My fall photography did not go as planned.
When I arrived at my selected locations, after driving and hiking long distances, I was greeted with a variety of adverse conditions including strong winds, harsh light, and skies filled with dark clouds.
One of the more amusing situations occurred after a two hour drive to Grayson Highlands. The forecast was for calm winds and blue skies. I was greeted with dark clouds and 60MPH winds. After trying to make images at several locations I finally decided I would climb to the top of a rock outcrop and make a photo no matter what it took.
I mounted my camera to my tripod, set the self-timer, and then used every ounce of strength to keep the tripod legs "grounded". The first few times I tried
this I was blown backwards. I then managed to make the below image, but as I was holding the tripod legs to the ground my 20-pound backpack slowly slid away from me across the rocks. And then my hat blew off and landed on a ledge 30 yards away. Oh my....
However I also made images at unforeseen locations and encountered superb conditions for photography.
The unforseen occurred when a couple I met at the opening of the exhibition at Tipton-Haynes offered to take me out on their boat on Ripshin Lake. Ripshin is a small privately owned lake in the mountains of northeast Tennessee. Boats can be powered by electric motors or oars. We used both. It was a fantastic experience.
Fall at Ripshin II
Photography in a familiar place occurred two miles from my house on Bays Mountain. One of the difficulties in making images in the fall is the almost constant wind which is especially prevalent on Bays. I had planned to travel to photograph at another location but when I saw there was no wind and low hanging fog I immediately changed plans and drove to Bays. For a day and a half I had perfect conditions for photography - and only minutes from my house.
Autumn Leaves
Tall Trees of Autumn
It was the best fall season for photography I've experienced and my favorite images were made in places I had not planned to be.
To see additional fall images click here and then select New Images.
