Buttonwood Farm Sunflowers, Griswold

Buttonwood Farm is many things, but for photographers, it's the sunflowers that make the trip worthwhile. And of course, the homemade ice cream makes the trip to the quiet eastern side of the state on a hot July day even more worth it!

The current farm began in 1975, when the Button family cleared the land, using the timbers for construction, and created a business marketing beef cattle and dairy products. The land is used to grow feed for the cattle, among other things. The ice cream business evolved in 1994, and when the first acre of sunflowers was planted in 2003, the family was surprised at what a draw it was for them. Carloads of people came from far and wide to enjoy and photograph the beautiful sunny faces. The next year, they planted 10 acres, and now they plant 14 acres of the glorious bloom. There are two fields of sunflowers, on either side of the Shetucket Turnpike (Route 165). That second year, they decided to sell the sunflowers to the public, and donate all proceeds to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.  This tradition continues, and in a short period in late July, they are able to draw people to view the sunflowers by foot or on a tractor-drawn hay wagon, and make a substantial donation to help make dreams come true! And they have line-ups at their ice cream shop!

What to Photograph

Try a multiple exposure to get an unusual effect, like a swirling skirt!

You can't miss the vibrant yellow fields of sunflowers when you come close to the area. There are over 300,000 of the beauties planted inside stone walls on 14 acres. The two fields are on either side of Route 165, and can easily be accessed. Park in the parking lot of Buttonwood Ice Cream, and take the short walk to the first field, adjacent to the shop. There's a wide unplanted swath through that field where you can walk and get up close and personal with the giant sunflowers. They tower well above your head. At the far end of this field, there's a small hill, and if you walk to the top of it you can get a good overview of that field of sunny faces.

There's also a couple of old grey barns standing beside the sunflowers, making a nice backdrop. But check out the buildings for some fun details to photograph. There's great old doors, and windows and weathered wood. And if you're there in the evening, watch for the sunset to reflect in the window!

The second field is located just a short walk away. Cross Route 165, and go left to the sunflowers you see just past the intersection of Glasgo Road (Route 201). This field is best shot in the evening, primarily because the sun sets behind the trees and hills in the distance, and can make for a pretty colorful scene. There is no access to this field, so you photograph from the stone wall that runs along the roadside. Stand beside the wall, or climb up on it for a better view - it's plenty wide enough.

Be sure to look around you for other photo opportunities. There's a great old barn full of character and detail on Glasgo Road, right next to the sunflower field.  Directly opposite the ice cream shop, there's a wonderful hill topped with a tree or two, and on a misty early morning, this is a very photogenic scene.

When to Go

Sunsets are spectacular!

Early morning is our favorite time to go. It's unlikely you'll find much competition then. Since it's a popular spot to go, the evening hours are a little more crowded, and you'll find it more difficult to get photos without interruptions. The second field, a little further from the ice cream shop is wonderful in the evening, but get there early to get a parking spot along the road, and a good spot to shoot from.

Check the website for dates when the sunflowers are in bloom. The first year we drove all the way there, only to find that not one flower was open! And of course, the blooms can vary year to year. They begin cutting flowers for sale as soon as they begin blooming, and then after about 2 weeks, all the blooms are cut for cattle feed. It's a very short season, but it's more than worth it!

Tips and Techniques

You'll want to try different lenses here - from wide angle for that overall landscape, to telephoto for the close-up of the flower head, and even macro lens to get up-close and personal with the seeds and petals. You might even want to bring a small step-stool with you to get super-close. These flowers are 8 feet tall!

Directions

Buttonwood Farm

471 Shetucket Turnpike

Griswold, CT   06351

Phone:  860-376-4081

Website:  www.buttonwoodfarmicecream.com

GPS Coordinates:   Latitude:  41.5553749  Longitude:  -71.8800209

Parking is available in the lot off Shetucket Turnpike. There's a separate parking lot for ice cream store customers, which is a little further away from the sunflower fields.

Tourist Tips

Buttonwood Farm Ice Cream

Delicious ice cream and waffle cones are made from scratch using old time recipes. There’s a wide variety of ice cream, yogurt, and sorbet flavors.

