Adirondack Autumn- Seeing (It) in Sixes

Back from two and a half days exploring a small part of the Adirondacks during peak color.  The beauty at that time can be overwhelming and even intimidating.  It is so easy to create a repetitive package of photos that fail to really explore anything beyond the sweeping landscape view for example.  I will limit each of my blog posts to a set of just six images. Each photo is selected to offer a different subject and also use a different expanse of the shot.  (In video production, the type of shots used go from the master shot to the close up in six steps.)  Consider this an experiment in creativity.

Let's begin with the early mornings in autumn.  It's quiet and chilly that early.  Often it offers soft light on a foggy mountain lake as below.  A distant point on the lake is obscured by the fog.

After day break on another morning, the water is far from placid where the Raquette River cascades  toward Long Lake. The golden birch on the distant bank becomes a dappled reflection in the foreground.

Looking more closely in the forest, there is a pleasing symphony of colors.  Reds and yellows are separated the the bluish green of a few pine boughs.  This is easy to miss amid the temptations of waterfalls and wide angle views.

Autumn offers offers many ways to become immersed in the day.  Doesn't an afternoon paddle on the lake sounds wonderful?  Take your dog too.  Heavenly, I'd say.

For a new twist, let's abandon the fall colors to look at how weather can create an interesting image. The autumn fog that hugs the lake is flanked by a distant cloud bank, and both are duplicated in reflections on the lake with some detail added by the lake grasses.  It resembles some supersonic passage of some strange projectile. 

Now for the final image from my first day. On that particular night, the lunar cycle was approaching the Hunter's Moon.  It's bright.  I'm back on the same lake seen above, but at night.  The moon is so bright that I can dimly see the form of a canoe and a red kayak on the shore.  The fires of a few campers appear on the lake shore.  Above the canoe in the sky is Jupiter plus a few stars.  

What a way to end a day of photography.

Paul Schmitt