Posts in Category: autumn
Autumn Vineyard
Jack London State Park kind of wraps around his vineyard, which is still in private hands. That does not stop the vineyard from dominating the view from his farm house, as the vineyard wraps around the house and outbuildings just as the park does around the vineyard. I had been there in the spring when the vines were lush…they have a totally different aspect in October. The regimented, trained growth of the vines on their supports fascinates me, and makes a strong graphic statement.
Samsung Smart Camera WB800F in Rich Tone mode. Processed in Snapseed on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014.
Cascade Falls take 2
Last Wednesday, in honor of #waterfallwednesday, I posted an image of Cascade Falls and some info on the location…a local picnic and photo-op spot since, well, since before there were cameras. That image was all about the rush and tumble, the splash and splatter, the raw energy of the falling water.
This is the alternative view, taken on a tripod with the Samsung Smart Camera WB800F’s waterfall mode, which takes a very long exposure (30 seconds or more) to blur the water to silk. This kind of shot generally involves neutral density filters on a DSLR, but the Samsung manages it all it’s own, using some kind of digital trickery to slow the shutter without burning out the highlights. 🙂
You are either a fan of the silky water effect or you are not. Anyone who has ever stood in front of a waterfall knows that the effect is purely a photographic artifact. Falling water just does not look like that. Still, the effect is so common in waterfall shots that some people apparently think that water can actually do that. I have mixed feelings. I can appreciate the beauty and the sense of peace that the silky water images capture and project…but I am under no illusions that they are real. They use a photographic technique to produce a mood that is simply not there, as a painter might. And that’s okay, I think. And they have a certain nostalgia to them…I mean, back in the days of slow film emulsions and 8×10 view cameras, any photograph of a waterfall in anything but full sun produced silky water. It was simply all the medium was capable of. Not so today. Silky water is now an artistic choice. And I think, at least on occasioin, a valid one.
Processed in Snapseed on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014.
Wet Fall Morning
Before dawn on Friday, we had enough rain to give everything a good wetting…and to bring a lot of leaves down. When I opened the back door to the deck my first thought was, “Ah, this is fall!” It felt like fall, smelled like fall, looked like fall. But of course, it was only a wet fall morning…late fall at that…but there is a lot of atmosphere to a wet morning in late fall…a lot of memories to key…a touch, at may age, of definite nostalgia. I went back inside for a glass of cider 🙂
But then I got the camera and wet back out to see what I might find to capture the mood. This is an odd image for me. I realize that I rarely take pics, or a least share, pics of man-made objects…and cars least of all. I am not a car guy. As long as it runs reliably and is not actually embarrassingly dirty, I am fine with it. Just a car. But I could not resist the deposit of wet leaves on the windshield. That is just so fall! So wet morning fall.
Samsung Smart Camera WB800F in Rich Tone mode. Processed in Snapseed on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014.
And here, for you traditionalists, is a more typical wet fall morning shot. Same camera and settings.
Bittersweet
Bittersweet must flower, but I can not honestly remember ever seeing the flowers. The fruit, on the other hand, is a feature of Thanksgiving and fall table arrangements and door wreaths. I don’t think it is a common plant anymore in Southern Maine: A victim of its own popularity. There used to be a massive stand of it on the Nature Conservancy’s East Point Preserve in Biddeford Pool, but they have aggressively bush-hogged it to the ground (I am not sure what the have against bittersweet…it is a native plant). These were still growing along the trail that leads back along the river toward the Pool.
I like a lot in this image. Shape and high contrast color, the way the light molds the fruit, of course, but also the texture of the dying leaves, and the out of focus accents of the fruit behind. And it is, really, a classic rule of thirds composition, with the added strong diagonals of the stems. Lots to like, in its own quiet still-lifey way.
Samsung Smart Camera WB800F in macro mode. Processed in Snapseed on the Nexus 7.
Fall among Cedars
There is a well grown stand of Atlantic White Cedars at the far end of the boardwalk at Saco Heath. The trail loops through the trees and back. A softwood sapling provides a splash of color along with the dying ferns of fall. And the light of a late afternoon in October sheds its glory over the whole scene.
Samsung Smart Camera WB800F in Rich Tone mode (in-camera HDR). Processed in Snapseed on the Nexus 7.
