Vermont

Photographs of Late Fall in Vermont | When the Leaves Come Down

A collection of lovely images featuring late fall in Vermont from photographer Richard Brown.

By Ian Aldrich|Dec 15 2014| Print icon

People ice skating on a frozen lake in a rural winter landscape with snow-covered fields, trees, and a red barn in the background.

Skaters take to the ice at Goslant Pond in East Peacham.

Credit: Richard Brown
Skaters take to the ice at Goslant Pond in East Peacham.

Skaters take to the ice at Goslant Pond in East Peacham.

Credit: Richard Brown
Skaters take to the ice at Goslant Pond in East Peacham.
Credit: Richard Brown Richard  Brown loves late fall. No, it’s not the autumn of blazing oranges and reds that he has famously trained his camera on over the years. The scenes that unfold in this other autumn are something quite different: less eye candy, more subdued. “There’s a cleanliness when the leaves are gone,” Brown says. “There’s a simplicity and there’s that real clear air. It’s the only time of year where the predominant color is gold—the color of the grasses, that low light—it’s just spectacular.” Brown knows that light well. Over the last four decades few photographers have become so closely aligned with a place as he has. That place, of course, is Vermont, to whose hills and farms Brown dashed off as fast as he could after completing his graduate degree at Harvard in 1968.
Almost immediately after moving to Vermont in the late 1960s, photographer Richard Brown felt pulled to the farms and farmers that defined a way of life that he’d been seeking since he was a kid. The early-morning light—Brown’s favorite light to photograph—catches Hez Somers’s farm in West Barnet, Vermont.

Almost immediately after moving to Vermont in the late 1960s, photographer Richard Brown felt pulled to the farms and farmers that defined a way of life that he’d been seeking since he was a kid. The early-morning light—Brown’s favorite light to photograph—catches Hez Somers’s farm in West Barnet, Vermont.

Credit: Richard Brown
Almost immediately after moving to Vermont in the late 1960s, photographer Richard Brown felt pulled to the farms and farmers that defined a way of life that he’d been seeking since he was a kid. The early-morning light—Brown’s favorite light to photograph—catches Hez Somers’s farm in West Barnet, Vermont.
Credit: Richard Brown
Old friend Charles Choate splits wood at his home in West Barnet.

Old friend Charles Choate splits wood at his home in West Barnet.

Credit: Richard Brown
Old friend Charles Choate splits wood at his home in West Barnet.
Credit: Richard Brown
A team of horses spreads manure in Kirby.

A team of horses spreads manure in Kirby.

Credit: Richard Brown
A team of horses spreads manure in Kirby.
Credit: Richard Brown The product of Wellesley, Massachusetts, a wealthy Boston suburb, Brown first became familiar with Vermont as a kid, visiting relatives in Lyndonville during the summers. From those early trips he fell in love with the authenticity of the land, its people, and the relationship between the two. “In Wellesley, you really didn’t know what the fathers did,” he says. “They got on their trains and disappeared for the day. Then they came back and they were in their nice houses, and the wife was always home. There was no connection between what they were doing and the landscape around them.” Brown wanted that connection for himself. He bought a big property at the end of a dirt road in Peacham, fixed up its old house and tired barns, raised two daughters, and tried his hand at farming. Brown’s dream of raising livestock may have faded, but the Vermont of rolling pastures and settled stone walls that he sought all those years ago is just outside his front door. In the four decades since moving here, Brown has never been far from a camera. Most mornings he’d be out before the sun, driving through a pitch-dark landscape marked by softly lit barns where the milking had already begun. He’d be in search of a hill, a farm, or some other patch of countryside he wanted to catch just as the new day broke.
With mist rising from the Connecticut River Basin, dawn envelops a farm in Peacham.

With mist rising from the Connecticut River Basin, dawn envelops a farm in Peacham.

Credit: Richard Brown
With mist rising from the Connecticut River Basin, dawn envelops a farm in Peacham.
Credit: Richard Brown
Gibbous moonrise over an old barn in Topsham.

Gibbous moonrise over an old barn in Topsham.

Credit: Richard Brown
Gibbous moonrise over
an old barn in Topsham.
Credit: Richard Brown
A snowy owl in Woodstock.

A snowy owl in Woodstock.

Credit: Richard Brown
A snowy owl in Woodstock.
Credit: Richard Brown
A snowy view of Waits River, with its barns and white steepled New Hope United Methodist Church.

A snowy view of Waits River, with its barns and white steepled New Hope United Methodist Church.

