Indiana Fall 2024 – Leaf Clusters on Trees

I published a two part series on this topic on Substack, kenkemp650.substack.com. This post contains selected photos from the Substack series.

Leaf Cluster 1
Leaf Cluster 2
Leaf Cluster 3
Leaf Cluster 4
Leaf Cluster 5
Leaf Cluster 6
Leaf Cluster 7
Leaf Cluster 8
Leaf Cluster 9

Thanks for following,

Ken

 

 

Indiana Fall 2024 – Grounded Leaves

I published a number of Substack posts (kenkemp650.substack.com) with images of fall leaves. This post contains a subset of images from my Substack series “Grounded Leaves”.

These photos depict ordinary scenes one can see in the fall, especially on a forest floor. Which means these are not unique artistic creations and are only a capture of the ordinary, natural beauty we often take for granted, while we trample these fallen leaves beneath our feet.

Grounded Leaf 1
Grounded Leaf 2
Grounded Leaf 3
Grounded Leaf 4
Grounded Leaf 5
Grounded Leaf 6
Grounded Leaf 7
Grounded Leaf 8
Grounded Leaf 9
Grounded Leaf 10
Grounded Leaf 11
Grounded Leaf 12
Grounded Leaf 13
Grounded Leaf 14

Stay tuned for “Hanging Leaves”,

Ken

Indiana, Fall 2021, Part 17 – Charles C. Deam Wilderness

A continuation of photos captured during a morning hike in the Charles C. Deam Wilderness area of the Hoosier National Forest, Indiana.

Woodland Path
Bent and Bowed, Not Broken
Topical Conference
Dense Forest
The Ravine Way
Tree-O
Three by Three
Gatway
Lighting the Way
Green Markers

That’s it for this hike.

Until next time,

Ken

 

Indiana, Fall 2021, Part 8 – Ogle Lake, Brown County State Park

I continued hiking the trail around Ogle Lake and shooting images in and around the lake.

Fall Forest

The big lens allowed me to zoom into the edge of the forest across the lake, eliminating the sky and the lake from the scene.

Early Fall Color
Dreamy Reflections

Reflections in water are always a good subject.  The scene above drew me to it as soon as I noticed how the log divided the reflections and calmed the surface just enough to create the impressionist forest reflection.

Leaves and Trunk
Red Fall
Tattered

Before I left the park, I stopped and hiked along a trail through the forest.  I shot many images, but most were not all that appealing, so I’m just sharing a few of the better ones.

Forest Light
A Touch of Red
Big Red Mittens

Thanks for following,

Ken

Rio Grande National Forest, Colorado, September 26, 2020 PM, Part 2

Again, mostly photographs and few words.

Shelter. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/100s, f/11, ISO 3200.
Trunk Trio. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 52mm, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 3200.
Hint of Fall, B&W with selective colorization. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 400.
Sanctuary. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/250s, f/11, ISO 2000.
Forest Road and Barren Aspens, B&W with selective colorization. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 52mm, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 2000.
Advanced Fall, B&W with selective colorization. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 2000.
Advanced Fall. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 2000.
Hanging On, B&W with selective colorization. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/250s, f/11, ISO 2000.
Stump with moss and leaves. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 32mm, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 3200.

Just one comment to wrap up this post.  Viewers will note that I’ve include color versions of a few images that were then converted to black and white with selective colorization to add emphasis.

Stay tuned for the wrap up for my September 2020 Rio Grande National Forest visit.

Ken

Rio Grande National Forest, Colorado, September 26, 2020 PM, Part 1

For our late day shoot, we decided to drive back into a higher elevation portion of the forest. I’ll refrain from using too many words to wrap up the final shoot of my last day here, so these last several posts will consist of mostly photographs.

Aspen Fall.  Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/250s, f/11, ISO 2500.
Aspen Leaf and Evergreen. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 1600.
Leaf and Bark. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/80s, f/11, ISO 320.
Fall Forest. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/125s, f/11, ISO 1600.
Leaf Hoard. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 2000.
Leaf and Bough. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/250s, f/11, ISO 2000.
Golden Forest Floor. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 26mm, 1/250s, f/11, ISO 2000.
Gnarly. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 32mm, 1/250s, f/11, ISO 2000.
Soft Landing. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 3200.

To be continued,

Ken

Rio Grande National Forest, Colorado, September 26, 2020, Mid-Day, Part 2

I continued to shoot, under the overcast sky, in an upper elevation Aspen forest, where the ground was covered with fall leaves and an abundance of old logs and stumps of fallen trees.

Mossy Logs and Aspen Leaves. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 45mm, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 800.
Glory Fades. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/250s, f/11, ISO 1000.
Death in the Forest. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 28mm, 1/250s, f/11, ISO 1000.

