Our Doe Orchards photographs have rather a lot going on: branches full of apples, fruit scattered across the grass, family members partly hidden by the trees, and Ruby joining the scene. Nobody has arranged the orchard for a magazine. That is part of its appeal.
This is the kind of New England afternoon I want to keep: something seasonal, something ordinary, and enough room for the people who actually came. There is no prize for adding three more stops before getting home.
Let the orchard be the outing.
Apple picking gives a day a useful shape. You arrive, find the part of the orchard open for picking, choose some fruit, and eventually return to the car. The amount of wandering can belong to the family rather than an ambitious itinerary.
Looking counts. Choosing counts. Spending time beneath a tree counts. For someone using an iPad or another familiar communication system, keep it available while the choices are happening. A beautifully prepared choice board in the boot of the car is having a rather limited day out.
Dress for what is underfoot.
Our photographs show grassy ground and plenty of dropped apples. They are a useful reminder to think about shoes and the route, not just the weather forecast. Ask the farm about the current surface and distance if those details will decide whether the outing works.
Our photo of Ruby records that family visit; it is not a current dog-policy notice. Farm arrangements, picking areas and rules can change. The same applies to the apples: a variety visible in an old photograph is not a promise about this week’s harvest.
Keep the photograph. Keep the ending simple.
I like the pictures with people doing the thing they came to do. A family photograph does not need everybody lined up and looking at the camera to be worth keeping.
For another orchard afternoon, I would keep the plan similarly modest: check what is open, bring the ordinary essentials, and know how to finish. A bag of apples is quite a respectable result. So is a pleasant stretch of time outside.