Happy Halloween! (Pre-Jack-o-Lantern)

Last night I posted the fancy designer pumpkins. Just so the traditional guys wouldn't feel left out, here's an homage to orange...

Pumpkin Delight

It's too close to Halloween not to be doing pumpkin photos, and these are the coolest pumpkins I've ever seen. They're a new variety, and I love love the variegation in them--they are too pretty to carve!! Found these a few Saturdays ago up at my favorite nursery, caught between raindrops.

What a fun way to display gourds! I kept waiting for that one on the right side to fall out...

Black and White IV: Abstractions

Sometimes converting to black and white can turn something totally abstract; removing the color removes the point of reference, like this:

Did you recognize the autumn calla lily? Isn't it gorgeous? You may see more of this one!

Ok--to be fair, this is a pretty abstract shot to begin with...

Black and White: III (The Depot)

Rendered in black and white, this becomes rather timeless, and season-less. Are those the pink cherry blossoms, or fall leaves?
Ah, fall leaves. Sometimes the photo just needs color to define it.

Black and White: II

Black and white becomes all about textures and less about....

..color, as stunning as it is. I've never seen leaves this incredible shade of bronze before!

Black and White

Tweaked my Macro Monday...
Here's the color version

Autumn at the Mill Pond

I finally got a blue sky day over at the mill pond, and it was worth the wait. A little earlier this week Rick and I drove by and I took some shots, but it was a gray overcast day, so the reflection was quite a bit different. Too, the trees had more foliage because we had some wind and rain in between, but you win some and you lose some. It was worth having fewer leaves to have the blue sky.
I was late enough in the afternoon that by waiting just a little bit I was able to get some alpen glow. Not too much this time of year; it's kind of an iffy thing, but I did get a little bit.

The pond itself was perfectly still and highly reflective. I was glad that I came back. The rain and wind had also broken up the skiff of algae that had formed. I just love fall shots, especially when there is water involved. Heck, I love anything with water involved! I wonder if that's because I'm an Aquarius? Nah--it's because I grew up on the shores of Lake Michigan.

I couldn't resist stopping by Snoqualmie Falls and seeing how it was running now that we've had some rain. They've been really low, but since the last few storms, they started running better. They look so nice in the fall with a little color as a backdrop. I wanted to get a shot from further back but they were kicking up such a thick mist you couldn't see them from further down the gorge.

Autumn's Oaks

Caught the temple grounds in bewteen rain squalls last Saturday. I can always count on the oak trees to be stunning against the fence, and this year they didn't disappoint, although they were a little thin due to weather (wind and rain) and my timing. I love oaks before they turn that drab acorn brown. Everything was wet, so the color was intensified, which was even better on such a gray day.

Autumn at the River

This is just around the bend from Sleepy Hollow Road from yesterday. There's an old RR trestle that goes across the river; the old railroad bed has been turned into a hiking/biking trial, and the bridge makes a great vantage point for river shots. I was hoping for a blue sky day, but a dry day is just as good this time of year!!

Autumn's Sleepy Hollow Road

There's a road in the valley that Rick and I call Sleepy Hollow Road, and when we were out on a ride (YES!! OUT!!) the other day we went by to see if the leaves had turned. (Notice I seem to have a thing for arched trees? It comes from growing up in old mid-west towns with elm trees and big old maples and oaks lining the streets) They had....
And, although I don't know how to do textures, I do know how to apply the ones that come with my editing program--a "dummy's version". I like the rough graininess of this.

Autumn Overhead

I love this sidewalk--it's in front of an office park, and as far as I am concerned, is totally wasted--all this beauty on a side street in front of office buildings!!

On the other hand, not many people know about it, so I feel like it's my secret photo spot in the fall.

Autumn Glimpses

Small.....
...and larger....

The day after I took this the rains and wind hit, and all the leaves were stripped off the tree. Sometimes timing is everything.

Reflections

Got a chance to get out today while DS was at the house to watch football with Rick, so went up to my favorite nursery for a bit. Couldn't resist this gazing ball with the double reflection going on in it--a gazing ball within a gazing ball! Can you spot me taking the photo?
One more view of the double gazing reflection...

LOVED the reflections of the trees in these office windows. Almost looks like a semi-Mondrian painting, if he had done anything remotely realistic.

Autumn Cheating

I miss autumn. I confess, I am an autumn snob. I grew up in Michigan, and I am used to a multi-colored, splendiferous autumn, full of a multitude of colors ranging from yellows to golds to oranges to reds to rusts to almost purples, and every conceivable blend in-between. Autumn out here is pretty, but it is basically green and gold, unless there are some patches of vine maples along the flanks of the mountains, and then you get some wonderfully intense reds and oranges, but not enough, not enough.

So, when I need my fix, I go...yes...to the nursery, and browse through the trees and pretend I am in the woods back in Michigan (except there has never been a mountain like THIS back there!!)

The rains are hitting now, so the trees that are changing are going to have a hard time holding on to the leaves, because with the rains come the winds... I am afraid that our long, dry, warm wonderful summer and fall are over, and the Northwest Wet has descended. The long-range forecast look dismally wet for several weeks. Time to curl up with some good books, a nice fire, and some hot cocoa!!

Refractions, not Reflections

It's been really rainy the past few days, so no chance of reflections (or of getting out anyway), but I was able to catch a couple of refractions on my end-of-the-season dahlias in the garden. These heavy rains beat them down and they are just about ready to give up, even though they are still blooming nicely... They bloom around here until we get a hard frost. Some years I have dahlia bouquets until Thanksgiving!

Rattlesnake Reflections III

The last of the excursion...
This is from last year--the light was absolutely perfect; it was slightly earlier in the evening, and the leaves had turned, so the reflections were a little warmer behind the stumps.

And for those of you who commented about rattlesnakes--there aren't any here around Seattle. It's too wet. The name of the lake comes from the early settlers in the area. There are some plants that when the seed pods dry and shake in the wind, the seeds rattle and sound like a rattlesnake--hence the name. Believe me, if there were rattlesnakes out there, I would not be hiking out there by myself!

Rattlesnake Reflections II

The curves, the lines, the colors, the way the light was hitting, and the wonderful abstract feel.... I love these tight crops.

Reflections at Rattlesnake

I love this time of year, when the water out at Rattlesnake Lake is so low that all the old forest stumps are revealed. Late in the day, when the wind has died down and the light is right, the reflections are to die for, and I can shoot until the light is too low to get anything decent.
This shot became so abstract with the sun hitting the water, turning everything white--I loved the idea of the stump and the reflection floating in mid-air.

I love pulling in on the stump and tightening up on the reflection, so that it becomes even more abstract. You'll probably see more of these this week, since this has been my only outing, and I love this kind of stuff anyway! (Unless I dig through the back files for some old reflections, that is...)

Market Colors--heating up

Had a chance to get down the the Market a couple of weekends ago, and had a blast looking at the harvest of fruits and veggies. I am always amazed at the bounty at the end of the summer and into fall, and all the colors that nature provides for us--especially the HOT colors!!

What a combo---plums and grapes. I love the blue-y blush on the plums, and the way they contrast with the grapes. Can't you just taste the juicy goodness of these??

I love the Fuji apples--their colors are so soft and demure and maidenly--almost a blush. Nothing bold about them, nothing flaunting their wonderful taste. A crate full of Fujis sits at the market and draws people to them with the delicate colors and shades and delectable fragrances...

Those peppers absolutely sizzled, even the green ones! They were more chartreuse than yellow!