Sensing the Season

It has felt like fall for a couple of weeks now. There were also a couple of crisp days before then but the consistency only just started to take hold. This may be my favorite time of year but the temperature is only half of the equation.

Today was the first day that I was really able to enjoy the season. Not because of the official announcement yesterday that the season had changed but because of the fact that today was the first time that it started to envelope all of my senses not just one. The sights, sounds, and smells are beginning to fill the air.

I enjoy the crunch under my feet of the freshly fallen leaves; the first line to fold in the seasonal change. While some may view the suicidal foliage in a way that foretells of the bitter cold just a few short months away I prefer to enjoy the moment that we are living in now. The year is too short to always be looking toward the darkness of winter; seasons are meant to be enjoyed.

Those same leaves give off the aroma unique to this time of year and one that is really hard to explain. Soon it will be joined by the comforting scents of the fall harvest and freshly carved pumpkins before the cold takes hold and mutes the olfactory experience. There is a lightness to the air that with a cool dry breeze the season wraps around you the smells of the season.

Looking up, just outside our apartment door, the edges of the leaves are beginning to burn with the autumn palate. Each leaf is unique in their chameleon change but all adding the overall collage of colors while retaining the memory of the summer arbor just beneath the branches. Soon the horizon will be filled with the fire of fall for all but a fleeting moment that will, undoubtedly, leave us wanting more.

This is a season of beauty and of change. While the departed summer is a time to relax for many this is the time of year that lets be slow down a bit from time to time just to enjoy the world around me. It is the time when we can’t help but be amazed by the world around us and we pursue new adventures and endeavors simply to partake in as much of the season as we can before the slumbering season takes hold of us and the calendar flips over to a new year.

This is the time of year to start something new and to emblazon our memories with new experiences like the flamboyant foliage around us etches their transition in our minds. This is the time that the slowly descending temperature brings us together and holds us to the warmth of family and friends. This is the season to share with the ones you love and to embody the passion that is portrayed in the trees around us. This is, by far, my favorite season.

Photo On The Go

As I was scrolling through the photos on my phone this past weekend to find the pictures of Harvest Book Outlet, I noticed a wide variety of snap shots that I had taken over the years that have never been posted or even uploaded to my computer. I don’t know why they have just been languishing in my phone taking up space but there they were. I started thinking about what I could do with them which has led me to this post. I thought I would take this opportunity to share some of these photos with you along with a little blurb about each one. I will start with animals, then go to plants, and conclude with places.

I will start by running though a few captured animals. Animals have always been a little harder for me to capture with my phone as the movement blurs the image quite easily and, most of the time, I can’t get very close so I am forced to severely pixilated the photo by zooming in. But it hasn’t stopped me from taking the pictures.

Shortly after returning from Israel we went over to my sister and brother-in-law’s house in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. While we were outside the dog decided to get a little rambunctious and jump into the back of the pickup truck where she barked and waited for someone to pay attention to her. I couldn’t waste the opportunity and I took this shot while I had the chance.

While we were looking for an apartment in the fall of 2011 we lived with my parents for a few months. This was not an easy time as my wife is allergic to cats and the only pet my parents have left is a little feline. Fortunately, the cat doesn’t like to move too much and we were able to keep her away from the two of us. This shot pretty much sums up her demeanor.

Rarely do I have the opportunity to catch a bird but, sometimes, when they have a big enough pair I am able to get a couple of frames. This was the case when I saw a bird walking along the fence line behind our apartment building. I was able to slowly pull my phone out from my top pocket and get a few shots before it realized what was happening and flew away.

This past June I made my way up to Newtown, Pennsylvania for a job interview and, having arrived about twenty minutes early took a walk around the building. Also out on a walk that morning was a family of geese who didn’t seem to mind sharing the parking lot with me nor did they care that they were holding people up trying to get to work. I managed to get a picture of the second group that walked by.

Here is a perfect example of the pixilation I mentioned earlier. No matter how slowly I moved the butterfly would flutter away and come back to the same spot. Finally, I had to just stand my ground and zoom in resulting in this colorful little blur.

Plants are a much easier item to take a photo of with the camera as you can usually get right next to them before taking the picture. Lighting can sometimes be an issue but overall it works out fairly well. The only real issue is in the lack of detail and the inability to crop while maintaining clarity. You have to crop the shot before taking the picture. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t. These weren’t too bad.

In October 2010, we headed down to Longwood Gardens with my mother-in-law to celebrate my wife’s birthday. I am not a big flower person but it was a special occasion and it was a little time away to relax, enjoy the scenery, and go for a long walk. It was also a time to experiment and see how close I could get my phone to the flowers in order to take a close up shot. This was one of the resulting photos.

The neighbors next to our apartment building are a little eccentric. Nice people but they can sometimes be a little out there when trying to have a short conversation. One of the things I noticed earlier this summer was the bountiful harvest that sprung up on the other side of the fence. I don’t know how urban corn tastes but it made for an interesting photo.

Working at night I have to find something to pass the time and occupy my mind. Most of my nights consist of constant writing and researching the family tree but every once in a while I have to take a quick break from the routine and change things up a bit. One night I decided to take some pictures and one of the resulting photos was of the plant in front of the building.

I have found that when it comes to much broader photos of cityscapes, landscapes, large rooms, or big scenes you can actually get some pretty good shots. All of the recent photos that would fit into this category have been with my digital SLR but I have only started getting back into photography recently so the vast majority of the pictures prior to a few months ago were taken with my phone. Here are a few examples of the varying quality that can be achieved.

A week before making Aliyah we were in Chicago for a wedding. As part of the wedding we were being shuttled around the city taking photos in different locations. Every once in a while I would have a few minutes to fill and so I would pull out my phone and see if there were any interesting vantage points. During one of those breaks I was very happy to get this shot. I don’t know if having a better camera would have really made a difference.  

And here we are back at Longwood Gardens. More than a year after our previous visit we were there with my siblings and their families to take some pictures as a gift for my parent’s 40^th wedding anniversary. While the photographer was taking some pictures of the younger kids I turned around and saw the reflection in the pool. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try and get the picture. I was really happy when it worked and I captured exactly what I was seeing.

Disney World in July; Yes, it was hot. This was a big trip as my parents took all of us down to Florida to celebrate their 40^th. During the course of the week we spent a lot of nights just walking around the park and enjoying the lights in the dark. This night in particular was a welcomed cool respite after a sweltering day punctuated by icy rain. It was a nice end to a weird day.

I had the idea in mind for this post I tried to figure out what would be a good way to end it. Then it hit me. What better way than to take a picture of the previous night’s sunset and end with a splash of color? With or without details, the colors make the photo worth capturing… color transcends pixels.