Kancamagus Highway Scenic Overlook

Author's Comments

The Kanc in early October is not a secret and pretending otherwise would be dishonest. The cars are there, the people are there, every overlook has someone with a phone held out at arm's length. I have made my peace with this. The mountains do not care, and neither, in the end, do I. What matters is the light, and the light along this thirty-four miles of road in the second week of October is some of the best autumn light in the country. The ridges layer back toward the horizon in waves of orange and rust and that strange smoky purple that only happens when fall haze meets a low sun. Kancamagus Pass itself is not always the strongest stop. I find the overlooks slightly east of the pass, looking down into the Swift River drainage, more compositionally interesting - more depth, more foreground to anchor a wide frame. Golden hour is the obvious answer and it is the right one. Get there forty minutes before the sun touches the ridge and stay until the color drains out of the sky. The crowds thin considerably in the last twenty minutes of useful light. That is when the photograph happens.

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