New England

New England is the northeastern corner of the United States. It covers six states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Some of the oldest European settlements in the country stand here, and Boston is the largest city. Within a few hours’ drive, the region runs from the sailing harbors of Narragansett Bay to the White Mountains and the lighthouse coast of Maine.

A Road Trip Through New England

Our first trip to the United States started in Manhattan. From there we moved on to Boston, where Daria had a week of studies at MIT. While she was in class, I took a big SUV and gave myself 48 hours. In that time I crossed Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. Before and after that drive, Daria and I also covered Rhode Island and Connecticut together.

On the road, I noticed how much of its past the region has kept. One country road ends in a town the whaling industry built. Then the next one leads to a white wooden church, still waiting for its Puritan minister. The chain stores and highways are all there. Still, the past feels closer here than almost anywhere else I have photographed.

Boston is the natural base, so I cover the city itself in my Boston travel guide. Everything below sits within a few hours of it.

Castle Hill Lighthouse in Newport

Castle Hill Light has marked the passage between Conanicut and Aquidneck islands since 1890. It stands at the edge of Newport’s historic Ocean Drive. In 1988 it went onto the National Register of Historic Places. Because it still operates, however, the interior stays closed. Locals know it as a favorite place for marriage proposals, and for the wedding shoots that follow.

Timing made this photograph. By 2020, rust stains ran down the white walls. As a result, the Castle Hill Inn, which owns the site, and the Coast Guard, which owns the light, agreed on a restoration. It was finished by early summer 2021. Our planned visit in May 2021 was cancelled by pandemic restrictions, so we came a year later. Instead of rust, we found the lighthouse freshly restored. Its lamp was burning against a pink sunset sky, with the Newport Bridge on the horizon.

Newport Harbor

Newport is a town of about 25,000 people, with a history far larger than its size. Gilded Age families built their summer mansions along its waterfront. In addition, from 1930 to 1983 the town hosted the America’s Cup, the race sailors call the Auld Mug. The trophy has moved on since. Even so, Newport still lives on the water.

In early summer 2022, I was looking for the one frame that holds the town. The harbor gave it to me. In the marina at sunset, the sun drops into the bay on the left. Masts and moorings fill the water, while the suspension bridge to Jamestown spans the right side of the frame. The sky turned red for only a few minutes, and that is the shot.

Mount Washington

At 6,288 feet, Mount Washington is the highest peak in the northeastern United States. The White Mountains around it are the wildest part of New England. Since 1861, the Mount Washington Auto Road has carried visitors toward the summit.

On the way, I met a group of scouts at a lake. On their recommendation, I came up NH-16 toward the viewpoint over the Presidential Range. However, the mountains sat behind a grey ceiling. So I stopped at the Glen View Café. When I stepped back outside, the cloud was lifting off the slopes. A huge American flag was flying over the lawn. Then a group of bikers rolled onto the road below it. That moment at the foot of the Auto Road became the frame of the whole trip: open road, freedom, mountains.

Most of this range lies within the White Mountain National Forest. As a result, trailheads and scenic drives lead off in every direction. The summit itself is protected as Mt. Washington State Park.

Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods

Opened in 1902, the hotel sits below the western slopes of the Presidential Range. In July 1944 it hosted the Bretton Woods Conference. There, the Allied nations designed the postwar monetary system. They also created the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

That history was why I drove there. I follow where money is heading, and in the Bitcoin community people talk about a coming “next Bretton Woods”. For that reason, standing where the original was signed was worth the detour.

I arrived too late in the evening to shoot. Instead, I scouted the position and framed the composition before dark. Then I drove back at sunrise. In full morning light, the white hotel with its red roofs stood above a glowing green golf course. Behind it, Mount Washington faded into haze. A single red car was on the drive.

Bug Light in South Portland, Maine

Locals gave Portland Breakwater Light its nickname, Bug Light, because they thought it looked like an insect. The first wooden light went up in 1855. Twenty years later, in 1875, the present structure replaced it. Its architect was Thomas U. Walter, who also designed the wings and dome of the U.S. Capitol. He shaped the lighthouse after a small Greek monument.

During the Second World War, new shipyards next to the breakwater made it obsolete. Consequently, the light went dark in 1942. In 1973 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and it was finally relit in 2002. Today the park around it is known for kite flying, and it also holds the Liberty Ship Memorial.

I got there shortly after sunrise, before any kites were in the air. Behind the light on its granite breakwater sits Fort Gorges. This Civil War-era granite fort fills its own small island in Casco Bay.

The Covered Bridges of Vermont

Vermont has more than a hundred covered bridges. That is the highest concentration per square mile of any state. Before this trip, I had not seen anything like them anywhere in the world. So for one image of Vermont, the covered bridge was the obvious choice.

The Quechee Covered Bridge forms the entrance to the village of Quechee. Right beside it, the Ottauquechee River spills over the dam. A short way downstream, the river then cuts through Quechee Gorge. The bridge in my frame replaced the 1970 original, which Hurricane Irene nearly destroyed in 2011. Next to it, a former mill powered by the same river now houses a glassblowing studio and a restaurant.

That stop was one of the rare days I was less interested in making photographs than in simply looking.

Yale University in New Haven

Founded in 1701, Yale shapes New Haven, Connecticut, more than anything else. In fact, the university is the city’s largest employer. Every undergraduate is assigned to one of fourteen residential colleges. Each college has its own dining hall, and its head of college lives among the students.

We needed more than half a day to walk the campus and the colleges around it. By the time we finished, the light was gone. At blue hour, however, one of the Collegiate Gothic college buildings had its windows glowing against a violet sky. Meanwhile, street lamps lit the stone path beside it. We never found out which college it was. Still, the frame holds the place.

When to Visit New England

Foliage season runs from late September to mid-October. During those weeks, the hills of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine turn red and gold, starting in the north and at altitude. It is also the busiest and most expensive time to travel inland.

I made these photographs in late spring and early summer instead. Those months give long days, green landscapes and open coastal towns, without the autumn crowds. Summer, by contrast, is peak season on the coast from Newport to Maine. In winter, snow and skiing come to the mountains, while many seasonal businesses on the coast close until spring.

Photographing New England

Almost every frame in this guide came down to timing. For example, I shot the Castle Hill light weeks after a restoration I could not have planned for. I scouted the Mount Washington Hotel the evening before and photographed it at first light. And at Glen View, the mountain appeared only after I had written the view off.

Above all, New England rewards the road trip. The distances are short, and the light changes fast between coast and mountains. Lighthouses, harbors, grand hotels, covered bridges and college towns all sit within a day’s drive of Boston.

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