NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY

First Captures of Fall’s Romance

There’s some magic to the season and this is only the beginning

Colored leaves, mushrooms, various seeds, and always thicker growing foliage on the forest ground. This is what fall is about. And much more. Fall is often an overlooked season described as the transition from summer to winter.

But this season is worth its own name and time. I’ve done my first walk through the forest this year thinking of fall. I wanted to find the first signs of the season and sure did!

Just as I parked the car next to the forest these bright shining berries were hanging from the trees above the parking lot. If berries aren’t standing for fall, I don’t know what else should.

More berries were to be found within a few meters of the parking lot. It was a rather stormy day which is why my work, skydiving, got canceled and I had a day free to explore nature. But due to the wind, I struggled to get the focus right on many of my photographs this day.

The grass is still juicy and green but in between more and more leaves are to be found.

And as I entered the forest the foliage was covering the walking trail. A thin layer of brown leaves created this year’s early fall forest floor. A feather was standing out in between all the brown and caught my attention.

And then I shifted my focus onto the mushrooms. I’ve seen them this year since early summer due to the heavy rains we received throughout the months. But still, mushrooms do represent fall for me. And there are lots of them now. Everywhere. In the foliage. On old tree stumps. Out of the moss. And at the bottom of many trees.

Pine cones, beechnuts, acorns, and many other seeds are joining the dead leaves on the ground. They remind me of the times I played with these natural items as a child. I created arts and built all kinds of buildings out of them.

Some beechnuts on the nearby bicycle path caught my attention. Lately, I love shooting from the floor. I use the screen of my camera flipped up to see what I shoot and where to place the focus. It’s fun. And it gives you better results for certain objects than when you shoot from an upward angle.

Well, this was it. Trying to keep it short and within the limit of Snapshots’ 10 images per article, I added myself in the last picture. Despite the overcast and grey day, my sunglasses couldn’t be left at home.

I hope you enjoyed this selection of photographs. I can ensure you it wasn’t the last one for this season. I’ve got more to explore and more to capture. Watch this space.

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More on last year’s stories from and about fall: