Brown County State Park, near Nashville, Indiana is a lovely park with hardwood forest, lakes and miles of hiking and biking trails through the forest. We were staying just a few miles from the park, making it an easy place to access for Autumn photography.
Possibly my favorite place to photograph in this wonderful park is around Ogle Lake.
I regret that I did not get out as early in the mornings as I should have for the best of sunrise. Even though I got up early enough to get into the park at or before official opening time, I lingered over my coffee and light breakfast too long, as it was so pleasant doing so in the cabin.
My first morning in the park, I decided to use my big lens, a Nikon 80-400mm with a 1.4 extension. With the fall color still not being near peak, I figured I would try to get more intimate shots, rather than wide angle images.
Walking along the dam at the end of the lake, I took time to get close ups of some of the colorful leaves, back lighted by the early morning sun light, on small trees or bushes at the waters edge, before hiking on the trail around the lake.
Yellow and BrownGreen, Red, Yellow
From the dam and the hiking trail, I shot across the lake into the forest on the opposite side.
Fall Lake ViewEarly and LateLeaning Into FallFall by the LakeFall ImpressionAcross the LakeSpindly
That’s enough for now. I will continue this photography hike in the next post.
A few days into our fall 2021 visit to Indiana, the fall colors had still not progressed very much; but I was restless and needed to get out to explore the area. By doing so, I might find areas to visit later, when the colors were better.
After consulting a map of the local area, I decided to head to Monroe Lake State Park, southeast of Bloomington.
Monroe Lake State Park, Indiana
My base was just south of Brown County State Park (the red rectangle in the upper right corner). The quickest route to Monroe Lake would be into Nashville, then west on US 46 towards Bloomington, but I had traveled that route numerous times already and I wanted to check out the backroads, so I meandered through the countryside farmland and forest, approaching Lake Monroe from the south, crossing the causeway into Paynetown.
I can’t recall the exact route that I took and I doubt that I could duplicate it even if I wanted to. Many county backroads were involved. I drove through a number of small communities, some that were little more than a few houses at crossroads.
Along the way, I found a small, abandoned country store and stopped to get a few photos.
Abandoned Country Store
This photo shows some fall color, but it is still not fully developed.
I had hoped there would be scenic views from the long causeway over Monroe Lake, but that was a disappointment. There were no places to stop on the causeway, so I could not have gotten any photos from there, anyway.
Arriving at the state park entrance, I paid the entry fee and drove to a large parking lot at a boat launch area. The lot was mostly empty. I walked a path towards a floating boat dock and noted that there were many geese on the shore across the inlet. So I returned to my vehicle and put on my 80-400mm lens with a 1.4 extension.
I returned to the boat dock and shot numerous images of the geese, but I was still too far away to get really good images. A group of geese swam from the shore across the inlet to the boat launch area, where I shot a few more images.
Marching Geese
I could not get too close to the geese, as they would move away as I got too close. I thought it interesting how they seemed to follow a leader along the roadway at the boat launch. I cropped the image above from one of my shots.
I drove around the rest of the park afterwards, but did not see anything else I wanted to photograph today. There were only a few people in the park, but I expect this is a popular place in the warmer months. I noted there were a number of hiking trails in the forest and this is probably a good place for a forest hike, if I return later.
I explored a side road into the Hoosier National Forest off of my return route, but cut my exploration short, since I was low on gasoline and there were no filling stations along my backcountry route.
This is continuation of the iPhone photography in Indiana antique stores during the early days of our two week fall stay in Indiana.
Old American PotteryABC’s of Photography
Older photographic equipment always gets my attention. I’m glad I do not have to use those items.
Dangerous People
Some of those pictured in this poster, seem to be misclassified as Rock and Roll musicians. After noting one such collage of these bad criminals, I began to see these more often in this area.
Shot Glasses
Bad guy entertainers may be unpopular here, but alcoholic beverage items are prominently celebrated.
Bourbon Barrel
And Bing Crosby is ok.
Bing on DeccaSix of Hearts
I started this post with pottery items, so maybe I should end it with pottery.
This is the third year of visiting Indiana in the fall. The first visit was mostly to attend a few of the Covered Bridge Festivals, visit my wife’s relatives and see the fall color. We were about a week too early for the fall colors during the first visit. We visited a little later in the fall last year and we were late for the fall color peak. Many of the larger trees were already bare, thanks to a storm that came through the week prior to our visit. We thought we had the perfect timing this year, but we were early, fall color was late. Most of the trees were still mostly green and just barely beginning to show some color.
We were staying two weeks this year, so I decided there was no need to rush out to photograph. I could wait a few days and hope for the color to arrive before we departed for home.
During the early days of our time here, I went out with my wife, sister-in-law and brother-in-law to do those things they wanted to do. The first full day we were here was the last day of the Covered Bridge Festivals, so we went to one of those that day.
