Tag: water

Categories
All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

A Crossing in Wintry Repose

A Crossing in Wintry Repose (West Cornwall Covered Bridge, Cornwall, Connecticut)
“A Crossing in Wintry Repose”
West Cornwall Covered Bridge, Cornwall, Connecticut
© 2016 J. G. Coleman

A jacket of snow-dusted ice clings to shallow boulders along the banks of the Housatonic River in Connecticut’s Northwest Hills. Further upstream, against a backdrop of foggy woodlands and steep hills, a long covered bridge faithfully spans the frigid gorge.

At more than 170 feet in length, the West Cornwall Covered Bridge is arguably the most impressive bridge of its type left in Connecticut. Given the cost of maintenance and increasingly heavier loads it was forced to endure since the mid-1800s, it’s nothing short of a miracle that the bridge has survived to the present day.

There were low points along the way, of course. In 1945, a tanker truck broke through the bridge floor and crashed into the river below. A couple decades later in the late 60s, state officials contemplated tearing it down, but were met with vehement opposition from the surrounding community. Instead, it was reinforced with carefully-hidden steel underpinnings, ensuring the bridge would stick around for several more generations to come. The project was a marvelous success, even earning Connecticut an award from the Federal Highway Administration for exemplary historic preservation.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “A Crossing in Wintry Repose” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of my work from the West Cornwall Covered Bridge and surrounding stretches of the Housatonic River.

Categories
All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

Pequabuck Cauldron

Pequabuck Cauldron, Autumn (Pequabuck Falls on the Pequabuck River, Plymouth, Connecticut)

In my new piece “Pequabuck Cauldron, Autumn”, serene autumn woodlands crowd the Pequabuck River as it leaps over a relict dam which blushes with the magical glow of dawn. Perpetually in a state of discord, the cool waters are forever parting ways for delicate, orderly veils or furious, crashing whitewater.

Although Pequabuck Falls emerged as a purely natural waterfall after the withdrawal of ancient glaciers from Connecticut, a crescent-shaped dam constructed in 1851 dramatically altered their appearance. What we find here today is a “composite waterfall”, one which incorporates rocky tumbles from the original waterfall with orderly cascades over 160-year-old masonry.

Old Photograph of Pequabuck Falls
Pequabuck Falls is seen here in an old photograph dating back to sometime between 1890 and 1930. Although the old pony-truss bridge has long since been replaced, the falls themselves have actually changed very little despite the passage of a century.
© Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center,
University of Connecticut Libraries

Marvelously varied industries have harnessed water from Pequabuck Falls since the dam was constructed in the mid-19th century. Initially operating a clock factory, the falls later drove machinery which manufactured buckles for the uniforms of Union soldiers during the Civil War. For decades after the conflict, the site continued to turn out everything from mail bags to lumber to tool handles as enterprises came and went. It wasn’t until 1913 that the trusty waterwheel at Pequabuck Falls was finally retired.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Pequabuck Cauldron, Autumn” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of my work from Pequabuck Falls.

Categories
All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

Shipyard Abyss

Shipyard Abyss (Waterfall at the old shipyard, Middle Haddam Historic District, East Hampton, Connecticut)
“Shipyard Abyss”
Shipyard Falls, Middle Haddam District of East Hampton, Connecticut
© 2015 J. G. Coleman

In my new piece, “Shipyard Abyss”, sunlight struggles to reach the depths of a dark ravine where Mine Brook plunges over tiers of jagged bedrock in an eager race to join the Connecticut River nearby.

Although I can’t find any formal name for this striking cataract in the Middle Haddam Historic District of East Hampton, it was once at the heart of a bustling shipyard and trading port throughout the 1700s and 1800s and the brook along which it is formed drove several mills. In those early times, before trains and tractor trailers made it possible to transport large amounts of goods over land, the entire navigable length of the Connecticut River was lined with thriving cities and maritime villages that served as crucial hubs for shipping and shipbuilding.