Credit: Richard Brown
A snowy view of Waits River, with its barns and white steepled New Hope United Methodist Church.
Credit: Richard Brown
And the more he plunged into Vermont, the more Vermont framed his eye and interest. Even later, as he began traveling the world to shoot elaborate gardens for lavish coffee table books, he found himself drawn to the kinds of landscapes and working cultures that had first pushed him north. “At some point I realized I was just looking for more Vermont,” he says. “It’s what got me going. It’s what I’m inspired by. It’s pretty consistent.” That inspiration has come in all seasons. But it’s late November and early December—when the darkness of the winter to come is settling in, when the threat of early snow hovers overhead—that carry particular resonance for the photographer. “Most of it is dark and miserable,” Brown says. “But that’s one of the things I love about November. I like the gloomy part of it. It’s moving to me. So much of what I’ve done is keeping the myth going of this wonderful New England. I like a little sadness to a picture. I’ve done enough sappy stuff so I have to make up for it in some way.”
Draft horses await their evening grain in Kirby.

Draft horses await their evening grain in Kirby.

Credit: Richard Brown
Draft horses await their evening grain in Kirby.
Credit: Richard Brown
Sheep graze in Thelma White’s wintry pasture in East Peacham. The Vermonter in Brown welcomes those late-fall and early-winter snows. “It smooths over everything,” he says. “All the crap you thought you were going to have to do, you can forget about until next spring. And it makes the landscape even simpler.”

Sheep graze in Thelma White’s wintry pasture in East Peacham. The Vermonter in Brown welcomes those late-fall and early-winter snows. “It smooths over everything,” he says. “All the crap you thought you were going to have to do, you can forget about until next spring. And it makes the landscape even simpler.”

Credit: Richard Brown
Sheep graze in Thelma White’s wintry pasture in East Peacham. The Vermonter in Brown welcomes those late-fall and early-winter snows. “It smooths over everything,” he says. “All the crap you thought you were going to have to do, you can forget about until next spring. And it makes the landscape even simpler.”
Credit: Richard Brown
Brown’s old friend Charles Choate amuses his Charolais cattle at his farm in West Barnet.

Brown’s old friend Charles Choate amuses his Charolais cattle at his farm in West Barnet.

Credit: Richard Brown
Brown’s old friend Charles Choate amuses his Charolais cattle at his farm in West Barnet.
Credit: Richard Brown
The small town of Newark is located in the heart of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom; Burke Mountain Ski Resort is in the background.

The small town of Newark is located in the heart of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom; Burke Mountain Ski Resort is in the background.

Credit: Richard Brown
The small town of Newark is located in the heart of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom; Burke Mountain Ski Resort is in the background.
Credit: Richard Brown
Hez Somers and his sons head to the dairy barn for an evening milking.

Hez Somers and his sons head to the dairy barn for an evening milking.

Credit: Richard Brown
Hez Somers and his sons head to the dairy barn for an evening milking.
Credit: Richard Brown
To see more of Richard Brown’s photos, go to: rwbrownphotography.com

Ian Aldrich

Ian Aldrich is the executive editor at Yankee, where he has worked for more for two decades. As the magazine’s staff feature writer, he writes stories that delve deep into issues facing communities throughout New England. In 2019 he received gold in the reporting category at the annual City-Regional Magazine conference for his story on New England’s opioid crisis. Ian’s work has been recognized by both the Best American Sports and Best American Travel Writing anthologies. He lives with his family in Dublin, New Hampshire.

More by Ian Aldrich

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Login to post a comment

You might also like...

People relaxing on a grassy lawn under a tree near a yellow farmhouse on a bright, sunny day.
Vermont
2026 Vermont Travel Guide | Hotels, Dining & Attractions
By Yankee Magazine
A mountain resort with chalet-style buildings, green lawns, and forested hills under a blue sky with clouds.
Travel
Boundless Summer Fun at The Lodge at Spruce Peak
By Yankee Custom Editors
A boat decorated with bright holiday lights, surrounded by glowing trees and blurred lights in the foreground.
Vermont
Winter Lights at Shelburne Museum: A Vermont Holiday Light Display
By Justin Shatwell
A winding road runs alongside a lake surrounded by forested hills with autumn foliage under a clear blue sky.
Vermont
Autumn on Vermont’s Route 100
By Bill Scheller

Shop the New England Store

Unlock Your Roots – One Free Account, Endless Discoveries.

Get access to New England templates, research tools, and more.