The Message
I’m not convinced that this sign conveys what the creator and seller of this product intended. It seems to suggest that there may already be indications of health issues associated with tobacco smoke. Wouldn’t effective advertising avoid bringing attention to any possible risk to using a product?
Green Window on Red Siding
The following early days of this visit we drove to antique malls or stores, which the others liked to browse. These drives allowed me to monitor the fall color progression and I used my iPhone to practice getting mostly indoor photos of various objects in the antique places.
Pigs ‘n Sam
I could, at least, reminisce about watching Saturday morning cartoons as a child.
Three Amigos?
The one on the left might shoot the other two, so maybe they were not amigos?
Minnie, Daisy and DonaldWicked Witch Boots
Surely, the Wicked Witch of the West wore these in The Wizard of Oz?
Early in our stay in Indiana in late October, 2021, I looked out the window and saw that it was a foggy morning. I walked to the roadway in front of the cabin to check out the scene.
Foggy Roadway
I only had my iPhone with me, so I used it to snap a few images in the early morning fog.
Morning Fog and Sun RaysFall FogDiffractionMorning Forest FogMorning Fog and Sun Rays
Just a reminder that all of the images in this post are via an older iPhone, so if that is all you have with you, use it!
This is a continuation of my iPhone photography in Indiana Antique Stores in October, 2020.
Pile of Cameras, iPhone Photos
I think the camera in the middle is an Argus brand. I had an Argus C3 that I acquired, when I was in high school. I do not know what happened to that camera.
There are always lots of old jars, bottles, dishes and glassware in the antique malls. Sometimes the displays make interesting photograph subjects, sometimes not.
Old Glasses, Monochrome, iPhone PhotoAn antique lard bucket, iPhone Photo
Lard was a common cooking item up until not so many years ago and I suppose some people may still use it. It was a common item in my childhood home.
Mild and Satisfying?, iPhone PhotoOld Scythes and Hand Saw, iPhone Photo
One of those tools looks out of place. I even have a rusting Sears Craftsman handsaw in my garage, that I’ve not used for many years. It does not have the carvings on the wood handle that this older one has.
Antique Bottles, iPhone Photo
More bottles and jars.
Antique Jars, iPhone PhotoAn old Automobile Service Station Jar, iPhone Photo
Was this bottle used to contain gasoline or motor oil?
Old Blue Jars, iPhone PhotoAntique Wood Spoke Ford Automobile Wheel, iPhone Photo
This wheel was still attached to an old automobile or truck in the backyard of an antique store in a Indiana small town. The blue bottles in the photo above the wheel photo were in the same outdoor space near the automobile.
A cold front blew through on one of our days in Indiana in October, 2020, bringing rain and significantly colder temperatures. The wind caused a temporary power outage in our country cabin that lasted for a few hours.
My wife had been out into the local area with relatives, visiting antique and craft stores, while I was out shooting photos. She wanted to see a few more of these places and venture further away, so we made plans to do this, during the colder, rainy weather.
I did not take my DSLR on our outing, but I used my iPhone to capture a few images of some of the items on display in the antique stores.
Antique Jars with Lids, iPhone PhotoA collection of old woodworker hand planes, iPhone Photo
I’m not much for acquiring these old items, but am intrigued by some of these items. Especially, the old craftsman type tools, maybe because I’m a bit of a do-it-yourselfer, with some experience with woodworking.
Old Woodworker Chisels, iPhone PhotoOld Carpenter Rules and Tools, iPhone Photo
I actually have a collection of old rules (and a few marking gauges, too). My rules are very much like those in the photo above. I was into collecting these years ago. I still like these old rules and I’m tempted to purchase others, but so far, I’m resisting the urge to acquire more.
Golden Wedding Whiskey Bottle, iPhone Photo
I wonder what the honeymoon was like after consuming a bottle of Golden Wedding Whiskey?
Norma Jean, aka Marilyn, iPhone Photo
Maybe with Marilyn it would still be a good honeymoon.
To find places to get out into nature and find prospective places for outdoor photography, I frequently look at maps, either paper maps or digital maps with satellite views. Using this method I found that the Yellowwood State Forest was only a few miles from the cabin, where we were staying. So I had to take time to explore that area.
There is a sizable lake in Yellowwood State Forest with a trail that goes around the lake. The first part of the trail beginning at a parking lot was not of great interest. It was sandwiched between the lake and a roadway for maybe a half mile before it began to depart from the roadway at the end of the lake.
Near where the trail turned away from the roadway, I found an old dead tree that looked like a good photography subject.
A dead tree in Yellowwood State Forest, Indiana.
On the opposite side of the lake from the parking area, a branch went away from the lake; but I continued along the trail that followed the lake shoreline. The trail became more scenic there with the lake on one side and deeper woods on the other side.