The stump above reminds me of the skeleton skull of a longhorn steer that one might find in a desert setting.

Tree Stump and Aspen Leaves. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 34mm, 1/400s, f/11, ISO 1250.
Fading Away. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 1250.
Old Stump and Aspen Leaves. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 45mm, 1/250s, f/11, ISO 1250.
Colorful Forest Floor. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/640s, f/11, ISO 1250.

I found a batch of young evergreens among the large Aspens decorated by fallen Aspen leaves.

Evergreens and Aspens. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 58mm, 1/250s, f/11, ISO 1250.
Small Evergreen with Aspen Leaves. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 1250.

This wraps up the mid-day exploration and shoot and I want to remind viewers that the images look much better on the website or on Flickr (if posted there) and on a large screen, rather than in an e-mail or small mobil device screen.

Thanks for following and stay tuned for the final late day shoot,

Ken

Rio Grande National Forest, Colorado, September 26, 2020, Mid-Day, Part 1

After our morning shoot, my son wanted to explore some of the other Forest Service Roads nearby, so we drove along several of those and into higher elevations, where most of the trees had already lost most of their leaves.

It was an overcast day and the dispersed light was good for photographing in the forest.

Aspen Forest, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/125s, f/11, ISO 500.

With the trees mostly bare, the forest floor was covered in fallen leaves.

A vertical shot with a wide angle, standing to the side of a batch of Aspens, made those trees appear at an angle, rather than vertical.

Aspen Forest, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 500.

I found many stumps of old fallen trees with the roots sticking out at various angles that made interesting subjects.

Gnarly Stump and Fall Leaves. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 45mm, 1/125s, f/11, ISO 500.
Old Leaf Catcher. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 36mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 500.

And old logs covered with fallen Aspen leaves.

Fall. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 800.
Stump, Log, Limb, Leaves. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 35mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 800.
Death and Renewal. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 800.
The Cradle. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 48mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 800.
Weathered Stump and Aspen Leaves. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 38mm, 1/250s, f/11, ISO 800.
Mossy Stump and Aspen Leaves. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 28mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 800.

To be continued,

Ken

Rio Grande National Forest, Colorado, September 26, 2020, AM, Part 3

Looking for small details in a vast forest, sometimes one finds natural abstracts.

Stump Abstract, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 5000.

This weathered tree stump with map like contours caught my eye.  Here is a black and white conversion:

Stump B&W, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 5000.

The Aspen leaf in this photo had not quite completed its color transformation, before it fell to rest upon a mossy bed.

Yellow and Green, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/1250s, f/11, ISO 5000.
Aspen Leaves on Mossy Stump, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 3200.
Forest floor, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 3200.

I prefer to photograph these little details as I find them; but sometimes I’m tempted to move things around.  I did not move anything in the photo above; but I can’t help but wonder, if I should have.  Should I have removed the blade of grass pointing at the Aspen leaf in the middle?  Or does that blade of grass serve as a useful pointer in this photograph?  Would this image be better, if I had cleared away some of the debris around the edges or the scattered leaves, leaving just the single leaf in the center?  What about that little twig resting on the stump to the left of the center leaf?

I have no objection to “posing” a natural scene for artistic purpose and I have removed man made items from natural scenes and I’m quite ok with this.  I’ve occasionally removed a twig, a fallen tree limb or a blade of grass, if I thought those were distracting in a scene. But nature is not perfect, so will “cleaning” a scene make it unreal?  Is unreal ok in this sense?  No one would know the scene has been modified, if not so informed by the photographer.  Is it acceptable to “manufacture” a natural scene?

Red and Green, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/250s, f/11, ISO 800.
Aspen Leaf, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 65mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 800.

And I will wrap up this portion of this morning’s photos with one final forest image, which I just noted this morning was chosen for Flickr’s Explore page.

Forest Shadows, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/125s, f/11, ISO 800.

Stay tuned for the rest of today’s story,

Ken

Rio Grande National Forest, Colorado, September 26, 2020, AM, Part 2

Aspen Leaf on Stump. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/250s, f/11, ISO 6400.

This post is a continuation of photography in the Rio Grande National Forest, Colorado during the final morning of photography this September.

Aspen Leaf. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/125s, f/11, ISO 3200.

Many of my photos from today are of more of the small details seen in a forest.

Forest Spotlight. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/640s, f/11, ISO 3200.
Aspen Leaves, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/125s, f/11, ISO 3200.
Aspen Leaves, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 35mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 250.
Aspen Leaf on Mossy Log, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 26mm, 1/125s, f/11, ISO 5000.
Aspen Leaf on Mossy Stump, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 5000.
Aspen Leaf on Mossy Log, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/250s, f/11, ISO 5000.

Stay tuned for mid-day and afternoon of our final day in the Rio Grande National Forest,

Ken