I Love This Tree!

I am sorry for boring you with yet another photograph of this tree. I have photographed it twice in the past two days, even though I posted a photo of it only several days ago! I was backing out of the driveway, and not only were the colors better today, but the angle resulted in a more cohesive design, I though. So I parked the car in the street, and got the camera, and photographed it again. This is the best view of all, and the best photo. Please click on it for a larger image and better color. If you do that I promise I will stop posting more photos of it. Well, maybe...

The Lawyer

As frequent readers will note, I have covered a couple of press conferences lately, for people suing for wrongful death and medical malpractice. These events are held in conference rooms with fluorescent lighting, which is pretty boring as far as lighting is concerned. This room had blinds, and two of the slats were missing. At first I wondered if it would make a mess of trying to light the three people who were talking. I got the photos I needed, and then saw this and figured I would play around with the light to get something different. Not necessarily anything useful for the paper, but an interesting exercise is how to see beyond the normal way of seeing.

The Stove

This stove is in the backyard of the house next door. We have new neighbors, and boy, are we lucky! They are a young couple with a 2 year old. He grew up in the next town over, and she is from the Netherlands. They lived in Holland for three years, before moving to the US. He said when they were packing the container with their belongings for the move, they were going to toss out this cast iron outdoor stove, but then realized that it would fit so why not bring it. It is used for burning wood to warm up when sitting around on the patio on a cool day. I love how it looks, sitting out here amongst the leaves. I also love the grape aqrbor to the right of the photo.

Lawsuit

And now for something completely different... Here is the story about this photograph. A landlord was renting a home to two families. The home was actually condemned, had no heat, and the power had been turned off. The landlord allegedly bought a portable generator, and to insure that it would not be stolen, set it up in the BASEMENT of the home where it was left running! Two people died from asphyxiation. One man was a young father, who worked two jobs, and loved his wife and young child. Fortunately the mother and child were staying in another home that had heat. He stayed in the condemned home so no one would steal their belongings. He died in his sleep. This is his mom and her lawyer at a press conference announcing a lawsuit against the town and the landlord. A terribly sad story.

The Japanese Maple

I hope you will excuse my fascination with the Autumn colors in my yard - it is such a joy to see. Fall is clearly my favorite time of year. And not just for the brilliant colors - I also love to watch the fading of life all around, when bright colors turn to more subtle hues. There is joy in watching flowers and plants change from the vigor of life to the beauty of decay. This Japanese Maple tree was here when we moved in in 1971 and I have photographed it innumerable times, in all seasons. I am in love with the shape of the branches and can always find a photograph here. It is the last tree to loose its leaves, and when they fall to the ground, they are the most delicate leaves I have seen. When the ground is covered with them, it makes a lovely close-up photograph. I will just have to take that picture this year for you.

Morning Ablaze

When we arrived back on Long Island late yesterday, I was thrilled to see that the trees had finally turned to their autumn colors. Quite a change in a week away - I thought they would never change this year. Upstate, all the trees have dropped their leaves by now. I was not prepared, however for how beautiful everything was. Not until I went out to the car this morning to go get bagels. I was stunned at the sight of all the trees backlit by the morning sun! It was a perfect day, so before I even ate breakfast, I spent about an hour photographing the trees in my yard. Having lived here for 36 years, there are certain shots that I know will always work. I tried those, and then looked for new ways of seeing things. I ended up with a whole bunch of "keepers," but chose this one for the blog because I don't remember shooting this view ever before.

Driving Home

We headed back home from Rochester this morning. Driving through Geneva, NY we drove by Seneca Lake, one of the Finger Lakes. There is a park alongside the road, called Seneca Lake State Park. I saw some nice colors and shapes, so I stopped for about 15 minutes to see what I could make of it. This is the result. Kind of reminds me of the crooked grape vines I photographed a couple of weeks ago.