In mid-November last year went for a drive to Chesterfield Gorge. The gorge is part of The Trustees of the Reservations and is located along the Westfield River in Chesterfield Massachusetts. Hope you like the photos.

Left Boston around 7.30 am for the two hour drive along I90W to route 112N to Chesterfield Gorge. After parking the car, scouted the area and decided to walk along the East Branch Trail which runs along the Westfield River.

At this time of day the morning light made the trail come alive with the shadows of the trees cast along the path, pointing me in the direction of my travel.

As I was walking along the path I came across a small waterfall. The sunlight and moving clouds were continually changing the scene from complete shadows, to partial shadows, to full light. So spent some time waiting for the scene I was after. Was lucky to capture the shot above with the light moving through the trees in the right part of the frame, which contrasted the water moving through the shadows on the left-side. Used a neutral density filter to soften the flowing waterfall with a shutter speed of 4 seconds.

Continued my walk along the trail and found a clearing where I could walk down to the edge of the river. Couldn’t believe how beautiful the light was, especially how the windy day was causing the clouds to move rapidly across the sky, which resulted in a continual change in how the sunlight was illuminating the frame. Once again used a neutral density filter and tried different shutter speeds to capture the intensity of the river flow, which resulted in a shutter speed of 1/6 second. Also used a graduated neutral density filter to help balance the light across the frame so I could get shadow details for the river without overexposing the sunlit trees.

Headed up the river bank to the trail and walked back to the car park area.

Once I got back to the car park, grabbed a quick bite to eat, then took the short walk to the top of the gorge. Couldn’t find a good vantage point to photograph from, so walked down to the river bank for a photo of the river flowing into the gorge.

Thanks again for spending your time reading this blog. Happy New Year.