Abstracts of Autumn #1
I went out on my eBike yesterday, specifically to look for foliage photos…not landscape shots, but photos featuring the patterns, colors, and textures of the season. Abstracts. I will post a few over the next few days. Fall is passing fast this year, with more than half the leaves off the trees already, and with still a week to go before traditional peak foliage. What can I say? It is 2020. This shot, and those that follow, were taken at Laudholm Farms in Wells, Maine. Sony Rx10iv at 67mm equivalent. Program with HDR. Nominal exposure: ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/400th. Processed in Apple Photos.
Chipmunk into the leaves
The thing about nature is, you just never know what you might see. I have never seen a Chipmunk “eating” leaves before, but this one was picking up dry leaves and mulching then into his cheek pouches. I suspect he was not after any lingering nutrition…they were the driest of the dry leaves at his disposal…but maybe planned to use them as winter insulation for his nest??? Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Titmouse on the pump handle
Tufted Titmouse, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — The Tufted Titmice have remained active at the feeders since early this fall. We have a very distinct pair…the male being partially melanistic with a brownish, dark grey chest. The chick from this year is still hanging out with the parents. I think this might be the chick, as it was the only one that ever showed any interest in my water pump water feature. It was one of the few birds which learned to drink at the fountain. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Nuthatch again
White-breasted Nuthatch, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — We have, of course, more chickadees coming to our feeders than nuthatches, but the nuthatches are just as faithful. They are there everyday, many times a day, and always fun to watch. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Running ahead of the storm
Mousam River at Rt. 9 in Kennebunk, Maine, USA. — I was out for an exercise and pick-up-my-prescriptions ride on my ebike, running ahead of the storm front that came through, and I had to stop on the Rt. 9 bridge over the Mousam River to capture the scene. Powerful sky 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 24mm equivalent. Program mode with Auto HDR. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Naughty Chipmunk!
I have discovered before this that “squirrel proof” feeders are not necessarily “chipmunk proof”. The chipmunk is often just light enough not to fully trip the squirrel protection. As this chipper has discovered there is just enough of a gap to give limited access to the seed…not enough of a gap to make it easy, but enough of a gap to make it possible. Fortunately there are easier ways to get food, and the chipmunks do not empty the feeder…only taking a few seeds at a time. Still, this one I caught in the act. Naughty chipmunk! Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Black-tipped Darner
Black-tipped Darner, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I was out photographing the foliage at a pond along Rt. 9 in Kennebunk on a misty, cloudy day when this darner flew up from the shoreline and, after hovering a while in front of the branch, landed in plain sight. Of course, I had the wrong camera with me, so I could only hope it would sill be there when I got back from getting the right camera from my ebike in the parking area. It was was 🙂 And I am pretty sure it is a Black-tipped, though Shadow is another possibility, (and given the variation in thorax and abdomen patterns, even some of the other darners are more remotely possible). I am not an expert by any means. But, I think, Black-tipped Darner. Whatever it is, it is missing the feathery cerci at the tip of its abdomen. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Variation on a theme of fall
I posted a very similar photo a few days ago…or a photo taken at the this same spot at any rate. Sunny day vs cloudy day and two days later in the change of leaves, and taken with a different lens…the 24mm wide angle on my Sony Rx10iv vs the 18mm ultrawide equivalent mounted on a Sony a6500. Inch sensor vs APS-C, but that difference is not apparent. Mostly though it is just a difference in the moods of autumn. We had our bright crisp days last week. This week we have cloudy with intermittent rain. We need the rain. Both moods are autumn. Both are beautiful in their own way. Sony a6500 and 18mm ultrawide, as above. Program mode with HDR. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. And the pond is along Rt. 9 in Kennebunk, Maine just above the Wells Town Line.
Fallish
We have lost the sun this week as we move deeper into fall. We need the rain, so I am trying hard not to begrudge the light 🙂 You can see the sea mist coming up and inland at the end of this marshy isle where a little stream flows through. Highly atmospheric. Fallish indeed. Sony a6500 with 18mm equivalent ultrawide combo. HDR. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
September light
Yesterday’s Day Poem was about the early turning of the leaves here in Southern Maine, here captured at a little pond along Rt. 9 in Kennebunk just above the Wells line, on a clear September afternoon. It is certainly one of the most beautiful times of year in Maine. Sony Rx10iv at 24mm equivalent. HDR. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. And the poem for those of you who missed it. 🙂
9/26
The leaves are changing early.
We expect peak foliage around
Columbus Day, but either we
are due for a totally awesome
display this year, or it will be
mostly over by mid-October.
Maybe it is the dry summer
(or maybe it is just the 2020
effect). There is a Peak Foliage
web site for Leaf Peekers,
maintained by the State of
Maine. Maybe I should get
online and check. Not that
I can do anything about it or
that it effects me at all. I am
content to just watch the leaves
turn and to revel in the color.
No matter what the calendar
says, it is always an amazing,
an incredible show…nature
rolling out her most vivid
palette, and the sun low on
the horizon already to warm
the light…it is a sight, whether
it comes early or comes late.