color"
Taken with Sony a7rIV + Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3
[ISO 2500 ~ 130.1mm ~ f/22 ~ 1/200s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
Why? Because it captured everything about the overlook perfectly. The full color spectrum, stark white trees, and endless New Hampshire hills in the backdrop.
I wandered back into the forest and got another shot of the full color spectrum:
“Autumn Spectrum”
Taken with Sony a7rIV + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G
[ISO 1250 ~ 81mm ~ f/6.3 ~ 1/125s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
Dem curves, baby. There’s something so tasty about getting green, yellow, orange, and red all in one shot.
Speaking of red, some dude suddenly walked in front of me wearing brand new red Nikes. On this dirty trail. In the rain. Sometimes I wonder how the human race managed to get us on the moon.
I kept walking. The next segment of the hike led me to a covered bridge. I looked down and got this shot:
“Egg Nest”
Taken with Sony a7rIV + Sony 12-24mm f/4 G
[ISO 50 ~ 18mm ~ f/10 ~ 1/3s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
Almost looks like a bunch of eggs…
Am I going crazy? All I see is shapes in everything nowadays. Photography is programming my mind in the strangest way.
From down the river, here’s the view of the bridge I was just standing on.
“Got it Covered”
Taken with Sony a7rIV + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G
[ISO 50 ~ 52mm ~ f/13 ~ 1/3s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
Shoutout to my mom. That shot’s for you.
Alright folks. Well that’s about it. The weather decided to take a turn for the worse and it suddenly started downpouring. Part of me enjoyed the sheer madness that enveloped around me as hundreds of people realized they were a mile away from their car without jackets.
Heh. That’s what you get for walking in my shots all day.
I managed to snag one more photo on the way out of some rainy layers:
“Downpour”
Taken with Sony a7rIV + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G
[ISO 500 ~ 57mm ~ f/10 ~ 1/250s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
Good stuff. Honestly between this and Basin Cascade the other day I feel like I’ve already gotten my money’s worth of fall shots out here. And I’ve only just begun…
I got four more sessions out here in New Hampshire planned, then I’m heading to the Maine coast to hit Acadia’s fall. The crazy thing is you could literally chase fall colors for two months if you know what you’re doing. Just start near Canada at the end of September then keep driving south until you hit Georgia’s fall in November.
Anyway. It’s been real. I’m gonna head back to town where it’s probably less crowded.
I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.
Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.
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