There's Gold and Red on the Hills, Finally

Watching the evening news on October 11, and the reporter showed a map of the autumn colors for New York with my Finger Lakes at peak.  One can understand the motivation by state tourism interests to overstate the situation.  Actually, we began to get widespread color ten days later.   Hiking at the Houghton Preserve in Corning on October 21offered some nice red and gold colors.

The ground was becoming littered with clusters of leaves on a mossy stream bank. Th light rain was easily ignored when balanced with finding autumn colors.  I met a nice couple from Baltimore who like to take a rest stop here on their way  to Ontario.  They reminded me how lucky I am to live here.

It is good to look for the unusual routes falling leaves take in their tumble to earth. This red and yellow maple leaf found rest on this low growing bush. 

It's now twelve days since the claim of peak colors.  The colors have spread more widely, so an excursion to Newtown Battlefield State Park near Elmira was promising.

The park road passes through a variety of tree habitats.  I've walked this road many times, but never before has the color been so golden.  There is one section where Revolutionary War re-enactments are held each September.  This rail fence lines the road to the re-enactment site.

At the end of the road, it was time for some hiking of the trails looking for more red and gold. 

The autumn colors must be balanced with fall chores, so my morning foray started me towards home with a final stop at the rail fence where another visitor came along (to stop and share ideas for other favorite autumn locations in the Finger Lakes.)

 

I meet the nicest people when I am hiking.

Thanks for your interest.

 

Paul Schmitt

Finding the Essense of Autumn

In the last post, my story was about how to create fall photography in a less than optimum autumn.  Since that post, there has not been a magical turnaround in our landscape. However, on return from 3-1/2 days in the higher elevations at Blackwater River in northeastern West Virginia, the results were a confirmation of the last post. Here goes the picks of the trip.

From the rim of the Blackwater River Canyon in the state park, this twisted tree captured my attention.  After many slight shifts in position, a layered image was discovered.  Notice that none of the three vertical tree elements on the left side touch.

The first version of this was captured with my iPhone 13 Pro.  I returned the next day when the light's direction was better.  If you first see a nice image, make it then.  There is no guarantee about the situation a day later.

On another day I was at Dolly Sods.  It is a high-elevation rocky wilderness area hosting sphagnum moss, heath shrubs and stunted red cedar normally seen in Canada.  There were rich colors.

Color was to be found also at lower elevations.  Once out of the canyon, the Blackwater takes a winding course with beaver ponds and less exotic flora.  In October, asters, such as this one, are a reliable source of rich color.

 

The valley had large clusters of  ferns.  These violet asters were complemented by the orange and yellow ferns. 

Here's a good example of my earlier suggestion to photograph now, rather than procrastinating for a better day.  After making this image, a local gentleman shared that the barn is scheduled to be demolished in a few weeks.  It won't matter how brilliant the fall is next year for this barn.

There are large bogs of huckleberries in Dolly Sods.  I was drawn to this setting by the lonely white stalk of a dead weed standing among all of the reddish leaves in the bog.  The distant mountain ridge suggests the extent of the field.

Many people are discouraged by a rainy morning, but the softness of the light and the moisture on the land can produce lovely results.  The last morning dawned foggy with a few sprinkles.  Several photographers passed this single dying fern without seeing the echo of its arch in the broken tree branch on the ground.  That's no criticism, but rather a simple example of the variety in what each person finds interesting. This is what my eyes first attached upon.  Do you find it beautiful?

I've always had a "thing" about decaying tree stumps.  Its only ones from natural collapses, never ones from chain saws.   The way falling leaves decorate the stumps in autumn attracts me.  Consider this one.

Oh, the fog had lifted and some delicious warm light bathed the setting.

I have been holding back with my two favorite images.  I love the creamy look of slow exposures on waterfalls.  If by chance, there is a recirculating eddy to include in the foreground, I will take some small personal risks to explore the possibilities.  The path there was sort of  goat path.  This is the Upper Elakala Falls in the Blackwater State Park.  

