Ryan Zipp Photography

Ryan Zipp Photography Photographer Ryan Zipp adventures around New England & beyond with his camera capturing the best of what the natural world has to offer.

“Balloons Over Quechee” Every June in Quechee, VT the annual hot air balloon festival takes place with up to 15+ balloon...
06/17/2026

“Balloons Over Quechee” Every June in Quechee, VT the annual hot air balloon festival takes place with up to 15+ balloons taking off up into the sky. It is the longest running hot air balloon fest in New England going back to its start in 1979.
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In 2022 I headed up to this beautiful area to experience this event for the first time, but Mother Nature had other plans with weather conditions keeping them ground for all 5 flights during the entire festival weekend. Now wanting to witness and capture it even more I had to head back again in 2023 to try again. Rain and/or wind once again kept the balloons ground for the scheduled flights on Friday night, Saturday morning & night, and Sunday morning.
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Sunday night’s 6pm launch would be the last chance to see them fly and not have a complete shut out again. Well 6pm came and went with winds seeming even worse than the morning’s conditions. After hanging out for an extra hour in position and fully throwing the towel in we started to see some activity just after 7pm.
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Not sure if they were just trying to inflate a few of them tethered on the ground for the festival attendees we all got ready in case. Just after the first balloon got up into the air they began ascending one or two at a time until it was all over pretty quickly. But not before I fired off a ton of different compositions featuring these colorful balloons flying over the Ottauquechee River.
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I chose my 10 favorites to edit for this carousel post (make sure to swipe over to see them all) but the lead image using the flowers planted on the Quechee Covered Bridge in the foreground blurred a bit to provide depth. Besides being an amazing event to experience in person it was extremely fulfilling to capture these images after getting shut out last year and every other chance this year before Sunday night. If you’ve never been I recommend a visit with this year’s festival happening this weekend from June 19th to 21st. Head to the festival’s website for all the info: quecheeballoonfestival.com
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06/16/2026

The sky exploded to end this beautiful Monday here in New England.
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I was driving back from Maine when I saw the sky started getting to show of what could be and got off the highway 5 exits before mine. Got over to where I could have a chance and ended up at Clinton Town Beach just in time to capture this amazing display of nature. Hope you guys got to witness it as well!

“Granite State Lupine” I first began chasing lupine to photograph back in June of 2019 and headed to the honorary New En...
06/15/2026

“Granite State Lupine” I first began chasing lupine to photograph back in June of 2019 and headed to the honorary New England capital for them, the tiny town of Sugar Hill, NH. I would then explore more for them in coastal Maine and return trips to the White Mountains.
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Up until 2023 I had yet to capture any of this stunning blooms in Vermont even though I am a frequent visitor to this beautiful state. When I was up there June of that year in the central part of the state for the Quechee Hot Air Balloon festival (happening this coming weekend) I made an effort to search for some lupine scenes as well. I was able to in the general Woodstock area and posted some of these last week, so scroll back if you missed them.
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But as I was making my way south towards home the best scene of them was in the southern part of the state. I had a lot of fun trying to capture a number of different compositions here and included 4 of my favorites in this carousel post. So make sure to swipe over to see them all and let me know your favorite below!
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“Mount Desert Lupine” Back in June 2023 I had the chance to finally get back up to Acadia NP and the surrounding areas f...
06/14/2026

“Mount Desert Lupine” Back in June 2023 I had the chance to finally get back up to Acadia NP and the surrounding areas for the first time in over 4 years. Although a trip here any time of year is filled with some of best views anywhere in New England, my main target this time around was catching the lupine all around Mt Desert Island.
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Luckily I timed it perfectly and the flowers were in peak bloom everywhere I came across them. When you think of lupine in New England usually Sugar Hill & the White Mountains comes to mind first, but the Midcoast & Downeast regions of Maine feature an incredible amount more of them that it’s not even close. Shoutout to my friend Jack | Boston & New England for putting me on to several of the spots featured here. If you’re not following him yet make sure to for everything Boston and lots more goodness from all over New England.
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The annual lupine bloom is always a very spring/summer hybrid type deal to me as it occurs between Memorial Day and the official start of summer on the calendar. I won’t be getting back this far up this year, but excited to be back up in Midcoast Maine right now to chase more lupine scenes before this shore but amazing season is done.
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“Late Night Chapel Views” On my first visit to Sugar Hill, NH back in June 2019 we had talked about how cool it would be...
06/12/2026

“Late Night Chapel Views” On my first visit to Sugar Hill, NH back in June 2019 we had talked about how cool it would be to shoot the Milky Way over fields of lupine, but the timing & conditions didn’t line up unfortunately. Luckily on my second visit there for them in early June 2021 we had dark skies dues to the impending New Moon only a handful of days later.
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One of the most iconic buildings and scenes in this picturesque New England town is standing in the field next to St. Matthew’s Chapel. Upon arrival into town we headed to several spots, including this one, to scout for where the Milky Way would line up at various time. Using the ever so trusty Photo Pills app we saw that it would align to the left of the chapel in a more vertical orientation later on in the evening. We came back after sunset during blue hour to shoot the foreground scene of purple & pink lupine in the field paired with the iconic church.
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Then we returned later in the evening to shoot the Milky Way and the final result is what you see here. Both were shot with my Canon R5 camera body and Canon EF 16-35 f2.8 III lens at 16mm. Check out my other Milky Way over lupine image from Sugar Hill that I posted yesterday if you haven’t already!
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“Vermont Backroad Blooms” Up until June 2023 I had yet to photograph a single lupine flower in the great state of Vermon...
06/11/2026

