Autumn Leaves

[Resonator]

Today is the first day of fall, and in some places the leaves are already changing. I was going through some pictures from one million miles of traveling, and found a couple from ten years ago with fall colors. This one was in the U.P. of Michigan where Hwy 41 and 141 intersect.



These other two are from Minnesota along Hwy 169, south of the twin cities. This was right after sunrise, and it was a bright, clear blue sky, October day. This made for good "color saturation", (old photographers term). The best time to photograph is usually early morning or late afternoon, when the sunlight angle is low.

[lxskllr]

My favorite time of year, with winter as a close second. It's not fall here yet. I don't care what the calendar says. It isn't fall til the leaves are turning, and you can smell wood smoke. The woods are detectably thinner now, and the walnuts are shedding leaves and nuts, but it's not fall yet.

[Resonator]

                 
The temp got frosty last night, got a couple pics in the morning light of trees in my back yard. (The white dot in the first one is the moon.) If anyone wants to go traveling to see fall colors, there is a good nationwide map at smokymountains.com - Fall Foliage Prediction Map. It also explains some tree science of how Chlorophyll, Beta-Carotene, Anthocyanins, and Flavonols produce the colors we see.

[sawguy21]

 8) Absolutely beautiful. The leaves are turning here but we don't get the explosion of color you see in the east. Mostly conifers with partches of aspen that turn yellow.

[SawyerTed]

Beautiful!  I saw there were near freezing temps up your way already.   It will be two or three weeks before we start getting leaves changing. Our first frost is after the middle of October. 

[samandothers]

Yep next trip to our land we will need to start the RV antifreeze in our camper. :-\

[SwampDonkey]

Yep, great time of the year in hardwood and mixed forests (I like the spruce and fir mixed in the hardwoods). We took a drive through NE Maine yesterday. Around Mars Hill, over to Mapleton, down route 11 to Masardis, then down 212 to Oakfield and to Smryna for lunch at Brookside, up to Houlton on the 95 and across to Woodstock, N.B for groceries and back to Royalton. Beautiful scenery, great roads and no traffic at all.

[Hilltop366]

Spent some time at the camp on thanksgiving weekend and took a few pictures on a canoe paddle up the river.

 

 

 

    

[Resonator]

Beautiful! That 2nd picture looks good enough to frame!
                                        

[Hilltop366]

Thanks, still can't compare to being there!

[Resonator]

One more picture I got before the cold rain, wind, and snow (already!) took the leaves down in my woods. Though some areas near me, the leaves are still holding on. Heard a few people say this was a great year for fall colors. I wanted to make sure I got a pic of this particular maple in my woods, as a wind storm half uprooted a poplar tree behind it, and is leaning directly toward it.