White Pumpkins

Hiding Place

Thanksgiving

It is Canada's Thanksgiving weekend, a time we intentionally remember and give thanks for what we've been given. To all of you who are part of this little community, for you to take the time to look at my photos and also see them, I thank you.

To share the gifts or talents we have been given requires those willing to receive what we share. So thank you for receiving by way of seeing and also by way of responding from time to time. You have encouraged me to continue to see the world around me with eyes wide open, looking carefully for the beauty of God all around.

Listening

It sure is fun to imagine what these trees might think and do and say to one another. Seeing this towering tree bend down to listen to the smaller, younger ones is heart warming.

Personification can be used as a creative tool to get out of a photography rut. Look around with new eyes and see what human traits or actions you see in non-human form. You'll be surprised at how often you see this in the landscape around you.

To further play with the image in Photoshop also reaches beyond what one sees to something more. Adding texture and tonal layers can enhance and enrich the image, your story.

I used my 24-70 mm lens to shoot this scene. My focal length was 24 mm, shutter speed 1/400 and aperture f/7.1. ISO was firmly fixed at 100.

Autumn's Feet

Autumn isn't seen in her branches alone. Look down and you will see a carpet of colours. Autumn shows herself all around.

I shot this image at 1/200 with an f stop of f/5.0. Getting low on the ground (and wet too!) I looked around with my eyes and then through my lens to see what I could see. The red creeper was perched just above the soggy orange leaves. Focusing so the creeper would be clear and not worrying about the orange below or behind as it blurred into the background made these scarlet leaves really come alive.

Finding Light

Beholding Beauty

Just before I was about to cross the Louise Bridge this morning I made a quick decision to pull into the parking lot for the boat launch by the river.

The leaves are starting to change colour and drop...the skies are a deep grey today. It is the last day of summer and it feels like autumn is already here. I'm giving summer her due and am posting today's picture in sepia tones. We'll keep autumn in the waiting room for another day.

I used my 24-70 mm lens for this shot. With a speed of 1/200 and aperture of f/5.6 I kept the ISO at my predictable 100.

Choosing to shoot from a lower perspective resulted in an interesting composition. The trees seem taller and more bold. Or...I feel smaller...in awe of what I am beholding.

Pulling the colour allows for this scene's subject to be something other than autumn. If the strong yellows and oranges remained, fall would dominate, rather than the scale of the trees in relation to me.

Autumn's Shade

The strong lines of the tree trunk and branches echo those in the window frames on this building in Chicago. The yellow umbrella of leaves are a beautiful contrast to the dark browns and blacks in this autumn scene.

Once in Lightroom, I increased the contrast and saturation until the image popped with autumn.

The hints of teal in the windows compliment the orange tones beautifully without distracting from the main subject focus.

Autumn's Rest

Autumn's Canvas

Winnipeg's skies and fields are painted by Autumn.

I shot at f/5 and 1/640 with a focal length of 190. Once in Lightroom I used a preset but then increased contrast in the buildings and changed the hue of the golds from there.

Presets can be a great starting point. When I use them I'll continue to play and tweak until the image looks as it does in my mind.

Weeds to Seeds

Pumpkin

Same pumpkin.  Different moods. Which do you prefer?

More Belly Photography

And So It Was Colour

Today the colour was important. I thought about shooting in black and white but this morning I was seeing in colour. The way the morning sun caught the greens, reds and yellows was just right.

These three images, by no means a grouping other than in today's post, would each have lost some interest in greyscale.

The pops of reds and golds amongst the railway tracks and ties would diminish to tufts and tracks.

Yellow blades would disappear into a blur.

 The sunny daisy top with the lively green background would become dull and depressing.

And so it was colour.

Quiet Welcome

Today is a spectacular autumn day. Summertime temperatures meet the beginning of rusty reds and golden yellows.

I walked the trail a couple of times today and during my second time around I took my camera with me. I ventured into the wooded section of the pathway; it welcomed me with quiet. As I entered, the rush of the traffic was replaced with the rustle of the leaves. I stood still and looked and listened. Gone were the worries of the day. Soaking the sights and sounds of the stillness in, I began to move through the woods and out. Interestingly, the noise outside the woods did not seem so loud anymore.

Autumn Days

It was one of those perfect English autumnal days which occur more frequently in memory than in life. ~P.D. James

Just like an echo, the branches repeated the pattern of the leaf's veins, all around, reaching higher and further, until the pattern disappeared into the distance.

I Never Know What I'll Find

I never know what I'll find. Well, I guess I do have a pretty good idea of what is in my own backyard, but what I mean is I don't know what will find me. What will stand out to me, call for my attention, and ultimately be what I see?

Today it was this flower going to seed. As has often been the case, when I uploaded my images to my computer, I wondered what it was about this familiar sight that stopped me long enough to see it and take its picture.

Here's what I like:

I like the contrast of the faded flower against the gorgeous green of the leaf it rests on. I like the burnished edges of the bloom and how they echo the colour found in the background.

Here's why I like:

Living holds on in this image, at least for today, supported and belonging.

Autumn's Ride

They are at rest on this autumn day, waiting for their passengers to return. A good pair they are, mostly vintage but with some new sprinkled in to keep things fresh but also to keep the old alive. They bask in the autumn sun and in stillness and silence, they are each others best company.

Abide

Abide