The advent of the railroad in the 1830s marked the beginning of the end for maritime culture along the Connecticut and, within a few decades, business began declining steadily. By the late 1800s, when the rail system in the state had grown to extensive proportions, commercial shipping traffic nearly vanished and the river grew quieter than it had been in centuries. These days, several of the smaller riverfront villages such as Middle Haddam are beautiful wooded hamlets which bear little resemblance to the noisy, frantic ports that they once were.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Shipyard Abyss” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of my work from Shipyard Falls.

Categories
New Print Releases The American Northeast

Deadwood at Goldmine Brook Falls

Deadwood at Goldmine (Goldmine Brook Falls, Chester, Massachusetts)
“Deadwood at Goldmine”
Goldmine Brook Falls at Chester-Blandford State Forest, Chester, Massachusetts
© 2015 J. G. Coleman

Bark peels from the trunk of a fallen birch wedged into the boulders of a gorge in Western Massachusetts. Just ahead, Goldmine Brook Falls descends 40 feet into the ravine amidst ancient, weathered rock faces softened by jackets of moss.

Drive through the quiet, wooded town of Chester, Massachusetts where I produced “Deadwood at Goldmine” (at top) and it might seem hard to believe that area was historically bustling with mines of all sorts. First came the early iron mines; later, in the mid-1800s, a somewhat rare, abrasive mineral known as emery became the object of commercial efforts. Yet the name “Goldmine Brook” is still a bit puzzling, since there doesn’t seem to be any record of sincere attempts at mining the precious metal at any point in Chester’s past.

While there is undoubtedly gold in the valleys of Western Massachusetts, it’s been scattered too broadly and too thinly upon the landscape by the prehistoric advance and retreat of glaciers. Suffice it to say, the amount of gold you might get after a day of panning a creek in Southern New England wouldn’t even cover the cost of driving home.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Deadwood at Goldmine” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of my work from Chester-Blandford State Forest.

Categories
All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

Keeper Woods’ Lament

Keeper Woods' Lament (Old Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse, Old Saybrook, Connecticut)
“Keeper Woods’ Lament”
Old Saybrook Breakwater Light off Lynde Point in Long Island Sound, Old Saybrook, Connecticut
© 2015 J. G. Coleman

Remember how cold it was last winter? Or did you already block that memory out? Well, my latest releases were produced during the waning weeks of winter this year along the wind-swept coastline of Old Saybrook and feature the Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse perched on the far end of a serpentine, granite jetty beneath a twilight sky streaked with foreboding clouds.

Known sometimes as the Saybrook Outer Light to distinguish it from the Lynde Point Lighthouse on the mainland nearby, the Saybrook Breakwater Light was built in 1886 roughly 1/3-mile offshore at the terminus of a long, granite breakwater. The massive stone jetty had been created to prevent the formation of dangerous, shallow sand bars at the mouth of the Connecticut River which had plagued shipping traffic for years.

Twilight Upon the Granite Path (Old Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse, Old Saybrook, Connecticut)
“Twilight Upon the Granite Path”
Old Saybrook Breakwater Light off Lynde Point in Long Island Sound, Old Saybrook, Connecticut
© 2015 J. G. Coleman

I titled one of my new works (at top), “Keeper Woods’ Lament”, based upon the story of Joseph Woods, who was tending the lighthouse in 1917 when he submitted a grievance to officials regarding the rigors of his job. “I am on duty twenty-four hours out of twenty-four hours and the only relief I get is when my wife begs of me to rest while she stands watch.” All he asked was that an assistant be posted at the lighthouse so that he might have time to relax on occasion. His request was denied.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Keeper Woods’ Lament” or “Twilight Upon the Granite Path” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing these images.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of my work from the Old Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse.

Categories
All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

Okumsett Fringe

Okumsett Fringe (Glen Falls near Okumsett Preserve, Portland, Connecticut)
“Okumsett Fringe”
Glen Falls near Okumsett Preserve, Portland, Connecticut
© 2015 J. G. Coleman

In my new release, “Okumsett Preserve”, Glen Falls glows with whitewater as it careens over a sheer, 20-foot ledge, plunging Cobalt Stream into a shallow, woodland oasis lined by mossy cliffs, gravel beds and swaying ferns.