 I did a lot of small shifts to place the flat rock in the lower left corner.  Little details matter.

A second love for me is when form, colors and separation from the background just fall into place.  This one did.  Notice how the yellow-green fern is echoed by a brown fern in the back. 

There are nine images here.  Only two large landscapes.  The rest are intimate.  It seems the season may be best captured with a balance from wide to close.  If you look at the professional film and video, you will see how the framing is rarely repeated with each 10 second clip.    

Paul

Autumn 2023- No Colors, What to Do

The title says it clearly for the Northeast US.  In May we had a killing freeze that coincided with critical times for many fruit and forest trees blossoms.  Many oaks lost all their leaves and some of those failed to send up new leaves.  Fruit trees suffered as did grapes.

Then we had a dry period for a month.  Did not help.  The rain returned but damage was done.  The landmark red maple on my street that always has had  brilliant red is dull brown.  

What to do to salvage some autumn beauty?  I've got some ideas.

First, abandon plans for those grandiose wide angle landscapes.  Think small.  Here is a simple maple that had some nice red leaves on a foggy morning.

 Next,  go elsewhere for autumn.  There are late blooming bushes that are in flower like honeysuckle.  I found this on a walk towards Rock Creek Park in DC.  My phone camera was adequate for this.

Think asters. Fall is their season to shine.  These were in Mundy Wildflower Garden on Cornell campus.  The seed head on the grass stalk make this doubly attractive.

There are an abundance of fall flowers like asters, Black-eyed Susan's, and Goldenrod. Here's two of those growing together, also at the wildflower garden.

 

Fall is also fungi season, especially after some rain.  Just don't delay.  Mushrooms can fade quickly or become deer food.

Let's look at more fungi for ideas.  In this example, I composed so you can see where this golden cluster is to be found.

This last image is really going to an unexpected place. It's some scarlet fungi growing on a stack of rotting logs. Look closely and find the small green slug on the lower area. Not sure if it is passing through or feeding.  Either way,  red and green are complementary so I pulled out my phone and captured it. 

 

I have long felt that autumn is challenging.  There are expectations to find the expansive landscape view with so much included in one capture.  Looking closely offers more opportunities.  When the colors fail to be available, it's a perfect reason to look closely.  

I hope this inspires you to delight in the intimate parts of the season.

Paul Schmitt

DISCLAIMER: Due to the writer's strike and upcoming travel, my copy editor is unavailable to proof read my text.  Errors are of my own doing.

Winged Gold- Late Summer

My last post was titled Golden Joy.  Now those sunflowers are all mature seeds.  I am continuing the "gold" theme with two flying critters that also deliver joyful reactions.  

One principal source here is cone flowers. Top on the list of seed eaters found on them are the Gold Finches.  The male at left is just pausing. When his crop is full, he'll soar away to feed the chicks. Initially, the female stays on the nest and I only see males. But soon, the demand by the chicks is too much for the male, and both of the pair engage in furious harvesting. Then, in a few days, the chicks fledge and the activity nearly ceases.

Often, the Gold Finches are mostly hidden in the densely packed clusters of cone flowers. After many largely hidden birds, one male chose a nice single stalk to feed on. The camera jumped into long runs of high speed shooting. The result was two "keeper" images out of a sequence of over sixteen. 

Another golden flyer is the Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. This one was feeding on other cone flowers in a more southern location, where they hadn't yet gone to seed. You can tell that it is recently emerged.  With time, they can get pretty ragged on the fringes.

A few moments later, I found a butterfly bush in full bloom.  I was amazed to see two swallowtails sharing the same plant.  

These golden flyers won't be around long.  I'm schedule next week for a short outing to see bugling elk in western Pennsylvania.  Autumn is just around the corner. 

