There are as many flavors of workshops and guided tours as there are photographers looking up at the night sky. They all (I hope) aim to give you a great experience. I gave April Bielefeldt who is an advertiser on my website, providing tours and itineraries, a list of questions that I think will help you give an idea of whether a small guided tour is right for you.

A conversation with April Bielefeldt on what a guided tour involves

Disclaimer before you read this: I have never taken her tour, but she has been advertising on my page for years, and I only have heard good things. She also has paid for advertising on this site so consider this a paid promotional.

You can reach April’s fall foliage tours (by clicking here) or any others (she also has itineraries for sale) that she offers by clicking through to her photo-trips link here or at the top of this page.

1. Who is your tour/workshop aimed at?

My Fall Foliage Photo tour is geared largely to someone who enjoys photography but also wants a full experience, a little maple syrup tasting, some cozy lodgings, and a good meal at the end of the day. It is perfect for couples where often one person really wants to get up at sunrise and the other is less inclined to.

We have a sunrise photography destination planned every morning, rain or shine, and a sit-down breakfast follows where we collect anyone who did not get up early and then we continue on, there is no “classroom time” we fill our shortened days with foliage scenic locations, maple syrup tastings, some historic stops and all along the way I give photography guidance.

The trip is open to anyone regardless of whether they have a camera, or just want to collect images with their tablet or cell phone.

I don’t hand out “assignments” but in the course of emails or phone calls exchanged prior to the trip get a feel for each individual’s goals and how the group will work together. We don’t spend time working on post-processing but instead, focus on collecting wall-worthy images in-camera with maybe minor adjustments for someone later if they wish.

Some of our stops have some walking involved if you choose, and often there are choices on given days. I have dropped off a few people to shop for a few hours while the rest of us chase fall color.

The tour appeals to someone who prefers someone else to do the driving and take them to locations and destinations one might otherwise not find on their own.

2. Overall goal of your workshop/tour:

The overall goal of my tour/workshop is to provide an unforgettable full sensory experience of what I consider Classic New England Fall Foliage.

• See: classically pleasing scenes that have inspired artists/photographers for years. Rolling hills, red barns, covered bridges and help you capture that on camera.
• Touch: feel the crisp air, sense of the shortening days and waning light.
• Taste: the flavors of New England- I have to admit I love to eat- cider donuts, Vermont Maple syrup, cheese, pumpkin everything, and all the other seasonal flavors that often don’t get the focus if you don’t live in New England!
• Hear the sound of the loons, the falling leaves, the crunch of the leaves underfoot, and the water as it runs over the rocks.. there are just sounds that living in an urban area you don’t hear.
• Smell: ah, again that word Food comes in since you can smell fresh-baked pumpkin bread, or smell burning wood in fireplaces.. and even the woods themselves have a smell in the fall that is different!

New England exists still as you see in paintings – it is a real place and you can still walk in and experience it with all of your senses. This is what I hope to share and somehow we try to capture that in our images or at least enjoy it for the short time we are there!

For those new to photography, I share composition tips and see what they are seeing and try to make improvements when needed so everyone can return with a “wall hanger” as one of my participants said

3. What sorts of places will you show us?

I try to work in a variety of scenes. In conversations, prior to our meeting in New England, I try to gather my participant’s interests or what I like to call a shot list a list of images I hope to collect.

I like to cover a variety of images, landscapes, macro, close-up opportunities, people, food, and action! The locations I choose have been picked for their iconic beauty. The white steeple church, water reflections of fall colors, red barns, fall-colored patchwork hills, and of course a covered bridge just to cover a quick list.

4. If a location is not inspiring what do you do for a backup?

As a tour leader, guide, and driver who has been visiting New England for over 12 years, I have more places to go than we can usually see on any given day so if we arrive at a spot and it is not inspiring we move on.

This can happen at sunrise due to light or weather, but New England is small, and just around the next bend may be something really worth stopping and getting out for. This again is why I prefer to not have a caravan of cars.

Some of the locations that I come back to again and again are off small narrow roads and we have limited space to park and photograph. I am constantly researching and seeking new locations to keep it fresh for myself as well. Nature is an amazing thing and each day I can’t wait to get out and see what we can see and photograph!!

I stay in local places so often when I arrive my innkeepers have places they have gone and checked out in the day or two prior which is a gift to me! Being flexible both as a guide and as a participant is important!

Weather during the fall can be unpredictable, and we do go out rain or shine-but sometimes we have had to sit out a heavy rain for a bit.

5. What is your favorite fall foliage location and subject?

As an artist that’s like asking which image is my favorite and my response is always the next one I capture. Chasing fall colors is like that, you are always looking for the “perfect combination/composition”.

Maybe to answer it more correctly would be to answer why do I keep returning to New England year after year, when you can see fall colors other places, my response is that yes, trees do change colors in other areas of the United States and even the world, but to me, nothing is like an Autumn in New England, the white steeples, the red trees, rolling hills, red barns, and that intense green grass against an azure sky…

The brilliant scenes with colors that seem brighter and more intense on a given year than I have witnessed anywhere.

Fall Foliage in New England has captured my heart and my camera lens and for this, I continue to want to share that joy with others!

If you want a full Fall Foliage experience and only have a week I hope you will consider my tour!

Jeff Foliage Folger

Autumn is a state of mind more than a time of year – Jeff Foliage

Visit my Amazon affiliate store for items that Lisa and I have curated for you. These items are either New England-made or things we think will make your fall foliage trip more successful.

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