Fall Forest – Ken's Photography and Travel Blog

Impressions of Fall 2025 – Part 9

Photos from hiking in an Indiana fall forest.

Whenever I think the ordinary forest scene photography is getting too repetivive and boring, I sometimes resort to ICM (Intentional Camera Movement) images. These are fun to do and there are no complicated rules of composition to try adhering to. Just use whatever aperture you like, a suitable ISO to avoid over exposure and a slow shutter speed (I usually use 1 second) and move the camera when the shutter is open. I think vertical movement yields the best results for vertical things, like trees, but other motions can be experimented with. Varying the speed at which the camera is moved yields different effects.

I suppose some might think these ICM images are similar and can become monotonous, too; but these are such fun to do that it can become addictive. These images were all created with a Nikon DSLR with a 24-70mm lens, but there are apps for phone cameras that allow such images to be created with your phone camera.

Stay tuned for more Indiana 2025 fall photos,

Ken

Impressions of Fall 2025 – Part 3

This is a continuation of fall photography in Indiana in the fall of 2025.

‘Forest Creature’ was chosen for Flickr’s Explore page, but I like ‘Poised to Strike’ better.

The photos above were all made, while hiking through an Indiana fall forest.

These below were all made in an Indiana creek that crosses an Indiana backroad.

Ok, I’ll admit to placing those leaves around the tire sidewall. Firstly, it is a shame that folks discard such items in manners that are detrimental to our environment. Secondly, other than photo documenting this litter, it might as well be dress up a little.

‘Leaf, Rock, Camera’ is an obvious allusion to the game “Rock, Paper, Scissors”.

Stay tuned for more Indiana fall photos,

Ken

Impressions of Fall 2025 – Part 1

Another year and another fall in Indiana. This year was much different than the previous few. Drought and a warm fall resulted in sporadic color change in the local trees and forests.

It was just after mid-October, when we arrived in Indiana, a time when the local forest fall foliage would normally be highly apparent. This year many trees were still fully green, a few had already changed almost completely and other were just exhibiting the seasonal change in color.

The “peak”, if it can be called that this year, came the first week in November and it was muted, compared to a “normal” year. I’m afraid this will become the “normal” in the future as climate change, which is not a “hoax”, continues its rapid advance.

For these ICM (Intentional Camera Movement) abstract images in a forest, one can include the sky or exclude it. I find that I prefer those images with the sky limited or excluded, which usually requires cropping the image in post processing.

The direction of the light is also a factor in these image. Side light produces alternating light and dark patterns across the image, which I tend to prefer.

Stay tuned for more fall impressions,

Ken

Charles C Deam Wilderness Fall 2024

The Charles C Deam Wilderness is southeast of Bloomington, Indiana and less than an hours drive via back roads from the cabin in which my wife and were staying for several weeks in the fall of 2024. I drove to the parking lot with the old fire lookout tower, where a trail into the wilderness begins, early one morning for a fall photo hike into the forest.

Thanks for following,

Ken

Multiple Exposure Fall – Part 4

This is the final portion of my fall photography using in camera multiple exposure.

Thanks for following,

Ken

Multiple Exposure Fall – Part 3

This is a continuation of my fall photography, using in camera multiple exposures.

“Hole in Log” surprised me. There was a leaf in a hole in an old log, which I photographed, then placed a leaf over that hole and photographed it. I expected to see at least part of the leaf in the hole showing through in the multiple exposure, but the blackness of the hole resulted in the pixels in the leaf over the hole taking precedence, resulting in a shape in the covering leaf in the shape of the hole.

To be continued,

Ken

Multiple Exposure Fall – Part 2

This is a continuation of my initial experimentation with in-camera multiple-exposure images.

To be continued,

Ken

Multiple Exposure Fall – Part 1

In addition to experimentation with a fisheye lens this fall, I also dabbled with in camera multiple exposure techniques, which offers many possibilities. My results were mixed, ranging from images that I liked to those that were total failures. It appears that I have much to learn about this photographic technique and I will continue working this.

I used only two images and an average of the pixels for all of these images, as that seemed to be a reasonable and simple starting point. More images can be used and there are other options of how the images are combined in camera.

In this series, I will share the images that I think worthy, even if some are not so appealing.

Before I ventured out for an intensive photo shoot, I began by making simple images around our cabin.

I began with the simplest of images, such as the one above with horizontal and vertical images.

Then I began to incorporate ICM (intentional Camera Movement) in at least one of the images.

Sometimes, I just moved the camera a little between shots, to get such images as Multiplying Leaves and Picasso Forest.

Another technique is to shoot the same scene with the first shot a simple, sharply focused image, then completely defocusing the image to a complete blur for the second image. I had most difficulty with this method, but still got a few good images.