Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. ~Lao Tzu~
Fall in the Allegheny National Forest in PA. this year was a spectacle of gold when I visited! Here are a three of my favorite images from the visit.
Thanks for taking a look! In my next post which should be coming up soon, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite images of 2019. So stay tuned for that!
I had the pleasure of being able to photograph Lake Ontario at different times of the day on a recent visit to South Eastern Ontario. These images are just a few of the moments that I enjoyed! Have a look!
Thanks as always for stopping by! 🙂
This fall has been a bit unusual in many ways in SE. Michigan. I know that the summer drought contributed to a very early shedding of leaves before their time, which lead to a disappointing start.
But after the initial non starter of color, we finally received quite a bit of rain and some colder nights! This brought out some really vibrant autumn color on many of the maples and also the ginkgo trees, which I always look forward to every year!
The morning I photographed these ginkgo leaves it was rainy, misty, and really foggy. I think it shows off the color and lusciousness of the rain on the leaves. I love the vibrant golden hue of the ginkgo leaves!
Beautiful golden Ginkgo leaves on a misty fall morning after a rain.
More rainy day ginkgo beauty!
I hope you enjoyed these fall images. I’ll be sharing a few more images from the season in the next couple of posts. All of our autumn color is gone now so I guess it’s time to get into all my photographs and see what I actually have.
Have a wonderful weekend and week ahead all!
One very early morning just a few days ago I decided to take a drive in the countryside on some local dirt roads. It was foggy and nearly dark when I started, but as the sun rose I was rewarded with an amazing sunrise with golden rays of light streaming through the trees as I drove along.
The image above is a tighter version of the first tree I saw, with many streams of light coming through the fog. Simply dreamy to me!
Stunning Golden sunrise through the fog!
In this next image I got as close as I could to a cornfield with a lone tree and an amazing sunrise just atop the tree! What a glorious morning! As the nights are cooler with autumn having arrived, I hope for a few more mornings to enjoy the fog before it turns to frost!
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This past year was a big one for me as far as abstract images go. The combination of stunning colors and dazzling light gave me many opportunities for motion blur abstracts. I have done a favorite abstract images post in previous years, so I thought I’d put together some of my favorite autumn abstracts this time. You can take a look at them here. I have a short description below instead of writing a full post. I also put a couple of beautiful autumn quotes at the end of the post! Enjoy “Autumn in Abstract” !
A beautiful and colorful flow of autumn color in abstract!
These colors can give the feel of the holiday season or autumn.
A gold and green magical light filled abstract!
One of my favorites in fall of 2015. You’ll also so see this in my 2015 Year in Review.
Here’s a beautiful quote that gives you the feeling and excitement of how autumn feels to me!
“October’s Party”
October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came,—
The Ashes, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The sunshine spread a carpet,
And every thing was grand;
Miss Weather led the dancing;
Professor Wind, the band….
The sight was like a rainbow
New-fallen from the sky….
~ George Cooper ~
I am struck by the simplicity of light in the atmosphere in the autumn, as if the earth absorbed none, and out of this profusion of dazzling light came the autumnal tints.
by ~ Henry David Thoreau ~
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Behold the humble sunflower! Could there be a happier and sunnier flower? Enjoy these images and quotes!
A beautiful flower with a sunny disposition!
I don’t think there’s anything on this planet that more trumpets life that the sunflower. For me that’s because of the reason behind its name. Not because it looks like the sun but because it follows the sun. During the course of the day, the head tracks the journey of the sun across the sky. A satellite dish for sunshine. Wherever light is, no matter how weak, these flowers will find it. And that’s such an admirable thing. And such a lesson in life.
~Helen Mirren~
Wonderful sunlight streams through this beautiful half of a sunflower!
Does she realize she looks like a sunflower, ready to rain sunlight on all who look down upon her?
~Simone Elkeles~
“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It’s what sunflowers do.”
~Helen Keller~
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I always enjoy a beautiful sunrise or sunset, especially over a body of water. The clouds and colorful hues are reflected on the surface making it absolutely glorious! Scroll down to see two sunset and one sunrise image from this summer on two of the Great Lakes.
I’ve also included several quotes on the topic of sunrise and sunset. Enjoy!
“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.”
~ Rabindranath Tagore ~
“When the sun has set, no candle can replace it.”
~ George R.R. Martin ~
An amazing sunset on glassy waters of Lake Michigan!
“There’s a sunrise and a sunset every single day, and they’re absolutely free. Don’t miss so many of them.”
~ Jo Walton ~
“Sunrise paints the sky with pinks and the sunset with peaches. Cool to warm. So is the progression from childhood to old age.”
~ Vera Nazarian ~
A Soothing and peaceful sunrise on Lake Huron!
“The blue of daylight
fades and chills as the sun sinks
beneath clouds of fire.”
~ Richelle E. Goodrich ~
“The sunset was a splendid display. I wondered if it was showing off for my benefit or if it was often that spectacular. Rarely had I seen such a gorgeous scene; the riotous colors flamed out over the sky in shades that I had no words to describe. Birds sang their last songs of the day before tucking in for the night, and still the darkness hung back. Now, I thought, I understand the word “twilight.” It was created for just this time – in this land.”
~ Janette Oke ~
Another gorgeous sunset from Lake Michigan in the Upper Peninsula!
“But even the longest day wears to sunset.”
~ Marion Zimmer Bradley ~
Have you ever gone out to a specific location just to capture a sunset? Hoping to get a spectacular one? It can give you a range of feelings. From those of beautiful anticipation, just knowing it’s going to be a good one, to that of frustration and disappointment as the conditions just aren’t what you need for that moment.
In this location here on the shores of Lake Michigan, I had hoped for beautiful clouds, or just a little something besides total clear uneventful skies on several different evenings.
For three days up until this one, I had gone to the beach on one of the southern areas of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula about 30 miles from St. Ignace. I waited in the very bright sunlight of late afternoon just hoping for something wonderful to happen. Something magical!
On my last day in the area as I drove along the shore I could see a bit of hazy wispy clouds starting to form along the horizon. This really got my attention and hopes up!
After arriving at a certain stretch of beach, I set up my tripod and camera, dialed in the settings, and set the focus. I positioned myself on the wonderful warm sand and used a remote cable release to take a few images as I drank in the pure beauty, amazing colors and hues in front of me.
This isn’t a sunset to end all sunset’s by any means, but it was beautiful without being fussy. It was relaxing for me and not hurried. It was a joy to experience, not just photograph.
I stayed long after the sun had actually gone down, not only to capture all of the vibrant hues on camera. I allowed myself to really take the time to enjoy the last bits of color, to hear the sound of gentle waves, to feel the days warmth turn into the cool of night.
This was my moment of peace for that day!
I hope that you might find some beauty and serenity in this image also!
I have always been a fan of abstract images. Especially bright and colorful ones. By using in camera settings, like changing your shutter speed. You can achieve many beautiful abstract results.
These days it seems more common for people to use Photoshop or other forms of software to do the work for them. I know you can achieve dramatic results, and really change things around by using software to do motion blur, but for me, I like to do it the old fashioned way!
I have found the best results so far are with subjects like autumn leaves, spring flowers, trees, and other nature oriented items. Maybe that’s because I love nature! 😉
My preferred method is to experiment with different slow shutter speeds while moving my camera in the direction of my subject moving, like for trees panning from the bottom of the tree to the top, or sometimes in other directions to create different types of effects according to the subject.
During autumn, many times the winds are so strong here that any type of typical fall foliage image is impossible, for example when the winds are gusting from 30-40 mph. Instead I use the flow and movement that already presents itself to me, to my advantage, which can create some beautiful results.
Besides using slow shutter speed with motion. I also on a rare occasion like to zoom out while slowing the shutter speed just a tad. This seems to work really well with trees and flowers!
The image here is a simple and colorful one from last fall. I love the flowing feel to this one, but I also like to make images that have more of a feathery, brush stroke, or wavy twisting look to them.
Anyway you do it, it’s fun, and you really can’t go wrong. If you like it, then that’s what matters!
I’m sure a lot of you have done these, but if you haven’t, and are looking for something different to do, then I’d say let go, and have some fun. You never know what you’re missing! Try some motion blur abstracts!! 🙂
In the last post I gave us a bit of summer warmth and cheer. Something I think lots of us needed at the time! In this post I’ve brought you an abstract image of a sunrise from earlier this the fall on a cold morning off of Lake Huron.
The colors in this were just like an apricot with golden tones. Really beautiful in it’s own right. This didn’t start out as an abstract, but as I went to process it, it seemed to me that’s just where it fits.
You won’t find anything in this image except pure gorgeous color, a clear horizon, and a calming spirit. Relax and enjoy! 🙂