Forest Alchemy. Forest Abstract.
The acidic standing water in a wet Maine forest of mixed hardwoods and softwoods bleached the color out of the leaves of the past years, while a single red berry and a few of this year’s leaves provide vivid contrast. It has the look of an intentional work of art…but it is totally “found”…just as the natural processes of the forest made it.
All I had to do was to provided the frame. Found along the boardwalk through the forest on the way into Saco Heath.
Samsung Smart Camera WB800F in Rich Tone mode. Processed in Snapseed on the Nexus 7.
Will the last leaf please turn out the light?
I had some fun with back-lit oak and maple leaves yesterday on my late afternoon photoprowl. The sun was at just the right angle and the leaves, oaks in particular, we’re at just the right stage of turn.
I have been experimenting with Smart Auto on the Samsung Smart Camera WB800F. The camera has about 20 different Scene Modes that it chooses from based on an analysis of the information on the sensor, before it determines final exposure. So far it has done a really good job. My back-lit leaves were all taken in Smart Auto.
Processed in Snapseed on the Nexus 7.
Another View of Autumn at Old Falls Pond. Happy Sunday!
It has been a good fall in Maine, despite a week of wind and rain at just the wrong time. We lost some of the early color so that when I returned from a week of travel I thought, from the evidence right around home, inside the tidal zone, that fall had passed me by. A photoprowl inland cured me of that misapprehension. Even 10 miles from the coast, the full color show is on.
This is Old Falls Pond, which some of you have already seen this week in another view. I photograph the pond in all seasons, but it is especially attractive in autumn. This view, with the bright bush in the foreground, the fog over the water, the wispy clouds and reflections, and the line of vivid foliage across the way makes a dynamic composition with a lot to look at.
Samsung Smart Camera WB800F. Rich Tone mode (in-camera HDR). Processed in Snapseed on the Nexus 7.
And for the Sunday Thought. I have 100s of images of Old Falls Pond taken over the past 5 years. I have probably shared 10 or more just from various autumns. This view is only a variation on the theme…taken only moments and yards from other popular images…and yet I was so compelled to try the effect of the bright bush in the foreground that I actually went looking for it.
I don’t think I will ever tire of trying to capture the beauty of Old Falls Pond in fall. And I think that is a good thing. I think when I can no longer find beauty I am compelled to share in Old Falls Pond in its autumn splendor, when I stop looking for new angles and stop seeing the possibilities in new skies, then…well then something essential will have died in me. I don’t think that is going to happen.
It won’t happen because I fully intend to find and share the beauty of everyday, every season, everywhere I am. As I have said often in these Sunday posts, that is my act of worship…my homage to the Creator, the way I express my love, my gift back to the one who has gifted me with life…with eyes to see and a heart to feel and a mind to make sense of it all..with a spirit that can participate in the on-going act of living, loving, creation that is all we know and are.
So I expect you will see other views yet of Old Falls Pond in fall…for as long as I can get there. Happy Sunday!
Old Falls Panorama
One of the fun things about a camera with sweep panorama is that, even when you are not after a true panoramic effect, you can still quickly and easily break out of the bounds of your widest zoom to catch more of the scene in front of you. At 23mm equivalent field of view, I had to choose the center, left of center, or right of center view of Old Falls and the foliage. With sweep panorama on hand it was a simple matter of flipping the camera up on end and sweeping it around from left to right to capture the whole scene. This is only about 100° and the vertical camera makes the image unusually tall for a panorama, so the effect is more super-wide. I like it. It gives the falls scale and includes more of the fall color.
Samsung Smart Camera WB800F in Panorama mode. Processed in Snapseed on the Nexus 7 and then reprocessed for a bit more impact on the laptop usinge the edit tools in Google+ Photos.
The Oaks are Last to Turn.
I was afraid this might happen. I was away from home for a week working in Alabama, and fall came and went while I was gone. I come back to Maine to find lots of leaves already on the ground and the oaks turning. Such is life.
On the other hand, the oaks this year are as intense as I have ever seen them. Some years they just slide from green to brown. This year they are blazing red. And never more so than in the low fall sun-light of a late afternoon. These are mostly in shade and they still glow.
Samsung Smart Camera WB800F in Rich Tone mode. Processed in Snapseed on the Nexus 7.