Hours: Noon - 9:30pm Monday - Friday, 11:30 am – 9:30 pm Sat and Sunday

During the sunflower festival, you can take a hayride through the sunflower fields.  Call 860-376-4081 for a reservation. 

The Garlic Farm, West Granby

Seasonal Rating:  Spring N/A      Summer ***     Fall***     Winter N/A

The Garlic Farm is a small market garden farm in the village of West Granby. They specialize in vegetables and fall crops, especially garlic, onions, and shallots. It is open for the season when the vegetables are ready for harvest, which means sometime in July. In addition to doing local farmers markets, they sell produce directly from the farm. The crops are grown in the fields surrounding barn, as well as in neighboring fields.

What to Photograph

Garlic by the yard laid out to dry

There are bins and bins of garden produce, both inside and out at the farm-stand, which is located in an old barn first used to dry tobacco. It is painted a nice bright red, which provides a good backdrop for the colorful sunflowers and other flowers that bloom in the cutting garden out back. The cutting garden is full of zinnias, extra-large black-eyed Susans and vivid orange Mexican sunflowers. Towering sunflowers are sometimes thrown into the mix, but have the honor of their own special garden to one side. If your passion is shooting the bright yellow flowers, you can go all out there. With a bright blue sky and the great red barn, it's fun to be creative with the big happy sunflowers.

The vegetables make for interesting photographs, too. They are all displayed in bins, which are stacked  outside the entry to the barn. There are several varieties of tomatoes, including many heirloom varieties. Heirlooms come in all kinds of interesting colors, including yellow, orange, striped yellow and rosy red. Even the familiar tomato-red varieties come in all shapes and sizes. There's also a big selection of peppers, all wonderful to photograph when they are grouped together on display. Other vegetables you might have fun experimenting with are eggplants, potatoes, squash, pumpkins, and of course garlic, which is displayed in bins, and hung from the rafters to dry. Later in the season, there are braided garlic ropes as well.

When to go

Zinnias bloom later in July until frost and stand out against
the red barn once used for drying tobacco

The selling season starts in June, when the farm opens on weekends only to sell the early season garlic scapes. Beginning in July, when the first tomatoes are harvested, the farm stand is open daily, except Mondays. The best time to go is July through October when there are lots of colorful vegetables and loads of garlic drying in bunches, and the cutting garden flowers are in bloom. In the fall, pumpkins, winter squash and fall mums provide lots of colorful opportunities for photographers to be creative.

Late afternoon is also a good time, when the sun is low in the sky and the rows of tomatoes behind the old tobacco barn are bathed in a nice golden glow.

Tips and Techniques

Peppers of all kinds are on display; use a diffuser if the light is bright
to avoid 'hot spots'

Early morning light is good, but it might be best to hope for a bright overcast day to get the best light for the vegetables. Since the bright light really adds a lot of highlights to the shiny vegetables, like tomatoes, peppers and eggplants, it's best to find a shaded location where you can take your pictures. Also, remember to bring a reflector to balance the light, or try a make-shift one with poster board or foil. A diffuser is helpful also, if you are doing close-ups in a bright light.

Directions

76 Simsbury Rd 
West Granby, CT 06090
860-653-0291

www.garlicfarmct.com

GPS coordinates:  Latitude: 41.951305, Longitude: -72.837858

Limited parking is available right at the farm stand.

Hours:  10:00 am to 6:00 pm July through October. Closed Mondays. Check the website for opening day and special events.

Tourist Tips

There are a couple of breakfast places in Simsbury, which is the closest town to the farm. Harvest Cafe Bakery is a local favorite, and is always hopping for breakfast and lunch. It is somewhat hidden in a small strip mall.

Harvest Cafe Bakery

1390 Hopmeadow Street
Simsbury, CT 06070-1411
860-658-5000

Hours: Monday - Saturday: 6:00 am - 2:30 pm; Sunday: 7:30 am - 1:30 pm

www.harvestcafebakery.com

Peaburys Cafe

12 Hopmeadow Street

Simsbury, CT 06070

(860) 658-2930

Hours: Monday, Tuesday: 7:30 am-4:30 pm; Wed: 7:30 am-9 pm; Thurs-Fri: 7:30 am-8 pm; Sat: 8 am-10:00 pm; Sun: 8:30 am-4:30 pm 

 Holcomb Farm

Holcomb Farm CSA is located almost directly across the road from the Garlic Farm, and may provide another stop for photographers. There are several interesting buildings and barns, all painted red with white trim, which would make for interesting shots. They also plant a field of sunflowers, sometimes close enough to the road, to be able to photograph. 

