Vermont Fall Foliage - 2025 - Part 5 - Odds and Ends

By the time I post next, we will have sailed by Christmas, and will be finishing out 2025, so I wanted to make sure I wished all who read here a Merry Christmas, and also happy holidays in case observe other, or additional holidays during this time of the year!

Daybreak - Cabot Plains Road - Cabot, Vermont
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

ON TUESDAY we were at A.M. Foster Bridge in Cabot early for our combined moonset - sunrise shoot. After our moonset shots, while we were waiting for the light on the bridge, I "saw" and recorded this shot above, which really isn't about the bridge, but was part of the "feel" we had that morning as twilight turned to sunrise. Again, watging for the light, we turned across the road to the little cemetery across from the Bridge/field. I caught this silhouette of Rich shooting. If you are interested, his image is on his site, here. It's definitely worth the trip over.

Sunrise on the Cabot Plains Cemetery - Cabot Plains Road - Cabot, Vermont
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

AFTERWARD, we headed out to do some recon. Rich knew of a nice little restaurant in Hardwick, and we made breakfast our first mission. We were already into the "hot" light of another pretty much clear blue sky day, and we didn't have any optimism for any more shooting opportunities until well into the afternoon. But we did want to see what things were looking like in the area. So we drove over toward Stowe, and down to Waterbury Center. I wanted to show Rich the red barn Carol found for us back in 2021. It looked pretty much the same, but of course the lighting was horrible, as it was at the Stowe Land Trust Barn (Grandview Farm). Heading back north, we drove back up to Newport and Troy and were heartened to see the color doggedly holding on in that area. We decided to head back to Rich's house for a break and make a plan for shooting later. On our way back to Sutton, we took Burton Hill Road from Irasburg - the site of my probably favorite Vermont Farm shot. On that road, just up the hill from the farm (which we again didn't even try to shoot due to awful light), we hit a still well-leafed foliage canopy. At first we weren't thinking much about it because we had concluded shooting was done until later in the day. But something compelled me to ask Rich to turn around. We stopped back up the road. The canopy created enough filtered light to make a viable shot. And, because it was late in the season, the leaf drop along the roadsides added to the shot. It may be the best of these "canopy" shots (which always seem to stymie me compositionally) that I have made.

Burton Hill Road - Barton, Vermont
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

THE FORECAST for the next day had been rain. The only day of my entire trip where any rainfall was predicted. It turns out that things developed earlier than originally predicted and our afternoon deteriorated into very windy and heavy rain showers. We were o.k. with that because it was predicted to carry over into the early morning, and the clear. We were hoping for some more interesting skies.

Peacham, Vermont
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

WE WOKE UP to cooler, but still cloudy conditions, with a continued forecast of clearing throughout the morning. It seemed like the perfect day to head back to Richford and the Fleury Farm. And it turned out to be just that. We got the skies Rich had hoped for, and a different "spin" on that farm scene, as I showed in a prior post covering the farmstead. Afterward, we decided to take a run down U.S. 5, along the Connecticut River Valley. One phenomena we had noticed during the week was that all the best color seemed to be on the western slopes of the mountain ranges. Much of the eastern sides were well past peak, often dull and colorless. What we found along the valley fit that mold. To the west and where we had a view of the river, we could see some nice color over in New Hampshire. But only a very short distance west along the highway and points west of that, an awful lot of "past peak" foliage (or lack of foliage). We went down as far as Thetford, and then headed west over to Tunbridge. Rich lived in Tunbridge for a few years, and there were 2 barns I wanted to see (and someday photograph). This year wasn't the year. No foliage, and mostly cloudy but bright overcast conditions. But the barns are "on my list." We drove back up some back roads eventually reaching Forest Highway 232 up through the Groton State Forest. Again, foliage was well beyond its most photogenic; and no doubt the previous day's high winds and rain took a lot of it down. We never took a camera out of the car on that drive.

Peacham, Vermont
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

OUR PLAN for that night was our final "moon" gambit in Peacham. So, after a break at Rich's house, we headed to Peacham Village (about 40 minutes away). I covered the moonrise shooting in the prior post: "Moonrise, Moonset," so won't duplicate it here. But I did foreshadow a couple other images in the first blog post, noting that I thought I had "been there - done that" with the iconic church and barn scene in Peacham. We were going there - in my mind - primarily for the moonrise. But as we stood there, "things" developed. First, I saw the cattle grazing directly next to the barn. And I had my "big" 400mm mounted (an option I hadn't had on any of my numerous other visits). So I pulled it in tight and (this is for you Janice - you know who you are 😍) I took my own oft-given advice: "get closer." I think the first image above is the only time I have made such an "intimate" view shot of the scene. I like it. But the real "winner" here comes as a surprise. There is a old saying: "F8 and be there" (though my conscience - yeah right 😏 - compels me to admit this was actually f11). We weren't expecting those dramatic clouds and sunlight (in fact we were hoping for clear conditions, so as to see the moon clearly). But when that light hit the church, I was already set up to shoot it and that whole be there and be ready thing came home to roost. I do believe this has jumped above every other image I have made here over the years to become my favorite Peacham shot!

There is a old saying: "F8 and be there" . . . we weren't expecting those dramatic clouds and sunlight . . . But when that light hit the church . . . that whole be there and be ready thing came home to roost

THERE WERE some other shots and other spots. It is all fun and Vermont is a very photogenic place - particularly in the fall. I think, though, that in this series of 5 posts, I was able to marshall the essence of (and mostly the best of) my 2025 Vermont Fall Foliage trip. So here is a final 2025 shoutout to my great Vermont friends, and particularly to my good friend, photographic inspiration and confidant, Rich Ennis. Already looking forward to the next time we meet (wherever that might be) - and my next trip to Vermont!