“Vermont Backroad Blooms” Up until June 2023 I had yet to photograph a single lupine flower in the great state of Vermont! I started chasing these late spring blooms with my camera back in June of 2019 up in the White Mountains. In 2021 I made my first attempt to capture them in coastal Maine but the timing was off and didn’t come home with any images.
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But the first time I would have a chance in the Green Mountain state would come last year while up in the central part of the state. I headed up there to hopefully capture the hot air balloons at the annual festival in Quechee after an unsuccessful attempt the year prior. The whole process of chasing certain blooms, weather related events, moonrises, etc often leads to more failures than successes. It can be a frustrating process but when you do finally hit it becomes all that much more rewarding.
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The hot air balloons were the main focus for this trip, but I wanted to cruise some roads in the area to see if I could find any cool lupines. Although the lighting was super harsh and unflattering I was able to check off a bucket list item by adding some of these Vermont flavored scenes to my collection.
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I loved the overall scene in the opening image here with the farmhouse & horses up in the top left corner, old car next for this small red structure and fence that lead up beside the driveway. There was a sweet pink garage/barn as well to the left of this scene and it’s featured as the next image in the carousel. Make sure to swipe through to see them all and keep an eye out for another great scene of them I captured as I made my way back home through the southern part of the state on this same trip.
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“Last Light Lupines” June of 2022 marked the 3rd time in a 4 year stretch that I headed up to Sugar Hill, NH for the ann...
06/10/2026

“Last Light Lupines” June of 2022 marked the 3rd time in a 4 year stretch that I headed up to Sugar Hill, NH for the annual lupine bloom that attracts visitors from near & far. On the only full day there the skies were clear and harsh light dominated the day, making it hard for capturing photos. But I cruised around town and through the mountains taking in some of the most amazing views in all of New England.
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After dinner I headed back over to what had become my favorite field in town, you may recognize it from my Milky Way shot I captured up there and posted recently. As I arrived the most amazing golden hour light was hitting a narrow section of the lupine field and mountains in the distance. So I scrambled quickly to capture a few different compositions that included this glow and this one ended up being my favorite.
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I used my Canon RF 100-500 lens to compress the scene and loved the depth it provided here. I used to always go straight to a wide angle zoom for most all scenic images, but now find myself reaching for this lens more to capture more interesting perspectives. Although it is known more for shooting wildlife and other telephoto necessary subjects, I love having it in my bag for all situations. For anyone interested this image was shot at 160mm, ISO 800, 1/500 sec, f5.6.
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“Pemaquid Lupine Light” Midcoast Maine has made its way towards the top of my favorite New England locations and if you’...
06/09/2026

“Pemaquid Lupine Light” Midcoast Maine has made its way towards the top of my favorite New England locations and if you’ve ever been, it’s easy to see how. On my trip there back in June of 2022 the main goal was to capture as many scenes featuring the ever popular lupine during their short peak bloom.
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During the first full day there clear skies made for super harsh light all day and the focus turned to scouting out locations. But luckily near the very end of that same day the conditions came together to create some magical golden light and layers of clouds at an iconic landmark.
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Pemaquid Point Lighthouse was built in 1827 and then replaced in 1835 after the original crumbled due to poor craftsmanship. The keeper’s house was built in 1857 and the light became automated in 1934. The lighthouse was even chosen by popular vote of Maine residents to be the featured subject on the official Maine quarter!
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Besides the beautiful lighthouse and building, the views of the surrounding rocks and ocean are breathtaking. It was awesome to capture this scene of the lighthouse glowing as the sun set behind me with a beautiful flowery foreground.
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I used two exposures taken back to back for this image to focus stack them in order to have both the lighthouse and lupine in focus. There were blurry flowers closest to me to still create enough depth for the overall image and I couldn’t be happier with the final result!
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“Whitefield Watercolor” One of the more popular fields of lupine in the state of Maine is located in the small town of W...
06/08/2026

“Whitefield Watercolor” One of the more popular fields of lupine in the state of Maine is located in the small town of Whitefield, which encompasses 47 sq miles and had a population of just over 2,400. On my visit to Midcoast Maine in 2021 the lupine had peaked early so I didn’t get a chance to visit here, so made sure to get here during my time up there in June of 2022.
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Driving up late in the day on Saturday it looked like I could make it just in time for last light and luckily I was able to get a few shots end before it faded completely. The sunset was incredible in the opposite part of the sky and luckily just enough clouds remained behind the field to catch some of the fading glow. The coastal towns gets much of the attention in Maine, and deservedly so, but some of these towns just inland have some amazingly beautiful scenes as well.
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Lupine season never lasts long enough so I make sure to get my time in chasing them every June. I haven’t been back to shoot this scene since then, but I’ve seen from others that the barn has a new white paint job.
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“Mountain Adventures With Trot Trot” I’ve enjoyed going through throwback content from my trips up to Sugar Hill, NH dur...
06/05/2026

“Mountain Adventures With Trot Trot” I’ve enjoyed going through throwback content from my trips up to Sugar Hill, NH during June over the years to share with you guys. I have some more to mix in with other lupine filled posts from other areas of New England so keep an eye out for those in the coming weeks.
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Of course any trip here to this part of the White Mountains wouldn’t be complete without a stop at , as seen photographed here with Trot Trot III after a delicious breakfast back in 2019. I had a mix of blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes for anyone that was curious about which kind I decided on.
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Not only can you choose a number of options for what goes inside the pancakes, but also a number of different types of homemade mixes that make up the base of these tasty flapjacks. Comment below on your favorite combination if you’ve had the pleasure of eating at Polly’s. Hope you guys all have a great weekend and stay cool in this hot temps the next few days!
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