Something a Little Different

Sometimes I struggle with autumn. The window is so small to take advantage of the best colors, and in addition due to my day job I can only spend quality photography time on the weekends. And when the weather is clear the sun arrives with full force quickly after sunrise. This can immediately create unwanted contrast, even when using a polarizing filter.

The other reason I struggle is finding creative ways to work in the color to quality compositions. I avoid making images of color for color's sake, unless there is something interesting going on in the photo. So with relatively few outings in the peak season I sometimes find myself under-performing, relative to what I know is possible during this season.

So this morning I am out at a local park, and the lake is full of geese preparing to continue their migratory journeys. As groups of them lift off from the water and head on their way I attempted to capture some of this activity. The sun did not cooperate today as some clouds blocked the "quality" light right after sunrise. So I did not get much of the geese activity looking horizontally across the lake.

But I did see the moon overhead, and with so many geese flying around I figured I would get some chances to include them with a moon shot. The image below is one such result. It does not represent the fall colors, but it is striking nonetheless.

Slippery When Wet

During a recent trip to the Poconos I re-visited a semi-hidden waterfall that I found a few years ago. The walk down from the road is short but steep, and once at the bottom of the trail the waterfall appears from the side.

There has been a lack of rain this fall, so there is not much water in the area streams, and this waterfall was sparse as well. The image below is of a small part of the falls that had an interesting shape. As you can see the black rock is slick and wet, made even worse by the wet leaves and moss. I was being as careful as I could, recognizing the slickness and being only in sneakers.

But eventually, as I was heading back down the rocks I slipped. I managed to save the camera and tripod, and only one foot got wet, but my phone slipped out of my shirt pocket and into the water. Fortunately I was able to grab it within a few seconds and apparently there was no ill effect. What great engineering.

The colors in the Poconos are great this year, and I've even found some great shots down in Bucks County already this fall. And there's still a few weeks to go!

4:45 AM

That was my wake-up time this morning. I headed up to the Poconos to take advantage of the emerging fall colors, and to get the good morning light I had to literally drag myself out of bed. There is still plenty of green up there, and peak color is still probably 2 weeks away, but I did find some pockets of color to work with.