Northfield, Vermont, a community of approximately 5,900 people, is primarily known for Norwich University, the oldest private military college in the United States. But it also boasts a collection of five surviving 19th-century covered bridges, including the red Slaughterhouse Covered Bridge visible near the top of the image. The town is also recognized for its historic architecture, scenic landscapes, and location within the Green Mountains of Vermont.
The Slaughter House Covered Bridge, built in 1872, spans the Dog River in Northfield. It’s the only covered bridge left in town that has not undergone structural alterations over the years. The bridge and road on which it sits are both named after an abandoned industrial site of a local slaughter house. The Dog River, a tributary of the Winooski River near Montpelier, flows north, with the village of Northfield sitting mainly on the east side.
I had photographed the historic covered bridge on several occasions, but decided to return at sunset one early summer, choosing a composition to showcase the small waterfall downstream. The jagged rocks surrounding the cascade were very slippery, so I knelt down and positioned my tripod low near the edge of the rocks to shoot a focus stack.
It’s not often that you can combine textured rocks, a waterfall, a red covered bridge and a fabulous sunset sky in the same frame, but this is what happened on this day in late June. I took the photo about 20 minutes after sunset, as the setting sun cast a vibrant pink glow in the sky, with the sky’s color reflected in both the rocks and the water.
