Some years, the late summer and autumn weather in Southern Ontario quite frankly trumps the weather in June and July. Some years, like this year, it’s a continuation of the same crap that we seemingly have had since last year at around this time.
However, when the weather is nice into September and October, the leaves and autumn colours seem to fail. I’m not sure of the science behind it but it seems like you need cold and wet in order for the leaves to change into bright colours and cling on to the trees right until the bitter end. If it’s hot and dry, the leaves tend to wilt and trees are stripped with the first wind storm.
Well, autumn 2014 has been the fall foliage season that just keeps on giving. The colours have been magnificent since late August and seem to be holding on, although thinning rapidly now, right into Halloween and the start of November.
In most of our articles here at It’s About Travelling, we try to mix some (what we believe to be) beautiful photography with some detailed interesting and useful facts. This article is simply a celebration of the beauty before the inevitable dark days of winter.
All the images in this article were taken at a small, non-operating conservation area between Orangeville, Ontario and the small hamlet of Alton, Ontario. The park is called Upper Credit Conservation Area and is highlighted by the Credit River that runs through the middle.
I have a name for the park that better describes the regular activities and that’s ‘Dog Shit Park’. Right from the beginning, dog owners have taken over the park and have made it an unofficial leash free park. The result is dogs running rampant, terrorizing other park users and providing a reason to keep your eyes on the ground in front of you.
I love dogs and up until August of this year was a dog owner. I do not love righteous dog owners that can’t understand the some people are terrified of dogs, regardless of how friendly they are said to be. Tell me the difference between a unknown dog that is charging at you with the intentions of ripping your leg off and one that is charging at you because it wants to lick your face and find out if you have food to give it…
These eight images are a mess of techniques and processing methods. The shots of the tracks are taken with a 250mm zoom lens. The images of the Credit River with a glassy, smooth surface are longer exposure shots with the aid of a Variable Range ND Filter. The image directly above was enhanced with Photoshop Elements then transferred to my smart phone for further enhancing with Snapseed before returning to the computer.
These cedars had potential for something cool. However, the trunks were starting to dry from a previous rain and the thin-ness of the cedar patch gave away too much light in the background. More and more, I’m loving images that do not include the sky – you’ll see that it in many of the images in this article. Some I left out the sky right from the original exposure and some I simply cropped it out.
The tracks were interesting with the low perspective and the zoom. The first image in the article really shows the flaws in the tracks and how not smooth the ride is. These tracks are used for freight trains between Brampton and Orangeville. They are also home to the Credit Valley Explorer, a vintage tourist train that takes scenic and dinner cruises out of Orangeville. We’ve experienced an evening dinner trip and it is well worth it.
Above, just a straight shot showing the contrast between deciduous and coniferous. Yes, sky intentionally eliminated.
The image below probably looks even more amateurish than the rest. However, I can’t help enjoying the effect that even a 10% zoom radial blur from Photoshop will provide. It’s like one of those optical illusions where the image always seems to be in motion.
