I live near three amazing foliage “destinations,” if you will. To my north are the Adirondacks, to my east are the Berkshires, and if I go northeast, there’s the Green Mountains.
And I’ve had reasonable success in capturing breathtaking fall foliage in all three locales.
This year, I want to capture some breathtaking fall foliage shots. And whether I have to get them in upstate New York, or Western Massachusetts, or northern Vermont, I’m thinking it will be possible.
That being said, sometimes getting the best foliage shots amounts to trial and error. You drive four hours to what you think will be a fantastic spot, only to discover that (a) the leaves haven’t changed, or (b) the leaves changed an fell off the trees, or (c) 75 other people had the same idea you did and now you can’t find any parking.
Yeah, that.
So I’m adding a little detective work to my foliage hunt this year. And by “detective work,” I mean this website.
This online fall foliage website is color-coded to show when the leaves are changing, where they’re changing, and to what level they have changed. As of today, September 26, there’s some peak foliage in Essex County and at Blue Mountain Lake, should I feel like driving up there. Or I could haul my butt up to St. Johnsbury in Vermont if I wanted to capture the foliage right now.
Or I can wait until the weekend and see if there are other worthwhile locales. Ostensibly I’d love to get the foliage near Glass Lake in Averill Park (I’ve tried that a few times without luck), or maybe I could wait a couple of weeks and simply traipse around Bennington or Stockbridge or Lake George.
Or maybe this map can find a location that I hadn’t previously captured. A place that’s so far off the beaten path that only God knows its location.
Capturing the foliage is one thing. I need something to go with it. Anyone can take a photo of some leaves. I need some composition materials to tell a photographic story.
There’s locations out there.
I just need to find them.
And I will, believe me.
Chuck The Writer 