Some of my former profile shots ...

I change my profile pictures occasionally to mix it up.

New Hampshire/Vermont Foliage Run

My foliage run started early this year with mixed up dates for the Vermonster.  It was too early for the fall colors in the area but fun talking pictures anyway.

I had a turkey encounter when taking pictures of this round barn.  The side of the road is around 8 feet higher than the field with a narrow path between the bank and a wire fence. I went down the bank standing next to the post when these turkeys came down the bank and walked right up to me. Only a couple feet away! The Tom’s came to the front of the line, puffed up and spread their tail feathers. Was that a threat??  I think they felt I was blocking their path to the field.  I took a couple more pictures and moved back a bit.  They seemed happy about that and continued to the field …

The following Saturday I had CERT training.  Late that afternoon I connected with Mike, Rick, Steve, Doug, Adam, and Frank in Vermont for dinner.  My plan was to stay the night, get up early, and take pictures. 

The next morning … rain, overcast, grey and white sky … blah ...  I thought there would have been more color in the area.  Guess I was still too far south.  AND WHERE IS THE SUN AND THE BLUE SKY??? 

One of the roads I was going to take was closed from bad flooding the month before so I took a different route.  I ended up in Bethel, VT and thought I would make my way to Woodstock.  Driving the back roads for a couple hours I got turned around and actually ended up back in Bethel. A big loop was not what I had planned.  Guess I should have done the GPS thing!!  I took the highway south heading toward Woodstock when the rain came down.  At that point I decided to head home.

After another weekend of uncooperative weather it finally happened.  The colors popped in the area, sun, and blue sky.  Up at 5:15AM on Saturday and headed out staying in southern New Hampshire.  I took my tripod so I could experiment with low light.  The colors of the subjects are very different at low light and long exposures.  Once the sun came up I continued my drive.

I stopped at Monson Village on my way home for a quick 2 mile hike.  As I was speaking to Russ, this juvenile Red-Tail Hawk came in low from the field landing in a nearby tree.  I saw it coming in.  I must be rusty from not having a camera for a few months as I stood there watching instead of taking pictures.  Russ had just mowed the field making it easier to hunt for mice. 

I continued my walk to the beaver pond.  The empty Heron nest had a pretty backdrop.  On the way back I spotted the Red- Tail again in the corner of the field disappearing into the woods.  If I had more time I would have liked to sit and wait for another sighting.  I love Fall Foliage in New England … 

 

Go to: "Search This Blog" at the top of my page and type in "Foliage" to see past posts.

VERMONSTER 4X4 - Bradford Mud Races - October 2013

So … Kevin and I headed to the Vermonster Mud Races LAST WEEKEND … It just over 2 hours away. When we arrived no one was there … IT WAS THIS WEEKEND … If we could have opened the locked gate we had our choice of parking.  I should have double checked the dates before the drive.  NUTS … It was a couple weeks early for foliage in this area but we still headed North on Rt. 5 to one of the barns I know of.

I did check the dates this time and it was this weekend.  We headed out Saturday morning for a day of trucks.  There was fog in the mountains on the drive up and it was cold so we wore our sweatshirts.  It didn’t take long for the fog to burn off and the temperature to climb.  It turned in to a bright sunny 74 degree day.  It was hot in the sun.  I didn’t plan on getting a sun burn but I did! 

I bought pit passes this time so we could walk around the areas where the trucks were being worked on.  You have to sign a waiver as it can be dangerous.  The visibility driving those high trucks is poor so it is wise to be careful.  Many were lined up for the trench or the drag racing.  It was fun looking at some of these trucks up close.  I took pictures from a couple different locations in the pit area.

As usual, “The Trench”, “Rock Crawling & Rock Racing”, “Mud Racing”, “Hill & Hole”, and “Monster Trucks” were fun to watch.

We see some of the trucks each time we have been here but there were some new trucks I had never seen.  I was impressed with the truck “Deep Trouble”. 

There were a couple crack ups.  One truck had its front end torn apart in the trench with a driver that didn’t look to happy about it.  The truck owner of one of the mud race trucks thought he blew his $22,000 motor and wasn’t able to race the tie breaker for time against the other truck.  He was towed to the grandstand area to receive his 2^nd place trophy. Sounds like he may have some work ahead of him.  We saw torn off fenders, front grills, bumpers, drive shafts, shock mounts, etc ... “Do you put that stuff back on once torn off or just leave it off??”

I played some with the settings on my new camera.  The camera experiments have begun … Tough to choose which pictures to post. 

 

Go to: "Search This Blog" at the top of my page and type in Vermonster to see past posts.