“To say it was a beautiful day would not begin to explain it. It was that day when the end of summer intersects perfectly with the start of fall,” says Ann Patchett in Truth and Beauty.
Fall doesn’t officially begin until September 23, but you can see it in the trees and feel it in the air even earlier. Photographer Chris Spah visited the Maple Grove Arboretum just as change portends.
“It is an absolutely beautiful park, filled with everything you’d want on a walk; gorgeous trees, wildlife, waterfalls, scenic bridges,” he says. “The trees were in the middle of changing colors. The sky was clear and a brilliant blue. The sun warm. The air was crisp. Everything was … picture perfect. It was early afternoon, so the sun was high and bright. I wanted to capture the beauty of the lake, trees and sky, so I ventured onto the bridge and snapped away.”
While Spah intended to focus on the water, foliage and clear sky, the sun’s glare ended up taking the spotlight, adding a warm radiance. Its rays illuminate paths that wind among a variety of trees.
Spah snapped about 300 photos that day. He says 15 of them were “keepers.” “I always like taking more photos of landscapes than necessary because leaves are constantly moving.”
This image is a stitching of five photos, captured with a Sony A7RII and Sony E 10-18mm f/4 lens. Entries for our 2018 photo contest may be submitted beginning August 1st, find all the info here.