Paul Schmitt

Golden Joy

It's pretty safe to say that a laughing baby brightens up any moment. It's golden. There's another discovery that is pretty sure fire.  Sunflowers!  A short detour from my outing to fill the car's gas tank this morning took my mind off the long "to do" list that I faced.

Today was a very busy day as we prepared to depart for some granddaughter time.  I had only minutes to explore the field.  I think the field will have a long run as a succession of golden flowers reach peak, and then fade into reddish seed heads. 

I think the flowers take on facial characteristics, as some look joyfully upward and others nod downward as maybe being thoughtful.

Maybe the sunflowers energized me.  As I write this, my entire list for the day is completed.

I hope you can find some sunflowers just as I did.

Paul Schmitt

Traveling Light on a Foggy Morning

At 6:30 am this morning, I began a walk at a nearby park with the aim to get it done before the morning rain arrived from the west.  I am not a regular early walker unlike several gentlemen. As I turned on to the abandoned Rhode's farm road, one of the regulars called out "what, no camera today?"  He knows me.  My reply was simply "I'm traveling light!"  Light meant my iPhone 13 Pro seen at right.  I expected mostly a nice walk and maybe a few birds.  

I'd forgotten how nice the early morning is with everything damp from some fog.  The first discovery was a trio of teasels newly in bloom.  Notice how they begin blooming at the top and work their way down.   Bumblebees love them.

I rediscovered using the portrait mode on the 13 Pro.  Portraits keep the focus near the front and rather shallow, so the background doesn't compete with the people (subject).  If your phone has a portrait setting, give it a try for more than people shots.

I really did not pause very long to photograph, as the rain was on the radar. My next find was a wild Morning Glory.   The pink flowers are low thistles that will soon be the target for Goldfinches collecting seeds for newly hatch chicks.

Next, I had to stop for a single Sumac.  The dampness produced richly saturated colors, and soft light avoided any shiny hot spots.

Again, the portrait mode blurred the background.  The key for capturing my attention was a single isolated subject.  I wish that early in my learning a teacher had explained the value of composing  without confusing intersections (called conjunctions.)  

I got underway quickly and was maintaining a good pace until I saw a two layer composition-  teasel and goldenrod.

You might complain that the goldenrod is not quite sharp. True.  The teasels are closest and brightest.  That's where nearly everyone starts, and surely we know the form of goldenrod sufficiently.  

Back underway, I reached the end of the road and turned back.  Have you ever walked a long hiking trail, and when turned around, the view was unfamiliar?  You might even be confused.  Well, I was not puzzled, but I did see another interesting composition. None of the Queen Anne's lace seemed attractive. But now it was floating over the abandoned road showing me the way home.

Again, the subject avoids being conjoined with the green surrounds. 

Now, back towards my car. Reaching Lowe Pond, I just had to stop for this single Purple Loosestrife.  Yes, it's an invasive plant that will never yield its place, but using the portrait mode did make a nice result.

I could now see sprinkles on the pond, so there were no more stops. The tracker says 2.03 miles in 58 minutes.  Not bad considering nine stops along the way.

Paul

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

Along the banks of the Anacostia River in the District of Columbia is the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. It's operated by the the National Park Service.  In mid-July, it's predictably hot and humid, so I arrived when the gates opened at 8:00 a.m.  As you can see at the right,  it does get crowded around 10:30 am, when I'm leaving for the day. 

The main attraction for me is the large number of water lotus in bloom.  The huge flower is matched by the disc-like seed pods that appears later.

Photographing the water lotus has its difficulties.  They grow in large, shallow water pools that are easy to admire, but much more difficult to photograph from dry land.

Luckily, on this visit there were no mosquitos at add to the challenge.  I find the new flower buds very appealing, if I can find an uncluttered setting with a bit of early morning light.

Another favorite setting is the combination of a new bud plus a fully open flower.

Mixed in with the lotus are pools with water lilies.