111 Simsbury Rd

West Granby, CT 06090

Hours: Does not open for sales to the public.

www.holcombfarmcsa.org

Enders State Forest and Waterfalls, Granby

Seasonal Ratings:  Spring***     Summer****     Fall****     Winter***

Enders State Forest Park was established in 1970 when the family of John Ostrom Enders and Harriet Whitmore Enders donated the land to the state. With additional land donated by the family in 1981, and another purchase by the state in 2002, it now encompasses 2098 acres of rich forest, with a river flowing through the rocky terrain. On one side of Route 219, you will find a small parking lot with a pair of trails leading to a series of waterfalls, which cascade over several rocky drops. Driving just a little further along Route 219, turn right onto an old gravel road that runs through the state forest, and leads to a marshy bed, just loaded with wildflowers that bloom throughout the season.

What to Photograph

Anyone who wants to practice their skills on photographing waterfalls will be in glory at this location. There are six waterfalls within a quarter mile stretch of the river, and all are just a short walk along the trail from the parking lot. Some say that this is the best collection of falls in the state. Most of the cascades have a good drop over a rocky ledge, creating a pool of water below. Most of these gorges are good for swimming, so if you go in the middle of a hot summer day, expect to find some locals cooling off in the pool below the falls.

If you are looking for wildflowers growing in a natural habitat, this is a great place. There are wildflowers that bloom from spring through fall along the marsh found inside the forest on the north side of Route 219. In the spring there are trilliums, jack-in-the pulpit, forget-me-not and skunk cabbage. If you're lucky and are there at bloom time, you'll find the native ladies slipper orchids tucked away in the forest. Later in the summer, the edges of the marsh fill up with water loving plants like the brilliant red cardinal flower, turtlehead, wood aster and arrowhead.

When to go

Textural reeds at the marsh

Waterfalls are great to photograph anytime of the year. Go on a bright, overcast day so that you can use a slower shutter speed to soften the water. Try to avoid the middle of a bright, sunny day when the harsh light creates strong shadows and contrast on the water. Winter is a good time for capturing some ice on the falls, or in the pool below. However, this depends entirely on what type of winter weather is occurring on a given year.

To photograph the wildflowers in the marsh, try going in spring to catch the early blooms. It's great to go later in the summer season when the marsh is dryer and it's easier to walk around and get up close. You'll find a surprising amount of color with the brilliant red cardinal flowers, turtlehead and other native flowers at their peak.

Tips and Techniques

A polarizer filter and neutral density filter are must-haves when photographing waterfalls. To get the soft water effect, a slow shutter speed is necessary, and these filters help reduce the light to get that cotton candy effect. Use a tripod, and try taking multiple shots at shutter speeds that are 1 stop apart, to use for HDR later. Combining shots into an HDR program creates an extra softening effect on the moving water.

Directions

From the intersection of Route 10 and Route 20 in Granby, head west on Route 20 for 3.8 miles to Route 219. Take Route 219 west for 1.4 miles to parking area on left with sign 'Enders State Forest'.

www.ctwaterfalls.com

GPS coordinates: Latitude: 41.95417, Longitude: -72.87778

Wildflowers abound in the state forest like these flowers
of the arrowhead plant

Late summer cardinal flower glows beside the marsh

Parking is available in the lot on Route 219, marked with the sign 'Enders State Forest'. Head downhill along one of the trails leading from the parking lot towards the river, where it meets an old road that runs parallel to the water. The trail on the right end of the parking lot will take you to the top waterfall. Follow the path downstream to the left to get to the other five waterfalls in the series. Across the road, and a little further down, there is a rough road leading to the wildflower marsh in the state forest. Park along the road to access the marsh.

Hours: Sunrise to sunset. 

Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington

Seasonal Rating: Spring ****     Summer ****     Fall ****     Winter ****

Hill-Stead Museum is one of Connecticut's best known historic house museums, and is visited by many for the renowned collection of impressionist art which includes original pieces by Monet, Degas, Manet, Whistler and Cassatt. The house was built at the turn of the 20th century by Alfred and Ada Pope, in the colonial revival style. Their daughter, Theodate Pope Riddle, fell in love with the area when she was attending Miss Porter's School in Farmington, and convinced her parents to move from Cleveland and build their home here. An aspiring architect, she designed the 19-room home that her parents retired to, and she was later to inherit. The property includes several buildings, all designed and built by Theodate over the half century of her involvement. In addition to the house,  there is a stone garage that once served as a stable, a carriage barn, and an adjoining building known as the Makeshift Theater.

The house is set up on the highest point of the 250 fifty acre property, overlooking the Litchfield Hills to the west, and surrounded by former farm fields to the north and meadows to the south. Immediately south of the home is a beautiful Sunken Garden that occupies a one-acre natural depression. This is a formal flower garden that was designed in 1920 by Beatrix Farrand, America's first female landscape architect. Today it has been restored to its original grandeur, with formal beds full of perennials and annuals from spring through fall. The beauty begins with tulips in April and ends with a striking color scheme of blue, purple and white to complement the vivid colors of fall foliage.  This garden is a real gem, surrounded by hedges, eight foot high stone walls, and with a green and white summer house at its center.

What to Photograph

Colonial Style Architecture

While you cannot use your camera inside the home, you are free to use it around the grounds to photograph the mansion and the other interesting buildings, as well as the Sunken Garden and the surrounding property.  There are numerous buildings from the early 20th century on the grounds to explore and photograph. The mansion itself with its tall white columns enclosing a porch with slatted rocking chairs is reminiscent of George Washington's house at Mount Vernon.  The house itself has interesting lines, and in the early morning light it shines from the north side. The little caretakers cottage to the south sits quietly beside the meadow where the sheep meander from spring through fall. The stone garage, the carriage barn, the Makeshift Theater all surround the house, and provide many interesting nooks and crannies to explore and photograph.

Sunken Garden in winter

You aren't limited to photographing architecture here. The vista from the front porch of the house is beautiful, especially in the evening when the sun sets.  Watch for days with especially interesting skies for the best shots over the Litchfield Hills. If you love to shoot flowers and gardens, the Sunken Garden is a great place with multiple formal beds laid out in an octagonal pattern.  It is a good place to get close for macro shots of individual flowers, colorful tulips and forget-me-nots in spring, antique roses, fluffy peonies and lavender mixed with a variety of other blooms in the summer, and white mixed with various blues and purples in late summer and fall. There are also lots of possible angles to take overviews of the garden, or details with the summer house anchoring the garden, the sun dial at the south side, and the old fashioned white gate that leads out to the meadow where the sheep roam. With the surrounding stone walls and hedge as a backdrop (or foreground), the garden provides for a great shot even in the winter when the structures play an important role.

If you are prepared to walk a little, there are trails that meander through the wooded area to the east of the house just off the parking lot, where you might find some interesting birds and butterflies to photograph. A trail map is available in the gift shop.

When to go

Museum in winter

Spring through fall are the best seasons, but don't ignore the winter when the snow covers the ground. It makes for a very interesting place to be with all the white structures with dark green trim against the white snow. As in almost all cases on sunny days, early morning or late evening is the best time to go, with bright overcast days being the next best time to get good shots of the buildings without a lot of shadow and burnt out whites.

Directions

35 Mountain Road,

Farmington, CT 06032

860.677.4787

 www.hillstead.org

Map coordinates (for GPS):  Latitude: 41.721367, Longitude: -72.82752

Parking  is available free of charge. Follow the entry drive to the parking lot past the house. There is a charge for entry to the museum, but the grounds are free of charge.  The museum asks for a $5.00 fee pp for photography groups and artists who work on the grounds. Check in at the visitors center in the gift shop to inquire during open hours.

Hours:  Grounds are open sunrise to sunset daily. The museum is open Tuesday-Sunday 10 am–4 pm and is closed Mondays and major holidays. 

Southern view taken behind the house