Papermill Trail Walk

We just cannot get enough of the autumn colors, so we took a nice walk along the Androscoggin River portion of the Papermill Trail today.

This has always been a favorite location of ours for photographing the dogs, and today did not disappoint!

Our goal was to walk to our favorite chunk of granite on the shoreline of the Androscoggin River. As you can see, the colors were stunning and my two guys were handsome as could be!

We stopped at a nice bench to rest our legs for a few minutes before heading back.

Whereupon Toby and Drew went walkin' down the line!

And, here is a portrait of our super sweet, big yellow dog! He had a blast and was a very happy pup;-)

Autumn Pups on the Papermill Trail

We love the Papermill Trail, and it is especially pretty during autumn. The sky was dark, the air was cold, and there were very few people on the trail.

Lady Flame patiently waits while Toby gets his umpteenth treat.

Both pups pose nicely on the boulder next to the trail.

Then, we walked over to the chunk of granite next to the river. I couldn't get the pups to look at me for anything. Actually, they were focused on Drew thinking that they would get yet another biscuit!

Flame is good a posing and she will not move when the leash drags on the ground. Although, she continued to avoid looking at me;-)

Toby's GQ Photo on the Androscoggin River Bank

(Click on the photo for a larger view.)

Toby said that it wasn't fair that Lady Flame should have all the glamour! So, back to the river we went for another quick photoshoot. Toby went leash-free this time. Drew was nearby in case Toby started to walk forward.

We have decided that we'll have to do this in the mid-morning next year to get optimum light. 

Lady Flame on the Androscoggin River

Lady Flame on the bank of the Androscoggin River

(Click on the photo for a larger view...go on...she is gorgeous!)

Papermill Trail Walk to capture autumn colors

(Click on any photo for a larger view.)

We took another walk down Papermill Trail to try and capture some stunning autumn colors. There was the threat of rainfall, so our walk was cut short. And, the dark sky, along with the lateness of the day, made it difficult to capture nice, clean shots. I had hoped to get photos worthy of a calendar, but was not very successful. The photos are incredibly grainy as I had to shoot at a minimum of ISO 500, and then had to pump the ISO up to 1000.

The pups did sort of pose on the rock for me. Lady Flame has learned to avert her head while I photograph her (thanks to Bettina, for teaching Flame this trick to frustrate any well meaning photographer;-) 

Drew took the pups to the edge of water. What a beautiful backdrop!

Toby is incredibly photogenic. He is our star model for autumn.

See what I mean about Lady Flame avoiding the camera? She is such a spoil sport. Getting long schnoz shots is always fun! At least Toby can't see me, so he cooperates just fine, thank you very much;-)

But, Drew did catch Flame unaware for a microsecond!

Why the long face, Toby? Is it time to go home? Our biggie boy is so expressive.

Back home we go! We ended up getting a bit damp on the way back, but had a great time. The dogs were so pooped after having been on two walks today;-)