I’ve been waiting patiently for weeks for the annual changing of the leaves. Imagine my excitement when I received an email that fall color had begun to be seen in the northern part of the state. I knew it was time to take action! Or, at least make a trip north.
Getting up early on Saturday morning, I headed about two hours north to Blanchard Springs. With the temperature in the 40s and the sky being cloudy, the day was perfect for fall foliage photography, and it felt like a perfect fall day.
When I arrived, I really didn’t know exactly what to expect. Were the leaves showing blazing colors? Were they still mostly green? Or, were they somewhere in between? I had no idea. But, I wanted to keep an open mind so even if the fall color wasn’t what I imagined, I wouldn’t be blind to other photographic opportunities.
My first stop was Blanchard Spring, which emanates from the water flowing out of the Blanchard Springs Caverns. Walking along the stream, I came upon these leaves lying on a moss covered rock while the stream flowed by.
What intrigued me was the randomness in which this group of leaves managed to land on the rock. A small puff of wind, a raindrop falling at the wrong time, or any number of other factors and these leaves would have missed the rock and instantly been washed downstream, and this photograph would have never happened.
I positioned myself on a small rock a couple of feet from the scene I wanted to photograph. I had very little room to maneuver, and it crossed my mind on more than one occasion that slipping into the water would not be the advantageous position to be in. But, I wanted the shot, so I ignored that thought.
The biggest challenge I faced was getting the exact framing I wanted. I wanted to exclude some rocks that were just at the top of the frame. But, I wanted to leave some space between the subject rock and the bottom of the frame. No matter what focal length I used, I couldn’t accomplish what I wanted. Raising my tripod a few inches and repositioning the camera resolved the issue.
The water was flowing rather swiftly, and I wanted to capture that action. I shot several images varying the shutter speed with each one until I got the shutter speed that smoothed the flowing water without completely eliminating its movement.
While I made several decisions to create this composition, there were several factors beyond my control that came together for this composition to even exist. I’m thankful they did.