The "Best" Year

In October 1997, I made my first trip up to the northwestern Upper Peninsula in Michigan. Color was sparse, and "developing," and in terms of fall foliage, I was disappointed. Sometimes you make proverbial lemonade, though. As I set up this shot on a very windy afternoon, I couldn't help but wonder what it might look like with a "wash" of fall color throughout, rather than the few bright spots in a mostly green scene. This shot, however, remains one of my best selling - and personal favorite - images.
Copyright Andy Richards 1997 - All Rights Reserved

IN OCTOBER I spent 10 days in Vermont, which is one of the most colorful and photogenic locations in the U.S. for fall foliage photography. And it is probably easily the most popular venue for foliage viewing and photography. For over 15 years, I have made the trip roughly bi-annually and have photographed much of the state; covering perhaps 3/4 of it, geographically. I have kept notes, and have written a PDF "Guide" to Photographing Vermont's Fall Foliage, which you can access here (there is no cost, but I ask that you use it responsibly). In other years, I have spent a lot of time in Michigan's relatively little-known "Upper Peninsula" (which is also the subject of a PDF Guide found here), an area roughly the same size as the entire state of Vermont, which I will argue rivals (and in some ways surpasses) New England for its colorful fall foliage and scenic settings. I have also photographed in West Virginia and New Mexico during their foliage seasons. Very different, but also very photogenic under the right conditions. A good friend lives in Utah, and her images of the foliage around her is spectacular. One year, I spent a week in Acadia National Park in October. We caught the very late season and could see so much potential for more spectacular color had we arrived maybe just a week earlier. And in 2023, we were in Tenessee in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. So as the guy in the Farmers Insurance commercial might say: "I've been a few places; I've seen a few places."😎

The thread I am thinking about today is stimulated by the comment I often read in these discussions about the "kind of year" being experienced

I ACTIVELY follow (and even moderate one) several Facebook Pages dedicated to New England and Vermont scenic photography, and try to keep up with current conditions. Our page is perhaps the only one that is specifically focused on fall foliage and during the season restricted to current images only, in hopes of providing seekers "real time" data for their travels.

Is there a best year, time, or condition? What are our criteria for a "good" year, a "bad" year, or a "marginal" year?

IN ALL of the above, there are a few common threads. The thread I am thinking about today is stimulated by the comment I often read in these discussions about the "kind of year" being experiened. In Vermont, during what we have identified to be the "normal" foliage periods, I have seen years and locations with conditions from everything solid green, to mostly "sticks." That varies, of course, depending on location. But as a matter of timing, the quality of the foliage is what we are really addressing. I was fortunate (in my own limited experience) in New Mexico, to see what I thought was some pretty robust "western style" foliage. We got to West Virginia late in the season and though it was magnificent, we could see the potential for hitting it earlier. The Michigan U.P. is, again, largely dependent upon location, largely because of its unique geographic setting, mostly surrounded by the Great Lakes. I had the wonderful experience one year of being in the same location for a week and watching the progression go from nice, early color to what might be identified as "peak," day by day. An experience which - unless you live on location - you are unlikely to experience very often. An experience I won't forget.

as I thought back to all my trips to all of these places (though I may have characterized as such at the time), none of them was a complete bust. Not One!

WE OFTEN read comments like, "In spite of it not being the best year . . ," or "color was not (or was) the best I have seen . . ." and the like. A recent comment on one of my posts here kind of rang a bell, with me (silently) asking the question: Is there a best year, time or condition? What are our criteria for a "good" year, a "bad" year, or a "marginal" year? And as I thought back to all my trips to all of these places (though I may have characterized as such at the time), none of them was a complete bust. Not One!

I have sometimes found that when that "grand landscape" just isn't going to happen, getting a more intimate view of your surroundings can be fruitful. We were waiting for fog to lift, to see if there would be colorful foliage in the background of our planned shot of the Village of Stowe, Vermont, but it wasn't being particularly cooperative. I wondered if it would clear at all that morning, and while waiting, I started playing with some closeup compositions. These were the only bright red maple leaves we had seen so far that week. You might recognize it as the leaf in front the bridge (photo below) in my LightCentricPhotography logo.
Copyright Andy Richards 2005 - All Rights Reserved

INTERESTING. TO me at least. A couple of my experiences involved conditions that were just not what I had hoped for (rainout, lack of color change, late to the party, etc.). But the thing is, I have always found images. And I think that may illustrate another kind of truism about fall foliage photography. It is often really more about particular location than the overall "year." I have always brought back a few "keepers." No matter the condition. No matter the year. It reminds me of a quote by the late Bryan Peterson, one of my primary inspirations and teachers (albeit from afar): "There is alway an image there; it is up to the photographer to find it."

This image is pretty much representative of the color we found in the areas of Vermont where I had traveled growing up. While we did ultimately find some "better" color in some areas we explored, I will always remember 2005 as the year the color never happened in Vermont.  Home in my "digital darkroom," I made a composite of this image and a solitary red maple leaf, that would ultimately become my LightCentricPhotography logo.
Copyright Andy Richards 2005 - All Rights Reserved

ARE THERE "good years?" Or bad years?" Or really, anything in between? It is really a kind of continuum in which I have always found something to shoot. So for me, the answer is that there really aren't any "best" or "worst" years. There are only "years." Thoughts?