Canterbury Shaker Village, New Hampshire
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1When is the best time to photograph the Canterbury Shaker Village in New Hampshire?
My best answer is (while scratching my head, )”Heck if I know!” Maybe a better answer is, of the 3-4 times I’ve been there, I don’t feel I’ve ever “really” caught it at “peak” fall colors. Here is 14 October 2009. (I called ahead and they said it was peak!)
This may not fill you with great confidence in my abilities, but as you read the article and look at the pictures hopefully you’ll come to understand. 🙂 The shot above “should” have been at peak fall colors, but as you can see on the 14th of Oct, these rows of maples were still pretty green in 2009. But I love how the eye is drawn up to the meeting house. (photo tip, leading line)
Very rarely can any of us come back day after day to the same spot, unless you live just down the road. It is actually the same for me as I may have to work or another area catches my attention. It also takes me one and a half hours to get here from home. I pass this by on my way up into the White Mountains and fail to stop in because I want to see what it looks like in other areas.
it’s not always as simple as picking a single day and showing up. Each year the peak fall foliage is a sliding window and sometimes I’ve gotten pretty close to catching that window. but so far I’ve been there on 28 Sept 2006, 14 Oct 2009, 12 Oct 2011, 15 Oct 2011, and 17 Oct 2014. You can see the same image as the above image down at the bottom that I captured on 17 Oct 2014. This is as close to peak as I have caught it.
Finding the Canterbury Shaker village
The easiest way for me is to come up Route 93 and jump off at Exit 18 heading East on West Road. From here it’s actually not too difficult to locate the Shaker Village. (just follow the signs) Your first photographic opportunity though will come when you enter the village of Canterbury. There is a church with some nice colorful trees around it and not too many power lines.
Also, you have a general store, a couple of doors away from the church where you can pick up some fresh homemade cookies or drinks if they are open. We always try to give these places our support however we can.
Next, you get back on the road and continue following the signs along Baptist Road and it will eventually take you over to Shaker Road and then you will head north, and this same Shaker Road divides the Canterbury Shaker Village in half. So let’s just say you will have a hard time missing it.
Best time to photograph the Shaker Village?
I’ve never photographed it early in the morning, and I think it might be good to try before 9 AM. (check their website for hours when they open. But I’ve mostly done my shooting in the early afternoon and later afternoon and came up with some very nice photographs.
Costs to get in and photograph?
You can get in the parking lot and visit the store, but to actually go into the village itself with all the old buildings you have to pay to get in. You can find information on the rates and times here.
The best view to try to capture
The view that I have been trying to capture for the past 20 years, has been the view from the road up to the meeting house with two rows of ancient maple trees and the Meeting House at the end of the rows. On October 17th, 2014, I finally got pretty darn close…
I’ve yet to catch the maples fully turned but I plan to keep trying. I once tried calling and asking if the trees look like they were at peak, and the receptionist said they were, but when I got there… Let’s just say her idea of peak fall colors and mine were not the same, so I’ll keep trying.
Events at the Shaker village
They have ongoing events all year long, and I caught an antique car show which was pretty neat. Check their website for your dates in the area.
To me, the old buildings just lend themselves to fall foliage shots when you can work them in together although much of the property does not have trees close to the buildings and you can find a few angles to still put the maple trees in a frame with the old buildings. Sometimes it’s just the old buildings and sometimes it’s just the fall foliage reflections on the nearby pond.
This spot is in the southern Lakes Region so the earliest you will get good color is around the 12 – 17 Oct in any year. You can try to time it, but based on my experience, just show up and enjoy it. Mother Nature is usually the winner here and she holds all the cards. This is southeast of Lake Winnipesaukee so if this is a bit green still, head to the east side of the Lake and go up Route 25 to the Castle in the Clouds… Always have your plan B’s ready!
Jeff Foliage Folger
Autumn is a state of mind more than a time of year – Jeff Foliage
- Visit my Fine Art America Gallery
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- My Facebook foliage page
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Have passed it but never visited Will do …. next year, looks to be an interesting place so thanks for this