As early as the mid-1600s, the lands surrounding the mile-long Cobalt Stream were firmly believed to be rich in various ores and precious metals. Connecticut’s first governor, John Winthrop, laid claim to some 800 acres in the area and legends tell of him camping out in the hills, assiduously mining gold and casting rings that he would carry back to his home in New London. The territory consequently received the nickname, “The Governor’s Ring”.

Generation after generation of enterprising men made countless attempts to mine the Governor’s Ring for about 200 years. Some sought gold and silver, while others set their sights toward cobalt and lead. Except for occasional veins of cobalt, most of these operations proved fruitless. By 1844, a Connecticut geology professor finally summed up two centuries of unproductive mining around Cobalt Stream: “it is a curious fact, that after all that has been done in this mine, very little is really known to the public as to the worth of the minerals located there, and whether it could be worked to any profit.”

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Okumsett Fringe” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of my work from Glen Falls and Okumsett Preserve.

Categories
New Print Releases The American Northeast

Goreham’s Crossing at Pittsford

Goreham’s Crossing at Pittsford (Goreham Bridge over Otter Creek, Pittsford & Proctor, Vermont)
“Goreham’s Crossing at Pittsford”
Goreham Bridge over Otter Creek, Pittsford & Proctor, Vermont
© 2015 J. G. Coleman

As I stood upon a muddy riverbank during a warm spring morning in Vermont’s Rutland County, I watched reflections of the weathered Goreham Bridge ripple upon Otter Creek beneath a hazy sky streaked with broad, indistinct swaths of luminous blues. My piece, “Goreham’s Crossing at Pittsford”, emerged from that moment and brings together several elements which elaborate upon the sense of place wrapped up in this rustic riverscape in the Green Mountain State.

Built in 1842 and carrying traffic to this day, Goreham Bridge is one of four 19th-century covered bridges remaining in the rural town of Pittsford. That’s no small feat when you consider that the entire state of Connecticut has only three! But the town of Montgomery, about 100 miles north near the Canadian border, can justifiably be called Vermont’s “covered bridge capital”. Remarkably, seven covered bridges are scattered across the township’s 56 square miles.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Goreham’s Crossing at Pittsford” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of the landscape photography from Vermont.

Categories
All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

The Old Days at Cotton Hollow

Cotton Hollow Echoes (Roaring Brook at Cotton Hollow Preserve, Glastonbury, Connecticut)
“Cotton Hollow Echoes”
Roaring Brook at Cotton Hollow Preserve, Glastonbury, Connecticut
© 2015 J. G. Coleman

“Cotton Hollow Echoes”, one of my new pieces released this week, brings us to the shady depths of Glastonbury’s Cotton Hollow, where spirited cascades along Roaring Brook serenade the haunting, overgrown edifice of a long-abandoned mill.

There was a time when this stretch of Roaring Brook was the epicenter of South Glastonbury’s industrial might. From the 1700s onward, the river was lined with mills and factories that dammed the river, harnessing its strength to animate machinery. Cotton Hollow saw the production of everything from gun powder to boat anchors to its eponymous cotton textiles.

The Brook Remembers (Roaring Brook at Cotton Hollow Preserve, Glastonbury, Connecticut)
“The Brook Remembers”
Roaring Brook at Cotton Hollow Preserve, Glastonbury, Connecticut
© 2015 J. G. Coleman

But times change; so does technology. Once modern electrical grids eliminated the need for industry to be tethered to rivers, the crowded mills along Roaring Brook were slowly silenced. Boulder dams were eventually toppled. Woodlands eagerly reclaimed the river. Today, a quiet nature preserve occupies the very riverbanks where throngs of mill workers once labored amidst a cacophony of frantic machinery.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Cotton Hollow Echoes” or “The Brook Remembers” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of my work from Roaring Brook and the forests of Cotton Hollow.