Big Leaf. Yellowwood State Forest, IndianaHiking Trail in Yellowwood State Forest, Indiana
It was a little early in the afternoon for the best light for outdoor photography, so including any portion of the sky produced unpleasant results and I did not try to use any filters, while shooting handheld. I posted a cropped version of the hiking trail image (above) on Flickr. I think you will agree that taking out the sky improved this image.
Four Left Turns. Yellowwood State Forest, Indiana.
I found the growth pattern of the vine in the above photo interesting. Why did it make those right angle turns? It eventually went up the tree in the normal direction. Maybe it got its directions from Apple Maps.
I began to look for ways to exclude the sky from my compositions. Sometimes portions of the sky were necessary to get the desired parts of the landscape into my compositions with my lens of choice, then I cropped the sky out in post processing.
Fall in Yellowwood State Forest, Indiana
There is also a cropped version, isolating the back lit leaves on the forest floor, of the image above on Flickr.
Fall in Yellowwood State Forest, IndianaA red leaf in Yellowwood State Forest, Indiana.A Toadstool in Yellowwood State Forest, Indiana.
The toadstool image here is a cropped version of one that is posted to Flickr. I thought that there were distracting parts of the original image, so I severely cropped it; but I actually still prefer the original version.
Fall in Yellowwood State Forest, Indiana
Back lighted leaf and shadows, Yellowwood State Forest, Indiana.Yellowwood State Forest, Indiana.Pink leaves of fall, Yellowwood State Forest, Indiana
The portions of my images from this trip that include the upper parts of the larger, more mature trees, show the lack of foliage on them. This would have been a much more successful visit for outdoor fall photography had I been here a few days earlier; but that is the gamble one makes, with long range planning. One has to adapt and being outdoors in natural surroundings is always a joy.
I left Ogle Lake and drove back towards the main roadway. I stopped at a pull out before getting to the main route and walked along the roadway to shoot more just off the road. As I walked beside the road I came to a trail, so I decided to take a short walk along the trail.
Hiking Trail in Brown County State Park, Indiana
The trail was covered with fallen leaves along much of the route that I walked. The trail is just barely discernible in the lower left of the image above.
Fall in Brown County State Park, IndianaYellow Leaf and Moss on an old log, Brown County State Park, IndianaLeaf and Fungi on an old log, Brown County State Park, IndianaBrown County State Park, Indiana
It was mostly overcast on this day. The dullness of the sky in the background gives the images too much of a fuzzy look for my taste; but it was what I was given today.
Brown County State Park, IndianaBrown County State Park, Indiana
My short walk along the trail turned into a longer hike than I had planned. The trail meandered through the forest with frequent changes in direction, eventually following high above a ravine. The trail followed the ravine for quite a way, then crossed the ravine, then went along side the ravine in the opposite direction. I eventually came to a junction in the trail near a park roadway. I walked out of the woods to the road. I did not know which road I was on, but I knew the direction I needed to go to find my vehicle. I walked the roadway to a junction, which turned out to be the route to Ogle Lake. I only had to walk a short distance along the road towards Ogle Lake to my vehicle.
On my way out of the park I stopped to shoot at an overlook.
Brown County State Park, IndianaBrown County State Park, Indiana
After stoping at a number of pull outs along the main roadway in Brown County State Park, I continued to Ogle Lake and hiked the loop trail that goes around the lake.
At the end of the lake nearest the parking lot, I went off the trail down to the waters edge to get this image:
Ogle Lake, Brown County State Park, Indiana
I walked along the edge of the lake towards the north until I got back to the official trail, where I stopped to photograph reflections in the lake.
Fall Reflections, Ogle Lake, Brown County State Park, Indiana
There were not many others here today, so it was not difficult to keep a safe distance from others and I only had to standby occasionally to let others clear out of my compositions.
Brown County State Park, IndianaBrown County State Park, Indiana
At least a couple of hikers asked what I was photographing. The first to ask seemed to think that there must be something special that was not apparent along the trail to photograph. The second was a photographer with a long lens. He was photographing birds and thought I must be doing the same. I guess we all have our own thoughts about what is worthy of photographing.
Brown County State Park, IndianaBrown County State Park, Indiana
As I rounded the end of the lake and began to hike along the south side, I noted some very nice reflections on north side of the lake.
Fall Reflections, Ogle Lake, Brown County State ParkFall Reflections, Ogle Lake, Brown County State Park, IndianaFall Reflections, Ogle Lake, Brown County State Park, IndianaFall Reflections, Ogle Lake, Brown County State Park
The reflections in the lake seemed to me to be the best images that I’ve gotten so far and I struggled to make interesting compositions for the rest of the hike.
Brown County State Park, IndianaBrown County State Park, IndianaGrafiti Tree, Brown County State Park, Indiana
