Fall Colour Season 2018

    So Remembrance Day is over and, when I went out for a walk the other day, they were putting up Christmas decorations downtown.                                                                                      

So, I guess the fall colour season, my favourite time of year, is pretty much over. I had a pretty good autumn this year.  The colours were a little patchy, but, overall, I managed to get some good images. I took some time off in October and rented a car for a few days. I didn't travel far enough out of town for an overnight excursion but opted to do a few day trips from home  base.                                                                                                                                                            On my first day with the car I went out and purchased a new pair of hiking boots that I had seen advertised on line. I know. This is a photography blog.  What does a pair of hiking boots have to do with making photos? I'm a practical photographer. I subscribe to the advice attributed to the famous (and infamous) New York photographer, Weegee. "F8 and be there." A good pair of warm, sturdy and comfortable boots goes a long way to helping me "Be there." Too many photographers spend too much time worrying about their camera gear and not enough time worrying about the rest of their kit. Hmm... Probably a good subject for a future post.                                                

     


   

 

 Beyond acquiring some new footwear, the only thing I achieved photographically that day was a photo of an old Fargo truck. It sits in a field just outside of town across from a local farmer's market. A few of my photographer friends  in town have photographed it so I thought that I would try my hand at it. 

    The next day I went to Rattlesnake Point Conservation Area. Rattlesnake Point (I've never seen a rattlesnake there.) is on the Niagara Escarpment near Milton, Ont. It is a beautiful place that offers some awesome views of the surrounding countryside. It was wonderful way to spend a perfect autumn day.

                            

       Before relinquishing the car the next day, I made a trip to another conservation area a little closer to home. The colours at Pinehurst Lake were not quite as brilliant as Rattlesnake Point but it was a beautiful morning nonetheless.                                                                                

                                                      

           The Thanksgiving weekend was overcast and rainy, not the sort of light I like for my traditional "Autumn at the Dam" pictures that I usually post on Facebook. It wasn't until the following Tuesday that I managed to get the morning light that I wanted. I know that I photograph this place far too often, but, it's impossible to not feel thankful when I live a five minute walk away from such a beautiful spot.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

     Since getting back into photography, I have been doing mostly landscape stuff. I want to expand into doing more portraiture but don't have enough digital photos of people to present in a digital portfolio. I have a lot of people pictures from my days of shooting on film. But, it is time consuming to go through my old collection of slides and negatives and transfer them to digital. Besides which, an image transferred from film generally does not look as good as an image originally shot on digital. To that end, I am looking for new faces to photograph to develop a digital portfolio. I have a friend who had done some modelling for a photographer friend of mine. When I explained my situation, she agreed to a photo shoot.

     The day of our planned shoot was heavily overcast and threatening rain but we managed to get a good hour of shooting in before the showers started. It  was great to work with Haley. She is  comfortable in front of the camera and can pull off any look, from "Girl next door"  to "Tough street kid". She also has a creative mind and is great for contributing ideas to the shoot. It was fun and a bit of a challenge for me to be doing that kind of photography again.

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     So as the Autumn season winds down, the Christmas season is ramping up. (Shameless plug alert!) I will be setting up a display at the Wincey Mills Christmas Market, December 1st, 2018 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The plan is to market prints, both framed and unframed, in sizes up to 11"X"14". Christmas cards as well as a selection of my Paris postcards will also be available. I had a great time the last time I participated in one of these market events and I'm looking forward to this one.

 So that's about all that I have to report in the life of a part-time, small town photographer. As usual, if you like what you see here, don't be afraid to hit the like button, leave a comment or share to the media platform of your choice. As always thanks for reading and checking out the pictures.

....more later