Trick or treat, everyone! It’s the last day of October, which means it’s time to be visited by ghosts, ghouls, and goblins galore. (How’s that for a little literary alliteration!) It also means it’s time for a recap of my month that was. October proved to be quite a rollercoaster ride as far as temperatures were concerned as the battle of the seasons continued. One day, there would be a nice Autumn coolness to the air, and, the next day would be the exact opposite with miserable summer heat again. I just never knew what to expect from one day to the next.
It’s also been incredibly dry this month as well with virtually no rain at all. In fact, according to the National Weather Service, a little over half the state is in a moderate to extreme drought with 64 of our 75 counties under a burn ban as of this morning. We have some storms and rain moving through now, which is nice. I don’t know how much relief it will bring to these dry conditions, but, at this point, any little bit helps.
On a personal note, I mowed my yard last week and that will be the last time I do that until next Spring. I don’t care how tall it gets; I’m just not going to do it. Why? Simple. . .mowing grass in November, when it’s almost Winter, is simply unnatural.
WHERE I’VE BEEN
I was able to get out four times this month – Blanchard Springs, Buffalo National River, Holland Bottoms Wildlife Management Area, and Cove Lake – as I continued my 2024 Fall Color Quest. We still haven’t reached peak color yet (at least I don’t think we have), but, over the last few years, I have grown less fond of the “in your face” peak color and have started to prefer the earlier part of the season when the colors are more subtle and feel more relaxing.
My first trip was to Blanchard Springs. It was the middle of the month, and it was one of the cooler days where I was glad to have brought a jacket with me. It was exactly what October should be. The fall color was mostly in small patches here and there almost as if it was playing a fun little game of hide and seek. I was able to find a couple of these little scenes, such as this tree almost hidden by the colorful green and yellow leaves with a little bit of orange mixed in, too.
Autumn leaves, Blanchard Springs, Arkansas
A week later, I visited the Buffalo National River just north of Marshall, Arkansas. It was another cool morning – actually, it was a little cooler than the morning at Blanchard Springs – but finding the Autumn color wasn’t quite so difficult on this outing as it was a little more widespread. My challenge was the lighting. The sun was rising in the sky far more quickly than what I had anticipated, and, once the bright sunlight hit those leaves, their bold colors became washed out and unphotogenic. Photographs were still there to be found; I just had to find them in those few small areas of short-lived shade. One of those shady areas was actually in the parking lot about five feet from my truck, and that was where I found these colorful leaves. This photograph is my favorite image of the season so far, and I think I’m going to have a hard time topping it.
Fallen Autumn leaves, Buffalo National River, Arkansas
Four days later, I visited the Holland Bottoms Wildlife Management Area, which is only about a 15 to 20 minute drive from my house. I didn’t have a lot of time to photograph, which was fine with me because summertime temperatures had returned. I arrived around 4:30 in the afternoon, and the temperature was nearly 90°F! In late October! Go away, Summer, you had your time already! I got four or five photographs from this trip. I wasn’t very confident in their quality at the time I made them, and reviewing them on the computer when I got home verified that lack of confidence. Oh well, it was still nice to be out despite the unseasonal heat.
My final trip of the month was to Cove Lake in western Arkansas. The colors were incredible when I had visited about this time last year, so I was expecting more of the same this year. I was also expecting clear skies as had been predicted, meaning I would have to work fast before the light became too harsh and washed out the colors. When I arrived, the sky was overcast. In fact, as I sat in my truck in the dark of morning, it began to rain just a bit. Not much, just a few drops really, but I was certainly not expecting that. As the light slowly increased, I could see the colors were nice, but they weren’t quite at the level of what I had been hoping for. But, I was still able to get several good images, including this one from across the lake from where I was parked.
Autumn colors, Cove Lake, Arkansas
The image below was taken from across the lake on the opposite side from the photograph above. It looks like a panoramic image, but it isn’t. I had originally shot several frames to stitch together into a panoramic, but the final image just didn’t look very good to me. I ended up taking just one of the original images, cropping it to eliminate a lot of the foreground because I found it distracting and unnecessary, and leaving just this line of colorful trees in their Autumn splendor.
Autumn colors, Cove Lake, Arkansas
CATCHING MY ATTENTION
“In my experience, if you start questioning a scene, questioning a composition, then just flippin’ have a word with yourself. Get your camera out and just take the shot.” – Thomas Heaton
Video: I Quit Posting My Photos on Social Media… And It’s Changed Everything (First Man Photography, 13 mins) Adam Karnacz explains why he no longer shares his photography on social media and what he does instead.
That’s all for this month. I appreciate your reading this, and I hope you enjoyed it. I’ll see you back here next month.