The Birdsong SwampSubtle Colors

I have done surprisingly little fall photography this fall. Despite its arrival pretty much on schedule it seemed to have caught me by surprise. And it's not the first time this happened! So when this particular morning was free of any other plans I was happy to set the alarm and head out. And I did not even have to set the alarm for too early. First, even a sunrise is not really that early this time of the year being around 7:30 AM. And second, this was not a sunrise photo outing, this was just a hunt for some special fall photographs. The forecast the evening before called for heavy cloud cover and rain showers, which helped me form the game plan. I wanted to get some seasonal colors accentuated by the rain. When leaves are wet it really brings their colors out nicely, especially when a polarizing filter is used to cut the glare and focus on the surface itself.

As soon as I entered the woods of Birdsong Park in Orchard Park, New York, I was greeted by the scene in the first photograph. It was still very dark and hard to see and I was going mostly by the dark silhouettes of the trees visible against the little bit of light in the sky. This was definitely an instance when the camera could see way more than I could, thanks to the extended 20-second exposure. I really loved what I saw on the LCD once the exposure completed. No, I did not get wild saturated colors but I got a photo full of subtle greens and yellows that I thought complemented the crooked trees and creek very well. I often struggle capturing the character of a swamp as the scenes are usually very busy and finding order in the chaos is a challenge. This morning, nature took care of all of that for me and threw this beautiful chaotic, yet organized scene right in front of me posing and begging to be photographed. I captured this vertical composition, followed up with a horizontal one, and decided to move on as the rain was starting to come down more and it became clear dealing with water was going to be a big part of this morning's photography. While I had a raincoat for my camera with me I am not a big fan of using it. It seems to get in the way and prevent more creative compositions, and it seems to have me rush to the next spot too much. I decided to take my chances and pressed on without the cover on, trying to protect the camera with my body when on the move and wiping it here and there when on the tripod. Last fall and my visit to Sinking Ponds was running through my head (It's Raining, It's Pouring … at Sinking Ponds, East Aurora) as I remembered the same camera refusing to function there under the inflow of water.

Birdsong BoardwalkColors in the Rain I made my way around a few ponds at the heart of the park and struggled finding additional compelling compositions in the rain. As I looped around and emerged to the final section of my hike, I looked back and saw what you can see in the second photograph here. A wonderful lush vegetation, still a lot of greens, and a burst of yellows and oranges in the branch hanging over the entrance to the boardwalk. I just stood there and watched for a while and was soaking it all in (literally). Then the tripod went down, camera up, and the photo was in the box.

The final photo in this series was not too far. As I continued my morning hike I walked through the beautiful tree tunnels I enjoy a lot and have photographed many times. I tried a few new approaches but did not like any of the images more than the previous ones so out to trash they went.

The Music of Fall at BirdsongScreaming Colors However, when I faced the leaning trees with their dark trunks visually accentuating the colorful foliage of theirs I could not resist. It seemed like the perfect exclamation mark after a great morning outdoors. It helped me capture the different moods of the park on a single fall rainy morning, with areas of only subtle colors, some areas already bare, and some screaming fall at full blast.

I really liked that while there was plenty of color in the scene it really played a secondary role, unlike most fall photographs. To me, it really was mostly about the trees leaning over the path winding through.

I finally got my dose of the 2014 colors before they're gone, and I can tell you that by the time you are reading this I managed another one, also very local over the weekend. That's for another story though.

Enjoy your week and have fun!

PS: If you enjoy fall / autumn photography, feel free to visit a collection of photographs I have dedicated to the season: Autumn.

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