Chasing Fall Color in 2018

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.”
― John Muir

Typically, by the end of October, I have spent several weekends “chasing” and photographing fall colors.  I spend each weekend going to the place that has the most abundant colors.  This typically starts at the higher elevations along the Blue Ridge Parkway at the end of September or early October and working my way towards home.  This year has been quite different.

Until this weekend, the majority of our area, even in the NC mountains, has remained green.

This was the first weekend that I was able to find much of any fall color to photograph.

My friends and I planned to meet and photograph Saturday at South Mountains State Park.  This has been a great destination to photograph in past autumns.  Although we did not find an abundance of fall color, we did find some patches here and there.

The water and waterfalls at South Mountains State Park are always great to photograph.  I spent more time with the water than with the leaves.

One of the things I like to do is photograph a specific thing using different compositions.  I then determine which one I like best once I get home.  After I uploaded these cascade images, I was undecided as to which I preferred.  I would love to know which one you like better and why.

As I walked along the bank of the river, I was drawn to the light as it illuminated the beautiful rocks lying beneath the water.  I was able to create this abstract using the rocks and light.

Although this fall, so far,  has not been what I typically think of when I think of fall colors, I will continue to “chase” fall color until all of the leaves have left the trees.

Even if I have not been able to capture what I consider typical fall images, I certainly have enjoyed my time trying and spending time with family and friends in the mountains.