Categories
All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

Hammonasset Descending

Hammonasset Descending (Hammonasset River, Madison, Connecticut)
“Hammonasset Descending”
Hammonasset River, Madison, Connecticut
© 2015 J. G. Coleman

My latest work features the lively cascades and verdant woodland banks of the Hammonasset River, which forms the border between Madison and Killingworth as it courses south from Lake Hammonasset en route to Long Island Sound.

Along its northern stretches, the Hammonasset River is a modest, boulder-strewn brook with cool waters shaded by a dense forest canopy. Swirling pools, rips and riffles along its course are home to Connecticut’s only native trout: the brook trout. These fish are an important “indicator species” because their presence in a stream suggests that the water is sufficiently clean and cool; in short, that the habitat is in good shape. When the brook trout vanish, you can bet that major disturbances to the river ecosystem are to blame.

Oh, and just in case there was any doubt that brook trout still thrive in the Hammonasset, I was more than obliged to pull a fish from the very pool seen here in “Hammonasset Descending” this spring; an exquisite specimen, washed over with some incredible colors and patterning.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Hammonasset Descending” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of my work from the northern stretches of the Hammonasset River.

Categories
All Things Connecticut The American Northeast

On the Cover of the Litchfield Town Guide

Litchfield Town Guide Cover, 2015-2016
Litchfield Town Guide Cover, 2015-2016
Litchfield Town Guide 2015-2016, cover featuring photography by J. G. Coleman
Litchfield Town Guide Cover, 2015-2016

It’s particularly gratifying whenever I see my photography put to use in a publication, even more so when its placement is prominent. This year’s Litchfield Town Guide does just that, filling its cover with one of my pieces from the wildlands of Litchfield, Connecticut.

When I produced my piece, “Ethereal Passage”, in mid-August of 2012 on the boardwalks around Little Pond at the White Memorial Foundation, its cover-worthiness was the last thing on my mind. My only interest in that moment before dawn, as I stood beneath a sky painted with wisps of faintly luminous clouds, was to capture the weather-beaten boardwalk as it meandered its way through shadowy wetlands towards a whimsical vanishing point in the misty, silhouetted forest on the horizon. The shot came together exactly as I had envisioned.

And, as it would happen, “Ethereal Passage” was precisely what Litchfield Magazine had in mind when it began looking for a cover photograph for its 2015 town guide. As a directory of places-to-go and things-to-do in the lovely town of Litchfield, it’s only fitting that the sprawling, 4,000-acre nature preserve in town operated by the White Memorial Foundation would be the first thing readers see!

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Ethereal Passage” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of my work from the White Memorial Foundation in Litchfield, Connecticut.

Categories
All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

Salmon River Wildlands

Salmon River Wildlands (Salmon River at Salmon River State Forest, Colchester, Connecticut)
“Salmon River Wildlands”
Salmon River at Salmon River State Forest, Colchester, Connecticut
© 2015 J. G. Coleman

My piece, “Salmon River Wildlands”, brings you to the wooded banks of the Salmon River as it meanders through Colchester, Connecticut en route to its confluence with the Connecticut River. Riffles and wisps of whitewater wrinkle the river’s surface, which gleams with reflections of early morning light.

There was a time —back in the earliest colonial era of New England— when the Salmon River’s namesake, Atlantic Salmon, could be seen heading upstream in droves to spawn each year during autumn. It would’ve been a spectacle every bit as impressive as the modern salmon runs of Alaska and Western Canada. But dam-building, among other pressures, delivered a death blow to the species, barricading hundreds of miles of streams and brooks and cutting salmon off from their ancient breeding grounds. Annual migrations that had occurred faithfully for thousands of years in Connecticut came to a grinding halt after barely more than a century of European settlement. The Connecticut River strain of Atlantic Salmon was extinct before 1800, preserved only in the name of a few rivers and brooks where they had once flourished.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Salmon River Wildlands” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of my work from Connecticut’s Salmon River State Forest.