Shadow Shot Sunday

Ah yes, it's all coming back to me now...the blogosphere and the friends who live here inside my computer.

Hi everyone! I'm back. And ready to share some shadowy scenes.

I snapped these two shots moments apart, as bloggy friend Linda, of Are We There Yet? and I explored the picturesque Norfolk, Ct. Green in October. We had a fun foliage trip, and I hope we can do it again next October!

She drives; I sit and passenge...works for me.

See lots of shadows from around the world at Hey Harriet, hosted by our awesome Aussie friend Tracy.

More from a fun fall foliage trip

Taken on the banks of the Housatonic River in Litchfield County, Connecticut on a foliage trip with blogger extraordinaire, Duchess Linda. This photo is straight out of the camera.

I love October!

Backyard colors

So, howza 'bout some more foliage photos? I love October, and suddenly it is coming to a close.

Note to Duchess Linda: I told you we could have stayed and taken photos in the backyard. Think of all the money you could have saved on gas!

But I must admit we had a "gas" Saturday exploring the Northwest hills of Connecticut.

The first photo was taken through the back window.

Happy Thursday to all my bloggy friends.

Fall foliage found

On second glance through my photos, I realized I did get some pretty foliage shots Saturday whilst snapping pix with Linda. (See here and here)

We laughed as we drove further north, only to find a lot of leafless trees.

Our immediate reaction was "where are all the leaves?" because although there was color, it was kinda sparse.

But there were some trees that cooperated. ;-)

Here are some pretty Litchfield County leaves, for all you leaf-lovers out there!

These first two photos were taken through the windshield. Not only do I do that when Ralph drives, I also take pix when Linda is the driver. It's nice to just sit and snap photos, and leave the driving to someone else. I guess I'd make a good tourist!

Yellow!
I really liked the way this limb on an old old tree on the Norfolk Green curled down and then back up.
The last photo was taken at the foot of Haystack Mountain in Norfolk. That's as far as we got on that mountain..the foot!

All of the above were straight out of the camera. I think if I worked with them a bit the colors could really come alive, don't you think?

That's where the leaves went...

Blogger extraordinaire Duchess Linda of Norwich Upon Thames and I went leaf-peeping in northwestern Connecticut yesterday (scroll down for today's previous post). I took 174 photos, which is a lot for me.

Linda took lots more. :-)

We didn't see quite as much colorful fall foliage as we had hoped.

This photo taken at the base of Haystack Mountain in Norfolk, Ct. kinda tells the story.

Well, there's always next year.

Shadow Shot Sunday ~ road trip

On the road again...

I went along on a foliage drive Saturday with a dear bloggy friend and fellow Connecticut resident, Linda, who isn't afraid to stop at any time to park anywhere along the way to grab just the right photo.

And I gladly joined her as we hopped out of the car, me with my point and shoot, her with her beautiful SLR to capture an autumnal moment. At one point we even braved the aroma of a nearby cow farm.

It was a lot of fun.

Today I offer some "through the windshield photos" I took whilst we wound our way up through the hills of Litchfield County in rural northwestern Connecticut.

Take note of the lack of foliage. Some of the trees we passed looked downright dead, as if they had not had any leaves on them in recent memory. Did we get there too late? Or had they been like that for years?

Hmmm...

See many more shadowy pix at Shadow Shot Sunday, hosted by our awesome Aussie friend Tracy at Hey Harriet.

Ruby Tuesday * reflection

It's moi playing with the camera as Ralph drove us home from Hartford Saturday.

The sun was bright that afternoon!

To enjoy many more photos featuring a little or a lot of red, visit our hostess, Mary T, The Teach, at Work of the Poet.

Fall foliage right outside our house

~ Autumn colors ~

The bright blue sky and fall colors were so pretty Sunday afternoon. Regular readers will recognize Ralph's van in the lower right-hand corner of the top two photos.

Leaf peeping from one's front yard is fun and it saves on gas. I like that!

In the next photo I used a bit of 'edge blur.'

What do you think?

Such beautiful colors. I love October!

Sepia scenes ~ fall foliage

I took this photo from the driver's seat on Halloween afternoon last year and posted the original (below) the next day. I thought it would look good in sepia, so I gave it a whirl.

Visit Mary T, our hostess, at Sepia Scenes to see many more sepia-fied photos.

Our journey to church

No, not our faith journey. Our real trip to church this morning.
I'm glad I grabbed my camera on the way out the door because there's still some pretty fall color here and there. The morning sun and clear blue sky just added to the beauty.
So as Ralph drove, I took pix. It's only about a two-mile trip.

This is when we turned the corner off of our side street onto the state highway, before I decided to chronicle the ride. No, we don't live in the country.

Heading down the hill.

This is Elm Street Cemetery in our town's historic district.
(Note to Duchess Linda: Is that an orb?)

Elm Street.

Nearing the intersection.


Steeple coming right up. Shady side of street.

When we got to the parking lot, who was there but fellow church member and chef extraordinaire, Dennis, dressed in his Rye, N.Y. volunteer firefighter garb. He moved here to southern Connecticut from Westchester County a few years back.

Local firefighters visited our church today, as they do each October. Dennis is wearing an apron because he and another member volunteered to prepare lunch for a clergy meeting. Dennis had some yummy-smelling bean soup simmering on the stove. Perfect for a fall day.


Hope you enjoyed coming with me and Airhead 55 this morning. Have a peaceful Sunday.
~ ~ ~
Seems we all get so used to driving in our communities, and barely notice our familiar surroundings. If you're lucky enough to have someone else taking care of the driving, snap some photos. You'll definitely see your hometown in a different light.

Creative Photo #14- Week 4

Here is "Autumn morning." How's that for an original name? Tee hee.
I like how the sky came out. The sun filtered through the clouds at an angle that gave the picture an interesting quality, I think.

Below is how it looked after I used some contrast

Which one is your favorite?

This is my entry into Roger's Creative Photography contest.
To join in the fun, visit him at Idaho Photo, and click on the Creative Photo tab.

Gold found in backyard ~ gold leaves, that is

I only had to go out the back door to get this foliage shot last Sunday afternoon.

And here's a closeup:It's sad that October is almost over. It's such a beautiful time of year.

A bit of New England

Breaking my own rule here by posting a "steeplechase" picture I took today of the First Congregational Church of Derby.
I was going to limit myself to steeples in our town, but this is the church we attend.

I snapped the photo from a side view because the sun was on the building, and the foliage was pretty. Shadows were covering the front.
What I like is the photo makes the circa 1820 church seem like it's in a rural setting, instead of being located on a heavily-traveled state road.

The church was originally gathered in 1677, at a different location. Here's a picture postcard I found online, taken a "few" years back:

That's my glimpse into history for today. Who knows what I will come up with tomorrow?

~ UPDATE ~ to my Creative Photo post question: Duchess Linda wins the bonus points. She spotted my car reflected in the van's windows.

Congratulations. That's it, just congratulations. Sorry, no prizes.

River views

These are two more foliage shots that I took last Friday, a beautiful fall day.
The view is across the Housatonic River taken from the grounds of Yale University's Gilder Boathouse in Derby, Ct.
A lot of green was still evident. I wonder if I should go back there and to see if I can get a better shot with more color?
Or are we now past-peak?

Cows, autumn leaves make for a photo shoot

Yesterday I covered two early morning assignments, and after doing that I drove a few miles out where there is a bit of "country" left, in hopes of finding some interesting photos.
Instead I found these cows, lying down on the job. Click on the photos to get a better look.

I guess they are kinda interesting, in a boring sort of way.

Disclaimer: All photos taken from driver's seat. Too lazy to get out of car!