Photo Blogging Challenge – Fall (October 2013)

On By GeoKsIn Photography

This month’s theme was open to a variety of interpretations: could be something triggered by gravitational forces, perhaps a fall from grace or a decline in standing or ranking. The photos I selected fall within the more convenient and conventional definition for this time of year (i.e. fall = autumn).

Autumn in Alberta is generally short-lived, sometimes just a few days squeezed in between an extended gardening season and the start of ski season! When you’re still picking tomatoes and strawberries from your back yard and the flowers are all still blooming, you have to be fairly observant to notice the signs of fall. Here are some autumnal indicators that came to my attention in October.

Fall colour in Alberta is pretty much limited to shades of yellow and gold. I took some other photos that show a lot more yellow, still on the trees as well as fully blanketing the ground, but they seemed to lack the negative space needed to draw attention to the fallen leaves.

The Riverside Trail in Canmore winds its way through mixed forest...mostly conifers, but also some aspen. The aspen leaves turn pale green, then yellow, then gold and drop to the ground. There were just enough of them along this stretch of the pathway that it seemed to me to be representative of a typical woodland pathway in Alberta's short fall season.
The Riverside Trail in Canmore winds its way through mixed forest…mostly confers, but also some aspen. The aspen leaves turn pale green, then yellow, then gold and drop to the ground. There were just enough of them along this stretch of the pathway that it seemed to me to be representative of a typical woodland pathway in Alberta’s short fall season.

Do you remember racing leaf “boats” down a stream as a child? I still love to watch the way a current moves leaves, especially if there’s an eddy or whirlpool where they seem to go ’round and ’round forever. These leaves are clinging to the shoreline, so it was up to my imagination to picture a little wave action sweeping leaves off the surface of the water to their current resting place along the water’s edge. Earlier this month I posted this photo of the same area on flickr, if you’re interested in a more conventional view of poplars in autumn.

This band of yellow poplar leaves is resting along the shoreline of the lagoon at Prince's Island Park - a large urban park that borders the north edge of Calgary city centre.
This band of yellow poplar leaves is resting along the shoreline of the lagoon at Prince’s Island Park – a large urban park that borders the north edge of Calgary city centre.

Intentional camera movement allowed me to create this more abstract version of fall in the Calgary area.

This is a photo of the Elbow River valley, taken from the deck at the back of our home in Calgary. I try to include one intentional camera movement in my set of photos for each month's challenge, so this one showing a stormy sky above the autumn colours in the valley with the Rocky Mountains in the distance is my pick for October.
This is a photo of the Elbow River valley, taken from the deck at the back of our home in Calgary. I try to include one intentional camera movement in my set of photos for each month’s challenge, so this one showing a stormy sky above the autumn colours in the valley with the Rocky Mountains in the distance is my pick for October.

Friday, October 25th was International Artists’ Day, which was celebrated by the Calgary arts community. I know this because I saw a member of the arts community spray painting some signs along one of the sidewalks downtown (with city permission, of course). My preferred medium is photography, but I added another layer of creativity with this simple but (dare I say) cute leaf collage.

October 25th was International Artists' Day. I don't really consider myself an artist, but I did do something a little bit creative on that Friday and here's one of my finished pieces. I collected all the leaves from our yard about 10 days in advance and pressed them in between pages of our big dictionary in preparation for IAD.
October 25th was International Artists’ Day. I don’t really consider myself an artist, but I did do something a little bit creative on that Friday and here’s one of my finished pieces. I collected all the leaves from our yard about 10 days in advance and pressed them in between pages of our big dictionary in preparation for IAD.

Finally, proof that Alberta’s fall is so short that we almost jump straight from summer to winter!

Did I mention that Alberta's fall is very short lived? We spotted these icicles in Canmore on Thanksgiving weekend (October 13) and had about 10 cm (4 inches) of snow fall on October 27.
Did I mention that Alberta’s fall is very short lived? We spotted these icicles in Canmore on Thanksgiving weekend (October 13) and had about 10 cm (4 inches) of snow fall on October 27.


Thanks to P.J. over at a ‘lilhoohaa for hosting this monthly photo blogging challenge. Click here to see P.J.’s photos of “outside” and to access a list of other photo blogging posts for the eighth month of this challenge. Participation seems to be growing every month and I look forward to seeing how everyone photographed fall.

16 thoughts on “Photo Blogging Challenge – Fall (October 2013)”

  1. jay53

    Wow … I LOVE the intentional movement picture!! What a gorgeous abstract for ‘fall’! Love it.

    The rest are very lovely too, and I do like your cute leaf-cut owl. You are so original and creative! I must try the leaf cut pictures. I always look sadly at the incredible colours and shapes in fallen leaves and wish I had the knowledge and skill to preserve them.

    Reply

    1. Thanks for your comment about the ICM shot. I’ve been having fun seeing what I can do with that technique for 6 or 7 months now.

      As for the leaves, I’m not sure the owl is going to last very well. Some of the edges of the larger leaves are starting to curl up and the leaves are getting really brittle.

      Reply
      1. jay53

        Oh, that’s a shame. Can you stick them down and varnish it? Or maybe even take a photo of it! I think that’s what I would do. He’s too cute to lose. 😉

  2. Oooo, I love the shot of the leaves in the stream. How beautiful. But your last shot gave me the shivers! Thankfully our Autumn is a bit longer. 🙂

    Reply

    1. Linda, I so enjoy all your tweets and posts about your original, hand-printed greeting cards that I really appreciate your comment about the owl. I created a dried leaf and petal peacock, too, but somehow the owl seemed more suited to the season.

      Reply

    1. I know! But that’s just how it goes here. I have to make time today to go finish my fall yard work. Another 5 – 10 cm (2 – 4 inches) of snow expected tomorrow and at least one meteorologist thinks it might stick with us all winter. Yikes!

      Reply

  9. I love that second shot. Gorgeous! You, as always, delivered on your five images. Great stuff. However, that ice and thought of snow…. ugh! I’d rather think about hiking on that trail in the top photo, just how you have it pictured!

    Reply

    1. We’re not quite ready for the ice either!!! I need a couple more warm days so the weekend snowfall evaporates so I can get out there and clean up the now dead annuals before the real onset of winter.

      Reply

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