Fall Color – Ceil Ashburn Drive; Huntsville, Alabama: North Alabama is a wonderful place in which to live. Though summer temperatures can reach 100 Degrees (Fahrenheit); everything including: cars, homes, business and restaurants are air conditioned to a comfortable temperature. Winters can reach temperatures below zero, though most days are mild with the average winter temperature being 32 Degrees. The only thing missing in our seasons is a consistent display of autumn color. I say consistent, because on occasion we luck out and catch a fall when every tree displays brilliant colors.
Last year was terrible for color, the lack of summer rains caused the tree leaves to simply turn brown and fall with no hint of color. The same thing is happening this fall as well. The leaves are already turning brown. There will be no color this year, again. However, 2008 was a different story, summer rains were plentiful and the fall colors of that year were the best I had seen in more than a decade.
As I drove across Ceil Ashburn Drive on my way home in late October of 2008 the color was outstanding. A scene that I had noticed few days earlier had reached peak color and was beckoning to be photographed. What made it so interesting to me were two dead trees whose repetitive sway weaved through patches of rich color.
As I composed the image I framed the scene so the swaying trees became the focal point. The trees give the eye a path to travel through the image. Also, the overall colors of the photograph are warm while the colors of the trees are cool, making them standout against the warmer fall colors. Photo opportunities like this do not come along often in North Alabama, but hopefully it will not be another decade before I get a break like this again.
Nikon D3, Nikkor 80-200mm f.2.8, Digital Capture ISO 200
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