Autumn Pine on Beaver Pond

This small pond in Woodstock NH is squeezed in between to steep mountains which means it has a relatively short period of bright sun compared most bodies of water. On a recent scouting trip I had passed this pond on my way back from the north western part of the state.   This tree caught my eye in the late afternoon sun and I immediately decided I needed to come back. I watched the weather reports and cloud predictions for a few days hoping for light cloud cover and cold temps that might bring fog up from the water surface.  Sunday the predictions looked perfect, 36°F and 20% cloud cover.

When I arrived about an hour after sunrise, we had 100% cloud cover and rain.
The moody skies did make for some interesting shots, and color can really
stand out in these conditions.  But you don’t get the glowing atmosphere
which is was my goal. 

After waiting out the storm for a couple hours it started raining harder and I
decided to pack it in.  The farther south I drove on route 93, brighter the
conditions became.  About ten miles south of Woodstock I looked in my
rearview mirror and saw the sun hitting the peaks I had just left.  I pulled off at
the net exit and retraced my path from earlier in the morning, climbing back up the mountain road, packing the camera back out to this location to finally capture the shot I had planned days prior.