Seven Hills Camera Club
For Photography In
Central Massachusetts
NE Photo Guide - Vermont
We
welcome photographers, everywhere, to
submit ideas, information, pictures - you-name-it - to help us populate
this page. We, all, might as well make it interesting for everyone!!!
Here are some additional hints and tips which
Arnold graciously sent us (August 1999).
Ridge Road
A lot of the scenics are found on this road so it's imporant to be able
to find it. From Woodstock center, take Route 12 North. After about
one-half
mile, look for River Road to Quechee and turn right onto it. Look for a
cemetery and barn. This will be near a left turn and the beginning of
Ridge
Road. The next few scenic recommendations are along this road.
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Lee Farm
About .7 miles from the beginning of Ridge Road, there's a dirt road on
the left. At the end of that dirt road there's a large barn, high on a
hill (to the left if you're coming from Woodstock). Morning sun lights
the trees and the front of the barn. Afternoon sun backlights them.
Photograph
in the spring when the apple blossoms are in full bloom. Of course,
autumn
and winter are good too.
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Gray Farm
At 1.5 miles from the start of Ridge Road are two small barns at the
end
of a dirt road leading down to the Gray Farm. The best shooting time is
early morning because the afternoon sun puts the barns and trees in
shadows.
For an alternate viewpoint, look for trees on Ridge Road located just
after
the Elm Grove Farm. A good strategy is to shoot the Jenne farm very
early,
and then come here at about 8:30 AM.
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Pomfret Highland Farm
This is a dairy farm, so put some cows into your picture. Look for the
large red barn and farm house with its fence along the Ridge Road,
about
two miles from its begining. You'll have plenty of trees for
compositional
elements. Fall and winter are best bets. Shoot anytime in the morning
so
that the sun can light up the road.
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Cloudland Farm
This is a dairy farm in a valley. Late morning or early afternoon sun
light
works best because, if you're too early or too late, you'll get shadows
from the hills. If you drive two tenths of a mile beyond the farm
house,
up a hill, you can park off of the road. Climb over a barbed wire fence
and walk into a pasture looking down the valley. This is a good place
to go after you've shot the Gray farm because the lighting here is best
late-morning.
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The Grandma Moses scene in Hewettville
You can get to this cluster of houses, barns, trees, and pastures
eading
from South Pomfret to West Harford. It's at the end of Ridge Road. The
scene is pretty wide open and photography is good all day long.
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The Sherbourne Farm
At this farm, there are barns with a reflecting pool in back of the
main
house. A good time to photograph is the spring when the apple blossoms
are out. If you're coming from the Grandma Moses Scenic, go about a
half
mile and look for a sign that says "Sharon, So. Royalston." Turn left
and
go for about .3 miles. Look for a dirt road with a sign that says
"Barnard."
Take this dirt road for another .3 miles and you'll be near the farm
house
and barns. Photography, here, is best in the early afternoon. Later
than
that and you'll get deep shadows in your foreground. If you shoot in
the
morning the fronts of the barns will be in shadows. From this locale,
you
can move on to the "End Of The Road" scenic.
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In East Barnard - The "End Of The
Road"
scene
This place is on a road to East Barnard from the Sherbourne Farm. Go
for
about 3.7 miles and keep your eyes open for a barn that appears down
the
road way off in in the distance. This is a fall foliage scenic that
works
best with brilliant sunlight.
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In Quechee - The Quechee Barns
Here, in the hills of Quechee, there's a group of barns and a
reflecting
pool. Look for the covered bridge in Quechee Village, turn onto Main
Street
and go a half mile to a fork. The sign, there, says "Taftsville." Turn
left there. Go another half mile to where the road make a sharp left.
Stop
there and look for a dirt road to the right. Take the dirt road and
look
for the barns on the left.
After shooting these barns, you can return to the village center. On
your
way, when you get to the fork where you had turned left, now take the
right
fork. Go for a mile and look for the barns on a hill on the left. There
are several vantage points to shoot these barns.
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Reading - The Jenne Farm
This is one of the most photographed places in New England. It's a
simple
grouping of a farm house and barns in a valley. The scene usually
includes
the road with trees doing the framing. It's told that there are worn-in
tripod holes in the road bed from the most desireable vantage point.
