I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. Autumn is by far my favorite season of the year. Summer’s blistering heat begins to subside, and the forests come alive with blazing color (at least every few years).
When we get into early to mid-September, I find myself invariably looking for those telltale signs that Autumn is nearly here: a little nip in the early morning air when I step outside, a leaf that has changed color, leaves falling more frequently. As soon as I start noticing notice these signals, I can feel my excitement grow with each passing day.
I was recently photographing at the Turtle Rock area of Petit Jean State Park. My wife and dog were with me, and they had spent the time roaming around to I don’t know where. My dog doesn’t enjoy the car rides for these little adventures, but he loves to explore new places. The problem is he is completely incapable of pacing himself in his excitement. He starts off strong, but, within an hour, he’s ready to call it a day.
This time was no different, and, after about an hour, he came straggling back ready to go home. I started packing up my equipment when he decided he wanted to show me a new trail he found, so he, my wife, and I started heading down the trail. We had gone only a little ways when I looked down and saw a fairly thick layer of fallen leaves covering the ground around two small trees. My first thought was “Hey, fallen leaves! Autumn is nearly here!” My second thought was “Hey, fallen leaves! I need to photograph them!” And, that’s what I did.