 

Water lilies are more challenging because they are not standing on a tall stalk at my eye level, and frankly, getting down to their level muddied my knees, and attracted bemused looks from non-photographers.  (I'm used to it.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was another unexpected flowering plant in the shallow water, identified by my friend Rosemarie Parker as spider lily.  It's appearance suggested tome "orchid", so I had to once again get down low to capture its beauty.

I was rather pleased with the resulting image.

An added bonus to my early bird arrival was capturing one of only three parking spaces under some shade trees.  

Paul Schmitt

Snapshots of Prince Edward Island

The eight mile long Confederation Bridge was opened in 1997.  The idea of a bridge was heatedly debated before a referendum passed by 59.4%.  It transformed life on the island and eventually gained widespread approval.  We arrived at the bridge on a windy, rainy morning.  New visitors frequently stop at the viewpoint on Cape Jourimain as these young people did.  The ride across the bridge is smooth, but we'd have liked to have had a clearer view.

Once on the island, one soon sees hallmarks of this small province with only about 150,000 residents.  The sea is always nearby, so a great variety of lighthouses are seen.   This is Cape Bear Lighthouse where the first radio message was received from the stricken Titanic.

Largely, the lighthouses are wooden.  The island lacks hard stone that is so often used elsewhere.

Two more constants are flowering lupines and small fishing harbors.  The lupines are widespread.

There is abundant seafood to feast upon.  This lunch featured a fresh haddock sandwich and bay scallop tacos, both with PEI potato salad and cabbage slaw.  You can't drive more than 5 kilometers without passing a field of potatoes. 

Another certainty is friendly people.  Pam and I agree that the residents are another hallmark.

Our first three days were marked by cloudy and breezy days - not ideal for photography but fine to explore.  On several occasions, we visited locations marked by seaside tragedies.  This is Covehead Lighthouse.

 

The Yankee Gale of  October 3, 1851 claimed 74 ships and 150 lives.  The fishing fleet was calmed in the evening and unable to return to harbor.  In the night, the gale drove the fleet onshore with no mercy.

 

For most of our days on PEI, I searched for that perfect display of lupines.  There was this small bouquet framing a grave marker next to a rural church.  Not many are colored pink so I liked these.

My luck changed when we visited an abandoned shipyard at Murray Head across the bay from Georgetown.  Wow, three lupine colors in one place.

 

While researching places to visit, I discovered a number of "Pioneer Cemetery" listings.   There was one near Cavendish called "Yankee Hill Pioneer Cemetery".  It also had a lighthouse nearby.  Walking in on the private road, we were greeted by the owner who was in the process of clearing the trail to the side.   Bruce highlighted the history and paused mowing while we explored.

These are the stones for Mary Pickering (1792-1878) and Thomas Pickering (1790-1878).  They had eleven children.  He was a farmer, mariner and shipbuilder. 

Another was a marker for George McKay, a native of Durness, Scotland.  (1763-1816)

Bruce is building a home on Yankee Hill with a ocean view that includes a view of this lighthouse on London Bay.

It may seem unusual to include cemeteries in an itinerary, but in Atlantic Canada, they are  a continuing link to people's pasts. We stopped at the Brackley Beach Cemetery on the north shore where two ladies were unloading trays of flowers for placing on markers of family members.   In Cavendish Cemetery, this marker honoring mariners lost in earlier mentioned Yankee Gail of 1851.  At a cemetery in Georgetown, this marker remembers a boy lost at age four.  Note the childhood ornaments for those who died young.  I've seen this elsewhere.

At our last hotel in Montague, I woke for the very early sunrise.  The highway bridge was lined with planters full of petunias.

The sunrise was framed with three large cast sculptures of cormorants.

It was now time to head home.  Again, we stopped at the Confederation Bridge for one last look.

We paid our $50.25 toll and returned home..

One last comment is for golfers.  The island has many lush courses that could be imagined to be in Scotland- rolling hills, sandy bunkers and picture perfect greens.  We met several people touring across the island for a new course each day. Sadly, I was terrible at golf.

Paul Schmitt