On A Late Autumn Day...

 

"The forest has a thousand moods... 

For every mood an answering bird. 

The bird is but a living word

To voice the spirit of the woods;

His own, the singer must sing;

He may not touch an alien string,

Nor silent be, nor fail the key,

Lest that aerial symphony.

which ever and forever weaves

It's mystic numbers through the leaves,

Should lack one deep or tender tone.

However dark, however lone

The shadow or the solitude,

The mighty oneness of the wood

Links singer unto singer there,

And pours one choral on the air.

~James H. Ecob

The Choral of the Forest, 1911

A beautiful Osprey, on a late Autumn day.

Golden Blossoms, Red Fences

 

“We tried the golden age's of lands, what of all the other soil, water and air, with all that lives in each, who wants a bit of gold too. 

 

 Who knows when does winter ends.”

 

~Unknown

 

That's was a beautiful autumn moment in front to me, but obviously winter and spring are there too. Seasons are magical, as I overstate every autumn. To be honest, I believe it's the magic of autumn that allows me to see it in nature, when I need it the most, and there it was the other day... autumn, winter, and spring all sharing one space. Some folks may not notice the things that make each seasons special, but in that photography keeps you in the moment, I am lucky enough the be able to really see spring blossoms, the Mexican free-tailed bats of summer, the glorious autumn leaves and the shadows of winter. I live in the moment as much as possible.

I love it. 

 

Western Bluebird And The Slant Of Light In Autumn

 

"Leaves doesn't wait for autumn to shed,

 they shed when they are ready,

 bad experiences doesn't wait,

 they leave when you are ready."

~Pushpa Rana

Just The Way I Feel

 

Monday was a beautiful day, filled with a lot of light, but also the shadows that are so unique during winter and autumn. I found a beautiful combination of lighting opportunities, but late in the day was my favorite time. I was visiting the East Bay, Castro Valley, specifically, and decided to visit the park at the Community Center. It has a beautiful slant of cool, filtered light in the afternoon, due to the natural filter of the trees, and the slopes of the terrain of the park. I took the photo above at about the same time I photographed the Western Bluebird at the top. It was lucky that I just happened to be in the parking lot, which sits in the center of the park, which allowed me to photograph both lighting opportunities at once. I was happy with the time I spent there. It was a good day.

 

 

Note: Current Results Of The 2020 Election As Of 4:50 PM PT

 

 

 

 

~Carly

Stockton California

November 5th 2020

Facing Inner Darkness And Bad Vacations

Saturday November 2nd, 2019 

Stockton, California

Autumn is the time of balance and of sacrifice, a time when the light is defeated by darkness, a time when night takes over and brings the coming winter. The ancient wisdom says that those who long for light must face their inner darkness and overcome it."

~Tony Riches

The Secret Diary Of Eleanor Cobham

This is one of the last photos I took, while still on vacation. I was tired at this point, and just wanted the whole thing to be over, but I was not cynical about photography, and I was happy to still fit in a little time to celebrate the shadows and the twilight on the last evening before the clocks changed. Personally, I love moving the clock backward and gaining that extra yummy bit of autumn, but not if it meant I had to deal with one more hour of that vacation. I decided to not think about it, and just move on.

#54 Leaf Of The Day

November 15th 2019

Photographed November 3rd 2019

University Of The Pacific

Stockton, Ca

Nikon

~Mood: Happy

~Me

A Mosaic Of Them All

"Winter is an etching, Spring a watercolor, Summer an oil painting, Autumn is a mosaic of them all."

~Stanley Horowitz

I have been in love with autumn since I was a small child. I always loved seeing the beautiful crimson, gold and deep purples of the season. I love the ripe pears and spicy pies. Cinnamon has always been my favorite scent, and Alan and I fell in love in autumn, and we were married in October. Autumn is a special time of year for me! I know it's strange, and I can't really explain it, but I have always felt healthier and more invigorated in autumn, like I have been renewed! And there is just something about a sight like this one, that fills me up with joy and happiness! It's magical!

