Because I’ve been doing it for more than 3 years now, it’s officially a tradition: my annual fall foliage photography trip. In prior years, I’ve gone with my family or a few close friends. Last year, we went to the Adirondacks. This year, I opened it up to the internet. Together with new and old friends Dani Crosby, Angelika Fuellemann, Jesse Gardner, Chris Rivera, and Matt Sherlock, we spent a few days in Stowe, VT, capturing the beauty of this special season of the year.

Day 0: Wednesday, October 2

Just after ushering my kids out the door for school, I packed the car with snacks and sped off to pick up Chris and Matt to make our way towards Stowe. The great conversation made the 8+ hour trip fly by, and we settled in at our Airbnb before we knew it. Shortly after, Dani, Jesse, and Angelika all trickled in from their respective journeys. Pizza and salads were delivered, and we had a short orientation to get to know each other and our agenda for the next 2 days. I brought printed itineraries for everyone and a pile of books about Vermont fall photography to get everyone inspired. We shared gear and photography tips so everyone felt comfortable enough shooting over the next few days.

Day 1: Thursday, October 3

We met at 6:15am at the viewpoint of our first location: the famous Stowe Community Church, the quintessential white church against a sea of warm colors. The sun rose at 6:50am, but, because the church is in front of some hills, it would be another hour still before the sun crested over the peaks. We waited it out and were treated to a ton of different looks as fog rolled through the valley. We only intended to stay for an hour or so but ended up being there for almost 3 hours since the light kept changing and there was constantly new looks to photograph.

I picked this as our first location because it’s relatively easy to shoot and get good photos and I wanted everyone to start the trip with a win. Ironically, while everyone else got good shots, I psyched myself out a bit. I had been to this location 3 years ago and got a great shot. Part of wanting to return here was to see for myself how much I had grown as a photographer. Unfortunately, my shots here weren’t nearly as good as when I was first here. I was a bit discouraged by that, but it led me to a few creative alternatives. First, I set up my GoPro for the whole time and got an amazing 3-hour time lapse. Secondly, Dani was shooting with a Leica Q2 Monochrom, a camera that shoots black and white. That’s a pretty bold choice for a fall foliage shoot… I was initially thinking that could be either awesome or a disaster. After looking over her shoulder of her first few shots, they were incredible! Super dramatic and moody, and it made me reconsider the shots I was taking. I figured I’d also try my hand at a few black-and-whites of this location. Not sure that I nailed anything, but it definitely got me looking at the scene differently.

We pried ourselves away from the scene to get a delicious and hearty breakfast at Butlers Pantry before heading to to the Northfield Falls and Slaughterhouse Covered Bridges.

We mosied along to Warren Falls and Moss Glen Falls, and I flew my drone around to see how the tops of the trees looked against the winding road.

We had been shooting for almost 12 hours at this point, so we decided to skip our scheduled sunset and astrophotography shoot and instead spend some time editing together. We ordered Thai food to the Airbnb and settled in to edit. I casually stepped outside into the dark backyard to snap a quick photo of the stars, and there was the Milky Way staring right back. Jesse, Matt, and I spent the next hour or so shooting the sky while Chris, Dani, and Angelika traded editing tips.

Day 2: Friday, October 4

We met at 5:15am to caravan towards our sunrise spot: the A.M. Foster Covered Bridge. After a quick stop at Dunkin Donuts for some solid and liquid fuel, we were off.

While we were about 10 minutes away, the sky started to fill with a brilliant orange. I started getting worried that we were too late. We found our location and I just about leapt out of the car to find a place to set up. Fortunately, the sun gave us a bit of time for each of us to find our spots before it peered over the crest. Some of us spread out near the bridge while others shot in the cemetery across the road.

Before the sun got too high in the sky, we decided to move along to Joe’s Pond, hoping that there might still be some morning fog left over. On the way, we spotted a pasture of cows grazing and quickly jumped out to get some shots.

Alas, no fog at Joe’s Pond. We snapped a few quick photos and rolled on.

After a quick detour to charge my Tesla, we set off to photograph the picturesque town of Peacham.

Along the way, I spied a small clearing with what looked like some interesting views, so we quickly pulled over. The spot turned out to be Ewell Pond, with glasslike water that created an amazing mirrored reflection of the foliage.

We finally made it to Peacham. The quintessential view is just behind the town firehouse, which gets you a white church, red barn, vibrant foliage, and distant mountains all in one image.

Time for a lunch break. We stopped into the Peacham Cafe only to be informed that they had no lunch. The staff directed us to the Three Ponds restaurant. My low expectations were quickly shattered by a delicious smoked salmon sandwich, followed by a maple ice cream dessert.

We spent the afternoon wandering around the cute town of Woodstock. The early mornings and late nights were starting to catch up to me, so I sacrificed shooting for a quick 15-minute nap in the car.

We drove to our final location of the trip: a sunset shoot at the Quechee Gorge. I’d been here a few years ago and shot the gorge from the top of the bridge, but I’ve since realized that the better photographs are actually from down in the gorge taking a photo of the bridge. We got ready to hike down into the gorge only to find that part of the path was closed off. The light was dwindling fast, and it looked like there might not be a way down to the bottom. Jesse, Dani, and Angelika chanced it. Matt lost faith and went back up to shoot from a different vantage point. Chris and I stopped to fly our drones and scout a bit. Overall, we all got some interesting shots of this final location.

We wrapped up just as the sun disappeared, and we hiked back up in the dark with the exception of a little light from a headlamp and some phone flashlights.

Tired and hungry, we quickly settled on getting some BBQ for dinner at Fatty’s BBQ which closed in 45 minutes, so we booked it out of there. Over brisket and pulled pork, we did a small reflection of our time together and talked through what we might do differently next year.

Overall, another successful fall foliage trip in the books, this time with some new friends.

Now… where to next year?

Join 57,400+ subscribers to the weekly Dan Mall Teaches newsletter. I promise to keep my communication light and valuable!