Eightmile Brook Archives – J. G. Coleman Photography

Old Hotchkiss Riverscape (Upper Burlington Falls, Burlington, Connecticut) — “Old Hotchkiss Riverscape”
Upper Burlington Falls on Bunnell Brook, Burlington, Connecticut

Bunnell Brook crashes over a waterfall in the distance, roiling itself into a whitewater frenzy and charging forth through the verdant woodlands in the hills of Burlington.

Many of Connecticut’s waterfalls were named long ago when they were at the heart of streamside mills driven by waterwheels or turbines. Some folks may have appreciated the natural beauty back then, but most probably knew them as busy places of industry where goods were churned out and livings were made. And in some cases, once those mills vanished and the waterfalls ceased to be places where livelihoods were earned, the names and stories behind each could become quite jumbled and obscure in just a generation or two.

Take the case of Bunnell Brook in Burlington, where there are two distinct waterfalls found about 600 feet apart. We know that one of the two waterfalls was historically called “Bunnell’s Falls”, but which one? An 1895 publication suggests it was the lower falls, though more recent publications tend to apply that name to the upper falls (which are seen in this piece). I don’t know who’s right, but in the meantime, I’ll just stick to Upper and Lower Burlington Falls.

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An Eightmile Rhapsody (Southford Falls State Park, Southbury, Connecticut) — “An Eightmile Rhapsody”
Eightmile Brook at Southford Falls State Park, Southbury, Connecticut

Cold shadows and the warmth of dawn coalesce at Southford Falls, where Eightmile Brook leaps from an old mill pond and stages a vigorous charge through the dark gorge below.

Although I produced this image back in late October of 2017, just as autumn colors were reaching their modest peak last year, it wasn’t until yesterday evening that I managed to process all of my work from that shoot. That’s pretty typical of my autumn imagery each year, the bulk of which tends to be processed only after colder weather takes hold. Why such a long turnaround? Well, the colorful stretch of autumn that we all hold dear generally spans just 5 or 6 weeks; it’s gone just as fast as it arrives, so I need to work quickly. That leaves scant time for sitting in front of a computer tweaking development controls.

I generally dedicate my time during autumn almost exclusively to field work right up until “stick season” sets in. Not familiar with “stick season”? It’s basically the second half of autumn -after the trees have lost their leaves but before winter snows have arrived- when the entire landscape looks like a mess of bare sticks reaching into the sky.

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Click here to visit my landing page for “An Eightmile Rhapsody” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

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Be sure to check out all of my work from Southbury, Connecticut.