Autumn's Majesty

Today was the day...that ideal day when fall colors, stormy clouds, and a sun-filled sky all blend together flawlessly.

After a busy morning, I took my dog and my camera out in the mid afternoon.  The sun was bright and peeked through the trees, illuminating their bright colors with heavenly radiance.

I took a total of 180 photos.  These are the 12 best of the day.  Click to see them full-sized and feel free to use them as your desktop wallpaper.

I love the shadows and placement of the sun.

Facing southwest, everything came together.

Lion's Island to the left.  Almost no editing was necessary with this photo.

One of my favorite things to do is find vertical lines within the composition. The trees and church steeple helped me accomplish that here.

I love layers: sky, colorful trees, reflective water, the semicircle of leaf-mottled grass.

More layers and a clear horizontal composition, with the exception of the fountain.

One of my favorites. I love the way the lampposts and flag pole cut through the photo.

One of the day's best.

This guy let me follow him around for quite a while. I think he enjoyed being the center of attention.

Standing on one of the bridges, I was able to capture the reflecting colors and a dramatic cloud in the sky.

We love living so close to the town's lake. Nature put on a terrific show today. Several people were there with their cameras.

After an hour, the sun started to fade. This was one of the final shots. Reminding me of an Impressionist painting, I opted for a blurry effect.

I use a simple Sony Cyber-shot camera--12.1MP--to take my photos.  Then I use iPhoto to straighten, sharpen, and sometimes enhance the colors (very slightly.)  Today's photos needed very little enhancing.  The sky was very blue and the fall colors were very rich in the sun's glow.  Mother Nature was very cooperative.