Colors and Patterns!

Am still at "Ketelsen East" and with Thanksgiving coming and going yesterday, we're in a headlong plunge towards Winter! But I've been watching for, and finding some small concentrations of patterns and color on the tail end of Fall. My last trip here in September we usually get some early colors, but it was unseasonably warm with temps in the 90s even close to October, so the trees, responding to shorter days, leaves were just turning brown! But my first few days here, helped by some hard freezes, cleared the leaves from the trees. Shown at left and right here is the same red leaf in two different views, from the lawn I share with neighbor Elaine...



And while taking a photo of a uniform foliage color might be interesting, I like to image the contrast, the non-conformity of the foliage. Here at left is a nice attractive stubborn green holdout among a sea of yellow.

Similarly, a view of the flagstone "sidewalk" to the house shows a few leaves from the "Burning Bush" at the north side of the house, along with other collected detritus, including an acorn hull and other leaves of various shades. Because I used the macro and there was considerable range of focus, this is a focus stack of 14 frames, combined in Photoshop to extend the range of sharpness.


Sometimes it isn't the color that transforms an object, but the environment. One morning after a rain shower, I went out to grab some shots of the bushes transformed by the moisture. At left is a leaf from an identified shrub that, while not fallen from the plant nor changed color, had partially absorbed the water, and sports some drops that act as little magnifying lenses. It also shows nice veins to the image...

A few minutes later, another set of bushes, transformed by the rain. Here some berries sport water drops along their bottom surface...


And sometimes, especially in November, there isn't much color to be seen, so I look for patterns and structure. At left is a striking seed pod with a background of a Milkweed pod.

A few yards away (both these at a nearby park's prairie patch), is the dried remains of a Queen Anne's Lace flower. So spectacular in July when thousands of them transform the prairie white, this time of year, if you can find them at all, their dried carcasses look so much like a monochromatic fireworks explosion... Both of these images are 6-frame focus stacks to extend the sharpness a little bit more...



One more image from the part's prairie restoration patch is shown at left that I've not seen often. I believe it is Common Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum), native to Eurasia and North Africa, but known as an introduced species and noxious weed in the Americas. Supposedly it has a lavender-to-white flower in Summer that I've not noticed. Supposedly it was introduced as the spines on the seed pod shown form a natural comb used to raise the knap on wool or silk...

The last image showing a bit of color is from a few nights ago. We've been enjoying blessedly clear skies and moderate temps, though it has dropped below freezing most nights. The other night after an evening walk I returned outside to image the crescent moon through the now-naked trees. I took image pairs for stereo 3D, the anaglyph of which is shown below. Of course, not only does it show that the moon is WAY beyond the tree, you can also detect some 3D structure within the tree branches...

Enough for now - always have my eyes open for other interesting stuff!