557 - Kancamagus Highway
Today I found a masterclass level highway.
A highway that, if replicated around the globe, would bring world peace. It’ll cure all illnesses, end hunger, and reduce all the trauma ever created. It’d end all wars, dissolve everyone’s debt, and make every meal, no matter how healthy, taste like chocolate pudding.
It’s name is The Kancamagus Highway. And it’s perfection in road format.
The reason I’m here is because during the fall season, this very road becomes so coated with color, there’s a distinct possibility your eyes melt right out of your sockets. It features dozens of pull-offs, giving drivers a chance to get a little of everything… waterfalls, rivers, gorges, covered bridges, and, of course, trees.
Today’s objective was to hit all of the above. It was cloudy, which I always assume is the Universe’s way of telling me to go ape. Why believe anything different?
My first stop was at Sabbaday Falls.
Quick side note. Who the fuck is naming these places? The spelling on Kancamagus and Sabbaday is far beyond anything reasonable.
The waterfall was only a 1.3 mile hike, which made it a perfect warm up. One thing that’s surprised me about the state parks out here is that they actually have money. This means that all the trails are extremely well maintained, and many of the water features have wooden platforms.
These make for interesting photography elements that you don’t see very often:
“Green Spell”
Taken with Sony a7rIV + Sony 12-24mm f/4 G
[ISO 50 ~ 12mm ~ f/18 ~ 1/3s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
What a beauty.
Although it is ironic that there’s no fall colors in this shot after I hyped them up so much. But hey, that’s how the scene landed. Do yourself a favor and imagine fall colors on the hike in, OK?
I walked down the falls a bit. My eyes eventually landed on another scene that got me twisted at the seams:
“Witch’s Cauldron”
Taken with Sony a7rIV + Sony 12-24mm f/4 G
[ISO 1600 ~ 12mm ~ f/13 ~ 1/100s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
How does that scene even exist in real life? It looks like something out of Harry Potter 9.
Again, no fall colors here, though. Besides the leafy remains inside the cauldron. Fuck. I gotta stop hyping these up so much.
Well, the next scene does have fall colors, so I take that back. I left Sabbaday Falls and drove along the highway for a couple miles, taking in all the colors. Suddenly a field of dead aspens appeared along my right hand side, so I skidded the brakes and pulled over on the shoulder. The abrupt contrast of white amongst the miles of yellow stood out like a sore thumb. Perfect.
Standing on the edge of the road, I got this shot as cars zoomed by like cheese whiz:
“Aspen Decay”
Taken with Sony a7rIV + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G
[ISO 1600 ~ 58mm ~ f/10 ~ 1/320s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
A fairly simple shot, to say the least. But I wanted something a little less “epic” from all the madness I’d been getting lately. This fit the bill quite nicely.
My next stop was at Rocky Gorge, another waterfall along the highway. This waterfall, however, was a little different. It was much wider, and opened up the great blue sky. This caused me a moral dilemma.
For most waterfalls, I try to either exclude the sky entirely, or only shoot it if it’s in very soft lighting, like rain or clouds. At this particular moment, the overcast sky had cleared itself out, revealing a very normal looking sky.
Should I shoot anyway? Then I realized there’s absolutely no reason why I should click the button right in front of me:
“Tonka Leaf”
Taken with Sony a7rIV + Sony 12-24mm f/4 G
[ISO 50 ~ 15mm ~ f/18 ~ 1/15s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
…and it turned out quite nicely. I had to do an exposure blend to compensate for the brightness, but I actually enjoy the result. Definitely something I need to work on- adding more blue skies into my shots… tastefully.
Oh, and I did find that giant leaf precariously placed. But whoever put it there before me had an absolutely dreadful composition lined up. I moved the leaf about 20 feet to the left and was able to get those two rock layers you see in front of it.
Boom. Perfection.
I ended up going to two more spots, including another waterfall and a covered bridge, but the scenes didn’t cut it. The waterfall was way too small for me, and the covered bridge’s lighting was wack.
Not a bad session. Five spots total, three wins. We’ll call it a three-fifths compromise.
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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