Category: Landscape

Day 78 – Autumn Abstract

Autumn Abstract

Fall Leaves, Fall

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day;
Every leaf speaks bliss to me
Fluttering from the autumn tree.
I shall smile when wreaths of snow
Blossom where the rose should grow;
I shall sing when night’s decay
Ushers in a drearier day.

– Emily Bronte

In keeping with my vow to visit places I have not been before, I took a short field trip to Blue Heron Park in Phoenix this afternoon. The park itself is nothing special but it does afford access to parts of the Bear Creek Greenway I have not seen before. I found some falling down fences and some nice colors and then I got to playing with intentional blurs created by moving the camera at a slow shutter speed. I loved the way this one turned out because it looks like a painting and other than adding a little saturation I did nothing to it. This one I would hang on my wall (and I may) and I have seen much worse art hanging in public places. I went looking for a generic autumn poem today and came to the conclusion I have about run through them all, at least the good ones by known authors. But I had not see this one by Ms. Bronte before so wanted to include it.

Day 70 – Autumn Landscape

Horsesw

Merry Autumn

It’s all a farce,—these tales they tell
     About the breezes sighing,
And moans astir o’er field and dell,
     Because the year is dying.
 
Such principles are most absurd,—
     I care not who first taught ’em;
There’s nothing known to beast or bird
     To make a solemn autumn.
 
In solemn times, when grief holds sway
     With countenance distressing,
You’ll note the more of black and gray
     Will then be used in dressing.
 
Now purple tints are all around;
     The sky is blue and mellow;
And e’en the grasses turn the ground
     From modest green to yellow.
 
The seed burrs all with laughter crack
     On featherweed and jimson;
And leaves that should be dressed in black
     Are all decked out in crimson.
 
A butterfly goes winging by;
     A singing bird comes after;
And Nature, all from earth to sky,
     Is bubbling o’er with laughter.
 
The ripples wimple on the rills,
     Like sparkling little lasses;
The sunlight runs along the hills,
     And laughs among the grasses.
 
The earth is just so full of fun
     It really can’t contain it;
And streams of mirth so freely run
     The heavens seem to rain it.
 
Don’t talk to me of solemn days
     In autumn’s time of splendor,
Because the sun shows fewer rays,
     And these grow slant and slender.
 
Why, it’s the climax of the year,—
     The highest time of living!—
Till naturally its bursting cheer
     Just melts into thanksgiving.

 

-Paul Laurence Dunbar

 

I normally try to choose shorter poems but I like this one and after reading about the author I was even more impressed. The poem was written in 1896. Dunbar was an African American born in 1872 to freed former slaves. He died from tuberculosis in 1906 at the age of 33 having published 7 volumes of poems. Why have I never heard of him before???? Don’t answer that, I have my theories.
The photo is from my trip to the Applegate Valley. I don’t shoot many landscapes but the trees and the clouds and the mountains and the horses and the vineyard…well, it was hard to resist.

Day 50 – Vineyard

Vinyard

November

This is the treacherous month when autumn days
With summer’s voice come bearing summer’s gifts.
Beguiled, the pale down-trodden aster lifts
Her head and blooms again. The soft, warm haze
Makes moist once more the sere and dusty ways,
And, creeping through where dead leaves lie in drifts,
The violet returns. Snow noiseless sifts
Ere night, an icy shroud, which morning’s rays
Will idly shine upon and slowly melt,
Too late to bid the violet live again.
The treachery, at last, too late, is plain;
Bare are the places where the sweet flowers dwelt.
What joy sufficient hath November felt?
What profit from the violet’s day of pain?

-Helen Hunt Jackson

Drinking wine at my local neighborhood winery the other day I noticed how pretty the red leaves of the vineyard looked against the mountains. So I came back one morning this week to try and capture the effect. This marks the halfway point in my journey. I’m hitting my stride, I’m getting into a routine but I’m also looking forward to being done and I have so many images now (3791 to be exact) that I could easily cruise through the rest of the project. But of course that would not be in the spirit of the thing and just think, I could end up with another 3 or 4 thousand pictures before I’m done, which should be enough to get me through the winter in terms of creating new art.

Day 41 Autumn Landscape

Wagner_Fall

Autumn’s Majesty

Sun with his artistic touch,
streaks skies of blue with rosy blush,
trimming Oak and Maple too,
crimson reds with yellow hue.

Birch and Hemlock, purple and gold,
apples, pumpkins bright and bold,
burns by day and cools by night,
cloaking trees in fiery might.

Wispy winds and tumbling leaves,
cypress scents within the breeze,
starry eves and harvest moon,
sets the stage for crickets’ tune.

As spiders spin their tapestry
and crickets sing in symphony,
their final song of destiny,
it’s clear for all the world to see,
Autumn’s vibrant majesty!

-Patricia L. Cisco

The weather is turning back toward summer again so I took myself and the camera out for a walk on the greenway. I don’t think any of the photographs I took begin to capture the vibrance of the colors against the bright blue sky.

Day 22 – Weathervane

WeatherVane

“You who travel with the wind, what weather vane shall direct your course?”

-Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

This is probably not the best image I made today but my New England adventure is winding down and one of the things I have enjoyed photographing is weather vanes. This one has some character and some fall color so I thought it would be a good one to share.

Day 20 – Round Barn

RoundBarn

Autumn dream of a Country Road

Autumn’s dream of a country road
Where houses are few and moving slowed.
Leaves are turning gold_ red_ burgundy.
Inside a warm home apples are candy.
In a barn or cellar cold winter foods quickly stowed
Against winter’s coming and inches snowed.
Autumn dreams of snuggling nights when windy
Breeze carries tune;close by snacks_ hot chocolate handy.

                          -Sara Kendrick

This round red barn is just one of the many buildings preserved at the Shelburne Museum. Another good reason to return to Vermont. All manner of art, folk art, crafts, quilts, and yes, buildings were collected by an heiress in the early 20th century and are now available for viewing at this 45 acre museum.

Day 19 – Waterfall

LowerFallsBW

Waterfall

The magical sound,
of the cascading water,
natural beauty,

-Alice Morris

I haven’t completely given up on finding fall color in New England but it is starting to look doubtful. There was actually a little yellow in this scene but I could not get the rocks to look the right color so I finally gave up and tried it in black and white and I like it much better.

Day 15 – Nubble Light

NubbleLight_BuzSim

The Lighthouse Keeper Wonders

 

The light I’ve tended for forty years
is now to be run by a set of gears,
the keeper said, and it isn’t nice
to be put ashore by a mere device.
Now, fair or foul the winds that blow
or smooth or rough the sea below,
It is all the same. The ships at night
will run to an automatic light.
 
The clock and gear which truly turn
Are timed and set so the light shall burn.
But, did ever an automatic thing
set plants about in early spring?
And did ever a bit of wire and gear
A cry for help in the darkness hear?
Or welcome callers, and show them through
The lighthouse rooms, as I used to do?
 
“Tis not malice these things I say,
All men must bow to the newer way.
But it’s strange for a lighthouse man like me
After forty years on shore to be.
And I wonder now–will the grass stay green?
Will the brass stay bright and the windows clean?
And will ever that automatic thing
Plant marigolds in early spring?

 

-Edgar Guest

 

I was asking myself today if I should post the most autumnal image I shot today or the one I liked the best. I opted for the one I liked the best. Still plenty of time for autumn leaves and such. We made our way into Maine today and there is a little more sign of color though we may have to wait until we get into the mountains of New Hampshire for the real deal. Meanwhile, variety is the spice of life and who doesn’t love a lighthouse? I ran this one through a simplify filter to soften some of the rust and peeling paint.