Photographers
line up to shoot this place in the fall. To get there, go to Woodstock
and find the intersection of Routes 4 and 106. Take 106 south for a
little
over eight miles. (OK, so it's 8.2 miles on most odometers.) Look for a
dirt road on the right with a small house on the corner. Go up this
road
for about a tenth of a mile. At the top of the hill, you'll look down
on
the Jenne Farm.
Plan to shoot in the early morning - best at sunrise. If you're there
before
7 AM you'll be OK, although good shots can be gotten even later. If you
have a stepladder, bring it along. You'll get a better vantage point.
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East Corinth
Here we have a small village, about eight miles to the west of
Bradford.
The best known pictures are taken from atop the hill looking down into
the village. You've see it's high steepled church surrounded by white
houses.
Get to the top of the hill by 8 AM. Park in the school;yard on the main
street, walk to the back of the school, and look for the path going to
the top. By the way, make sure you're in East Corinth and not Corinth
Center
or South Corinth.
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East Topsham
This is another village in a valley. It's on the same road as East
Corinth
so you shouldn't have trouble finding it. Look for the colorful
rooftops
(is sometimes called the "Howard Johnson" scene, for those who remember
what Howard Johson's was). There's a road to the top of the hill from
which
you get good views of the village. One side photographs better than the
other in the morning. The opposite is true for the afternoon.
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Waits River
Along Route 25, twelve miles west of Bradford, is another of the
popular
Vermont scenics. Look for Waits River Church, then, just opposite this,
go along the downhill road. Park at the bottom and look back along the
roadway.
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East Orange
About two miles west of Waits River on Route 25 you'll find a dirt road
on the left. Look for the "East Orange" sign. Drive 1.5 miles and
you'll
see a church there. Opposite it is a road to the top of a hill and it's
there that you'll get a good view of the village. The afternoon sun
works
well, here.
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Placey Farm
In Newbury, you can find some red barns near the Connecticut River.
Positioned
properly, and at the right time of day, you'll get some nice
reflections
in it. The barns are one to two miles from Newbury on Route 5. Drive
past
the Placey farmhouse and when the road runs parallel to the river, look
for the barns. The best light is during late afternoon, about an hour
before
sunset.
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Weathersfield Birches
Look for a stand of birch trees with a white shack by taking Route 106
out of Woodstock. Travel past the cut off road to the Jenne Farm to a
left
onto Route 131. Go about four miles and then turn right onto
Weathersfield
Road to the center. Ask someone there for Skyline drive.
Note: there's a stand of birch trees in
Maine
in the median of Route 95 near Bangor. Access, because of the highway,
is limited. The Vermont birches may be your best bet.
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Hillside Acres Farm
There's a red barn and white farm house on the road from Barnet to West
Barnet. Take Route 5 north from Bradford toward Wells River. Look for
the
Wells River Motel and then drive 11.5 miles north on Route 5 to Barnet.
Look for a road on the left with a sign that says "W. Barnet &
Peacham."
Travel 2.4 miles west and look for a road on the right. Take it and
look
for a small white church. Go past it and look for the farm on the
hillside.
Look for a large white birch tree in a pasture. Good pictures can be
made
in the afternoon and at sunset.
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Peacham
Here, you'll find a church and farm with an open pasture when take from
a high vantage point. If you've driven to the Hillside Acres Farm, keep
going to West Barnet to Peacham. Stop in the center of Peacham Village,
at the general store. Look for the road to the right of the store. It
takes
you up into a residential area. Go up and look for the churce scene
below.
You'll need to shoot from some private property, so ask permission
first.
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Burke Hollow
This is a small village in a valley with a white church (so what else
is
new - hey it is Vermont!). You want the road that goes through the
village.
To get there, go from Bradford north on Route 5. Drive toward St.
Johnsbury,
through the city of Lyndonville. From there, go about a mile and turn
right
onto Route 114 to East Burke. At the center, turn left and drive about
one-tenth mile. At the fork, there, bear left. Burke Hollow is about
2.5
miles after that.This is a fairly open valley and good pictures can be
taken any time of the day.
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How To Find Photo
Scenics In Vermont
How To Find Photo Scenics In Vermont by Arnold
J. Kaplan is copyrighted material (Library of Congress
Registration Number 441227). In the interests of area photographers, we have
excerpted highlights from his booklet which contains more descriptions,
better directions, maps, and photo hints. It is worth the effort to
acquire!
Mr. Kaplan can be contacted via this address: amkap@comcast.net.
Last Updated: April 14, 2005
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