A Quiet Retreat

creek-gazebo

This dilapidated gazebo sits beside a creek and looks like the perfect place to sip hot chocolate on a cool fall evening. Reality is no one ever uses it or appreciates what they have here.One day it will collapse into the creek and wash away. I think about the hundreds of people who drive by here every day and never see the beauty thats right in front of them.

Come Sail Away

boy-and-grandpa-by-lake

This image was a quick grab shot while I was shooting fall foliage. I noticed this boy and his grandfather looking around the fallen leaves and I was not sure what they were doing but I mostly ignored them as I was photographing the Ginko leaves here. I turned around and saw they were near the water, so I got my camera ready and captured this intimate scene. To be honest I never even knew they made a small leaf boat to set sail till I was reviewing my images at home. I wish I had asked for their contact info to share this with them.

The Enchanted Forest Chapel

gnome-chapel

This is my latest creation for our gnome village that sits along the rail trail behind our place. I spent the last two months whenever I had free time building this chapel. My wife painted the glass windows and the sign and I built the rest. It has speakers underneath to play music and has been very well received by those walking the trail.The little gnome couple by the door got married this week inside the chapel.

Glorious Ginko

ginko-fall-leaves

When it comes to fall color,the Ginko tree is hard to beat. One thing I have come to realize about the Ginko is that if you see it in full color, shoot it immediately or you might miss it. Case in point was one of these trees I saw almost at peak color on a friday evening and by monday morning every leaf was down on the ground.It has some sort of crazy mechanism that signals every leaf to drop at the same time, unlike every other tree I know of.This shot shows the freshly fallen Ginko leaves at a park.The leaves are a fan-like shape and vary from leaf to leaf.

Home for Fall

ephrata-blue-house-autumn

This is the same place I posted the other day,but this was shot at dusk for a more alive feel. To shoot this image I started with a base exposure before it got dark,then I started to light the various aspects of the shot with flash. This home used to be a neutral tone and the owner had asked me to try another shot since he had painted it this more intense hue.I finally decided to give it another go after I saw the carpet of leaves surrounding the place. At one point the lady of the house came out and I mentioned that turning some lights on would give it a much more inviting feel and much to my surprise she went and turned on every room light,which looked awesome.One complication I had to deal with was the doggone street lights came on halfway into the shoot and totally complicated things but I pulled it off despite that.