Caumsett, Three

I was composing this photograph and balancing the arrangement of the dark black tree trunks and the bush on the right.  Suddenly a runner came by me and as he ran into the distance and got smaller and smaller I rapidly clicked away.  I like him this size so he is there but is not a dominant part of the photograph.  Not a lot of fall color in this photograph.

I found this brilliant red leaf on the trail and picked it up.  I wished it was a perfect leaf, but of course it is not.  So I was thinking just forget about this, but I photographed it anyhow.  Then afterwards decided that so many things in the world are not perfect, and this leaf does show us how brilliant the fall colors can be.  So here it is, beautiful in its imperfection!

 

Caumsett, Two

Fall color, more or less, I guess.  It's funny because in some places it looked way past peak color and in others many of the trees were still shades of green.  There is some color here but nothing really spectacular I think.  But I shot it because most of the trees we can see have some color.  I did a search and discovered that the best fall color depends on rain maybe in August or something but then very little rain in September and October. But that was not the case for us this year, so, mostly subdued colors.

So two for one here.  These brilliant red berries really stuck out as I walked by this tree with dried out brown leaves.  Want to guess the type of tree?  I was surprised...  It is a Flowering dogwood!  The ripe berries serve as an important food source for songbirds and other wildlife moving through in the fall.  And it brightened my day to see them in the bright sunlight against the yellowish leaves of trees in the background.

 

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween.  Well, I guess a day late...  I think that Halloween is my favorite holiday.  And I have made a Jack-O-Lantern every year since I can't remember when.  I love coming up with a face and then doing the carving.  My Jack-O-Lanterns are never creative, they are definitely "old school."  I have seen some amazing faces by creative folks but I just do my traditional face.  Last year I was tired of buying a box of parafin wax from I think it was Gulf Oil or something and making a candle that would last for days because it was 3" by 3" made by putting the slabs together with heat.  So Kathy suggested we put a regular night light inside the pumpkin and run an electrical cord out the back and plug it in!  Genius!  It saves remembering to put the candle out so it wouldn't burn all night long and then be gone.  Tonight before writing this, I walked down the driveway to the street and looked back up at the porch where this sits and I realized how unusual it is that we have a "real" Jack-O-Lantern, made from a pumpkin on display with a light inside it.  This smiling guy is actually real and hand carved.  I don't think there is another like this in all of Sea Cliff.  All the others are made of plastic.  So I realized that this is something special in town and it made me feel good.

 

Caumsett, One

I drove out to Caumsett State Park which is about 40 minutes to the east of Sea Cliff.  Every year about this time I spend the afternoon looking for fall color.  I have done this almost every year for perhaps the last five years. I take the same route - the same roads and trails, and photograph the same places each year.  Of course inevitably the trees with color may be different each year.  The surprise was I was instantly fascinated by the grasses in the park!  Why had I not really "seen" these before.  So I was looking for trees and scenery but always looking for grasses.  So here is a selection of wonderful images that I found in my grasses quest!

I like that this photograph has a foreground, at the right, a middleground, in the center and a background, the tiny tuft on the upper left.

I saved this one for near the last because I think it is the most subtle of all the photographs and this is my favorite.  I think.  Unless I decide that the first one is my favorite!

I thought a close up might be interesting so that you can see the nature of different kinds of grasses close enough together to do some comparison. 

And lastly, a completely different kind of grass, growing in a different part of the park.  I love the delicacy of these grasses.  You should know that I was thrilled with the results of my quest.  Stay tuned for more Caumsett photographs in the days ahead.

 

I Am Tired of Skeletons...

I don't mean to be a grinch but I am getting tired of skulls and skeletons for Haloween!  I sound like a grouch.  I do love Jack-O-Lanterns and I will carve our pumpkin tomorrow!  I have ridden by this boy and girl scarecrows for a few days now, and today the light was perfect, so I stopped my bike and used my iPhone to take a photograph of this lovely fall display and these pair of smiling faces.  There, I have posted it and feel better already!

 

A Little More Fall Color

So when we got back from the beach I happened to notice this tree with red leaves in our neighbor's yard and that is more color than I have seen so far.  It is partially blocked by the Japanese maple tree's green branches, but some of the color shows up.  and I love seeing the two white Adirondack chairs in the foreground to complete a pretty photograph.

 

Fall Color

This was Dunkin' at the beach day.  So we parked facing this tree and bushes because we could get nice views of the harbor to the left and the right, so actually this was a good place to park.  I didn't think much about this view while we were sitting there taking in the day.  Then I realized that maybe this was a photograph in a way.  Because there were yellow leaves in the picture!  So I decided to call it Fall color.  We noticed that across the harbor were hundreds of trees on that side that were bare.  And I don't recall seeing any color on that side of the harbor.  I seem to remember if there is a lot of rain when the leaves change, their color is not as brilliant as it would be if it is more dry.  This Friday I am headed out to Caumsett State Park on Friday to hike and photograph for the afternoon.  I am wondering if I will see much color at all out there.  Stay tuned!