Happy Halloween!
Colors of Fall
The colors here are nowhere near as vibrant as the Fall colors back east, but they still are a treat for us. In the high country, you see mostly yellows as the Aspens turn. Since I was looking for color, I just kept driving until I found the most vibrant and that turned out to be around the east end of the valley, near the Nevada border.
Markleeville
I took the picture above along the east fork of the Carson River east of Markleeville. I drove to that spot first as I remember it from previous years as being really beautiful—and it didn't disappoint! The river was low (as most are this time of the year) and the colors were fine along the river. Here's another view along the same portion of the river.
Markleeville is a small Alpine County town (it is also the county seat) that is very accessible in the summer and fall months, but can be a challenge to get to sometimes in winter! It has some wonderful little restaurants and is very picturesque.
Peace Along the River
I have been going to this area for several years and am always looking for new places to photograph and I found a great one this time. As I was driving west, back from Markleeville, I saw a small, narrow road going off
to the right along the west fork of the Carson River. I drove down it a ways and parked. I walked the short distance to the river with my camera and it was magnificent. Low water, lots of rocks and lots of overhanging yellow and gold-leafed trees made it a magical place.
I spent quite a bit of time there just listening to the sound of the river and watching the light. I love the "quality of light" this time of year. The angle of the sun makes for some great photographic opportunities. The picture to the left is one of the many I took along that portion of the river that day—when I look at it, it puts me right back there!
The colors change up in the high country first, then gradually make their way down the hill. We have lots of color around Placerville and actually have more reds with the Japanese Maple and Chinese Pistachio trees. But I still love to go to the high country to get photographs there—it's a great excuse to just "be there."
Photoshop CS4
I've also been playing with the latest upgrade to Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop CS4 (Creative Suite 4). It has a lot of new features that I am excited to learn about. Photoshop is, by far, one of the greatest tools I have ever used on a computer. I've used both the "big" version of Photoshop (the aforementioned Photoshop CS version) and the "little" version of Photoshop (now Photoshop Elements 7) and both are just great and your needs determine which one you choose to use. Great stuff—download a trial version and try one of them out yourself!
Working Outside
I have one word for you: ACORNS! I have never seen as many acorns from our oak trees as there have been this year! We have lived here for 25 years and it seems like the amount of acorns this year equals all of the acorns that have ever fallen in all the past years. You take your life in your hands when you walk under the oak trees this time of year (and especially this year!).
Of course, when you have oak trees, you also have leaves—gazillions of leaves. Not all the leaves have fallen yet, so we haven't raked them all yet. Luckily, I've had the help of my brother-in-law (Barth) and my nephew (TJ) to help saw up dead limbs and rake some of the leaves and acorns. I love working outside every fall, but the amount of leaves is sometimes staggering!
Halloween
And today is Halloween. Hard to believe October is done and the election is just a few days away (make sure you vote!). Halloween in Placerville is always fun with a HUGE amount of kids and parents strolling downtown between 4-6 pm and the merchants giving away treats. Not only is it a great photographic opportunity, but also it just fun watching the kids in their costumes (and even some parents). The photo at left shows a rainy Halloween (much like tonight might be) on Main Street in downtown Placerville.
Hope you have a safe and happy Halloween!
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