A Rainbow of Colors

A few weeks ago, on my way home from working in Northwest Arkansas, I took a route that would take me by the Buffalo National River to give myself a chance to scout things out on my continuing quest to find fall colors.  As I drove through the area, I could see some patches of color, but the sun shining in my eyes made it very difficult to tell just how much the leaves had actually changed.

On the rest of my drive home and all day the following day, I debated with myself whether or not to make the trip back to the river.  What if I arrived and there wasn’t as much color as I thought?  I would have wasted my time and gas for nothing.  What if I waited until the next week to go?  Then, there was a good chance most of the leaves could drop or be blown off by a good wind.  Decisions, decisions!  Finally, Friday night, I decided I would get up the next morning and head back.  After all, even if the colors weren’t what I was hoping for, there would certainly be something to photograph.

The next morning, I got up just before 4:00 to make the nearly two and a half drive to the Buffalo National River with no idea what to expect when I arrived.  My first stop was the Collier Homestead trail.  I loaded up my gear and began to walk the trail when I realized that much of the area had been cleared.  When I got to the actual homestead site, I could still see my truck in the parking area, which I had never been able to do before.  I presume there was a reason for clearing the area, but I was still a bit disappointed that the feeling of peaceful isolation from the work had been destroyed.

Feeling rather dejected, I walked around for about five minutes and then began heading back to my truck.  I hadn’t gone more than about 50 feet, though, when I noticed this composition.  What caught my eye was the splash of green leaves from the foreground tree on the right against the red, yellow, and orange fall leaves scattered throughout the rest of the scene.

I set up my equipment and framed the composition.  I took several images trying to photograph the scene in a single frame, but, reviewing the files on the back of my camera, it didn’t appear I could get enough depth of field in a single frame.  So, I ended up taking four images focused on the two trees on the right, the small group of trees on the left, and the background trees in the center and combining them in Photoshop into a single photograph.

I probably spent about 20 minutes in this one spot before I realized the light was getting brighter and brighter with every passing minute.  I walked quickly, almost running, back to my truck to drive the roughly mile and a half to the river.  Arriving at the parking area, I noticed leaves lying along the curb.  With the sun climbing higher and higher in the early morning sky, I gave them nothing more than a quick glance before grabbing my equipment and hurrying down to the river.

When I got to the riverbank, I was somewhat dismayed to discover that much of it was already bathed in bright sunlight, and, because of the lighting, a lot of the leaves looked faded and washed out and would not make for a nice photograph.  But, I was able to find two small areas of leaves, one of which was beginning to get some glancing rays of light, and the other was still in shade.  Knowing I needed to work very quickly, I set up the tripod and camera and was able to create these two images.

By now, the sun was well above the cliff tops, and the lighting had become very harsh, so I decided it was time to start making my way home.  I got back to my truck, loaded my gear inside, and closed the door.  That’s when I again noticed the leaves lining the curb.  No longer pressed for time, I stopped and studied the grouping of fallen leaves looking for interesting patterns and colors.  I finally came across this one small spot of leaves whose colors seemed to cover the entire spectrum of a rainbow:  yellows, oranges, reds, greens, purples, browns.  Some of the colors were more bold while others were more subdued.  To top it all off, many of the leaves looked to be in almost perfect condition.  I couldn’t have asked for anything better.  I grabbed my camera and tripod out of my truck, set everything up, and pressed the shutter button to capture this image.

By this time, the sun had risen above the tree in the parking lot, and I realized my time had come to an end for that trip.  But, I was pleased with the images I had and felt my time had been well spent.  Now, I just had to decide where I was going to go on my next trip.  Decisions, decisions!