In mid-October, Gabi and I headed to Vermont to enjoy the beauty of the fall season. After last year’s rather lackluster autumn, we were hoping that this year’s unusually wet summer and pleasantly warm temperatures would result in spectacular fall colors across New England. We decided to wild camp in the Green Mountain National Forest (map), and this time, the Northeast’s woodlands did not disappoint. Rather than focusing on traditional autumn landscape photography, I chose to take my drone into the air and capture the breathtaking beauty of the forest from a bird’s-eye view.

For our camping adventure, we used my new truck camping setup, which I had first tested on a solo trip to the North Maine Woods in the summer. It turned out to be just as comfortable and practical for two people.

In our campsite, we also encountered a charming little forest resident: an Eastern chipmunk preparing for the coming winter. He had built his underground burrows nearby and was busy gathering food and fallen leaves to use as nesting material. Every few minutes, he would set off on another collecting trip, always following the same route. Before disappearing into his burrow, the little rodent would pause on the same tree trunks for a few seconds, cautiously looking around. This adorable chipmunk‘s remarkably predictable routine gave me the perfect opportunity to photograph him in this beautiful autumnal forest environment.

Gear: Canon EOS 5DsR, Canon 100-400mm lens, handheld