I had just about given up on capturing any foliage images this fall as the trees seem to all share a muted color tone after excessive rain this summer.  As luck would have it, I was off today (a bonus Thursday in Marblehead) and received a text from my wife with a photo of Ware Pond she had seen posted to Facebook that day. The photo had been taken by Rachel Sullivan who happens to have several large prints of mine hanging in her home which overlooks this spot in town – small world…

Having noted the building clouds, I headed out with my camera gear and made sure to grab my circular polarizer. I arrived at the small wooden walkway leading to the overlook at Ware Pond and was thrilled with the colors I spotted across the water. The only issue was the composition. From where I stood, the grass in the foreground limited the view of the pond reflecting the foliage. I hurried back to the car for my tripod and remote trigger which I used to elevate the camera a few feet overhead and steady it as I actuated the shutter.  It took a few tries but finally I had the shot I wanted.

The image was nearly perfect with the circular polarizer having done its job of making the colors shine but cutting down on reflections (it also deepened the blue sky and brought out the reflection in the pond water). I did have a small branch overhead that I had to clone out but the end result definitely brought a smile to my face. I have a strong feeling this will be the October 2025 image and may even make it onto a future Marblehead Notecard print run…

For anyone who missed the announcement, I have created 15 varieties of Marblehead Notecards that can be purchased individually or as a boxed set. The initial print run more than met my expectations and a much larger print order should be arriving by the end of October. You can pre-order them today and I will drop them locally or ship them as soon as they arrive.