Life Is Good

And, if FEDEX manages to stay on course today, my new camera will be here sometime this afternoon. It's a replacement for the Nikon Cool-Pix s3600 that went missing last month! I ordered the new one in a lovely shade of purple... autumn purple of course... and I can't wait to take it for a spin around the autumn world. Leaves, trees, Christmas lights, clouds, raindrops, wild geese, maybe even snow... who knows what the last of autumn may have in store? All I know is, I want to see every last leafy bit of it!

If I could, I would photograph every single leaf of autumn!

Leaf Of The Day

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Autumn Light Autumn Darkness

Autumn Daytime

"Autumn... The cheerful sundial; it falls in the shadow of they leaves.

 There, where your branches brace themselves against the gate of heaven."

~Kristian Goldmund Aumann

It's been raining in the Bay Area the last few days. Changing the light, changes the color of things, and I have been having an amazing time photographing the leaves. Cloudy days are my favorite days to experiment with the camera, but cloudy days are not without their challenges, but all in all I had a pretty good time! The same group of leaves photographed from different angles, a few hours apart. Their vibrancy changing with the light.

Autumn Nighttime

 

Autumn Shooting Star...

Dwell on the beauty of life. 

Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them."

~Marcus Aurelius

Meditations

I smiled when I saw that leaf floating in the water, it reminded me of a shooting star!

Leaf Of The Day

 

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Autumn Shadows Autumn Light

Autumn In Orinda, California

"No other time (than Autumn) does the earth let itself be inhaled in one smell, the ripe earth; in a smell that is in no way inferior to the smell of the sea, bitter where it borders on taste, 

 and more honey sweet where you feel it touching the first sounds. 

Containing depth within itself, darkness, something of the grave almost."

~Rainer Maria Rilke

Letter On Cezanne

Autumn Happens In California

It Is All About Shadows... And Light

Autumn In Monterey, Ca

Especially At Twilight

Autumn Leaves Fall From The Trees

The Flowers Are Happy To Be Yellow

The Leaves Begin To Turn In The Sierra

Placerville

And On The Road To South Lake Tahoe

And Twilight Along The San Francisco Embarcadero

It's Easy To Believe In Ghosts On A Day Like This In Autumn!

Leaf Of The Day

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Gentle Reminders

"It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart."

~Rainer Maria Rilke

I am enjoying spring. I love all the light colors. The pastels. Strange, I know, I am an autumn girl, and yes those earth tones will always catch my eyes before the soft pinks and amazing greens, but its a feast for the eyes, and one doesn't realize how much spring can be missed, until a gentle reminder warms your chilly bones. And the spring shadows are wonderful as well!

Mood: Content :)

~Me

Your Monday Photo Shoot: Working In Shadow

"Beware that you do not lost the substance by grasping at the shadow."

-Aesop

Your Monday Photo Shoot: Take a picture in which shadow plays a significant role in the composition. You may ask, how does this differ from the recent Photo Shoot involving silhouettes? Silhouettes are a very specific sort of shadow play, and for this assignment you can take a wider approach - shadows of all sorts (you can use silhouettes, of course. Just don't recycle the shot you use!). Shadows give a photo drama it might not otherwise have.

-John Scalzi ( By The Way)

In May of 2006, I took a tour of the inside of Fort Point, at the Golden Gate Bridge, and took about a million photos. There are a lot of shadows to be found in the old fort, but one of the most striking shadows, I saw that day, was the shadow cast by the bridge. I was on the very top of the fort, facing toward Marin County, and it was a gorgeous sunny day. I was thrilled to be able to get a picture of not only the beautiful Golden Gate, but also of it's shadow beneath, which made it see, like one could almost walk across the water into Marin. Sigh. I love that bridge.

In this second photo, if you look very closely, do you see the shadow of a tulip in a pot? :)


-OndineMonet
"Shadow Walk To Marin"
Fort Point
Golden Gate Bridge
May 13, 2006
Afternoon