Village Cemetery - Stark, New Hampshire

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The Village Cemetery of Stark, New Hampshire

Just across the street from the iconic covered bridge and church in Stark, New Hampshire, is the Village Cemetery. It was an overcast and rainy day but this worked out well for photographing the area.

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Up the steps to the cemetery

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The top of the hill of the Village Cemetery in Stark, New Hampshire

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A view from the roadside, with the stairs leading up to the cemetery

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The roadside stairs to the cemetery

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Up the stairs to the cemetery

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North Stratford, New Hampshire

The unincorporated village of North Stratford is part of the town of Stratford in Coos County, New Hampshire. It borders the Connecticut River with Vermont on the western side. The town of Stratford was incorporated in 1773, originally called Woodbury. The village of North Stratford, located on land that was once the farm of the Fuller family and was occupied during the War of 1812, had its beginnings around 1848 when brothers Elisha and William Baldwin settled in the area and built the first saw (for lumber) and grist mills, and shortly after this a bridge across the Connecticut River to Vermont. In 1853 the location was chosen for a northern expansion of the railway, further accelerating the growth of the area into a thriving community.

North Stratford Grand Trunk Railroad Station and Stratford Public Library

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North Stratford Grand Trunk Railway Station and Stratford Public Library

The railway was originally known as the Upper Coos Railroad and later as the North Stratford Railroad. Before long the Grand Truck Railroad leased the station and connected their Toronto-Montreal line with the existing Montreal-Portland line, making North Stratford part of a major transportation route.

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The renovated North Stratford Grand Trunk Railway station is now the Stratford Public Library

Much later the North Stratford Railroad ceased operations as more and more freight was transported in trucks on roadways. The North Stratford Grand Trunk Railroad Station was renovated and converted to the Stratford Public Library, which seems a very fitting way of keeping its history alive.

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The Stratford Public Library beside the rails

First Baptist Church of North Stratford

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The First Baptist Church of North Stratford

The Baptist denomination in the larger Stratford area dates back to around 1836. As mentioned above, the village of North Stratford began forming around 1848 by the Baldwin brothers, and grew with the construction of mills, the railway and the bridge over the river. Church services were initially held in schoolhouses and homes but with the growing community Elisha Baldwin bought a plot of land and building of the First Baptist Church of North Stratford began in either 1852 (as stated on a plague in front of the church) or 1855 (as stated in the History of the Town of Stratford, New Hampshire, 1773-1925 by Jeannette R. Thompson). The church was destroyed by fire twice, in 1868 and again in 1915, but in both cases it was quickly rebuilt. The current structure was rebuilt in 1915 and dedicated in January of 1916.

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A front view of the First Baptist Church of North Stratford

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Front details of the First Baptist Church of North Stratford

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I hope you’ve enjoyed this bit of history and these views into two elements of the small community of North Stratford, New Hampshire, located in a beautiful part of the state. The area was once largely owned by paper companies, but the forests have been recovering over the years, with a benefit that the logging roads and camps have allowed for forest recreation and this part of the state is now a popular destination for outdoor activities.

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One Windy Morning

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Looking Back Along the Abandoned Rails

I woke early one late June morning while on vacation with my father in New Hampshire. I wandered out behind the inn we were staying at to find this lovely little scene with a range of wildflowers and grass around a large boulder in the foreground and set against a wooded background. It was a very windy morning which made photography a challenge. But I decided to embrace the wind and intentionally included evidence of it within this image.

Processing the Image

Initially I tried using a fast enough shutter speed to still as much of the wind-induced motion as I could, given the low light of early morning. That resulted in the photo below, which was made with a shutter speed of 0.4 seconds. There is still some motion blur, but it’s at a minimum.

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A 0.4 second exposure to try to minimize blur caused by the wind.

That’s when I decided to fully embrace the wind, so I set my camera with a shutter speed of 63 seconds and created the photo below which is full of motion blur both with the trees in the background and with the flowers and grass in the foreground. There is also a touch of blur to the boulder, not because the wind affected it at all, but likely because even on a sturdy tripod the wind was able to vibrate my camera just a bit.

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A 63 second exposure to embrace motion blur caused by the wind.

When I recently began processing these photos I decided to combine them, keeping the long exposure motion blur on the background trees and grass, but showing the shorter exposure and slightly more crisp foreground of flowers and boulder, resulting in the first photo up top.

Which of the three images do you prefer?

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