About the Image(s)

Here in New England it seems everyone has been saying that this year will be a terrible year for fall foliage. Temperatures and rainfall have not lined up to produce the show that New England is known for. So I ventured up into the mountains of NH last week with limited expectations.

Perhaps I am not a connoisseur of fine leaves, but what I found did not disappoint. This month's image is captures some of that autumn glory. It was taken with a telephoto to isolate the colors and patterns on a hill positioned across a pond. I like this more abstract rendering vs. wider shots that include the pond or sky (which was a clear bright blue). I love the juxtaposition of the evergreens against the colored leaves. The trick was to find a pattern of this that seemed interesting. Thoughts on how well I did with that are welcome.

I included a second shot of roughly the same framing but taken later when I came back to this spot with the sun descending behind the hill. I love this geometry because the hill eventually shadows much of the vegetation except the tallest pieces which get brilliantly lit by the low angle back/side light. But this gives a very different look than the first image. The second one is more about the light vs. the first which is about the patterns. I'd appreciate thoughts on which people feel is the stronger image.

Sony a1, FE 70-200 f2.8 II, 1/30 sec, f8, ISO 100, 200mm, focus stack of two images.