October Catch up: 4 : Wide Angle in Mill Creek.

October 5: Two weeks ago I was still experimenting with my rented wide angle lens.

Sunday I had gone to see what could be seen before returning the lens the next day.

Oh there were such wonderful things to see!

Leaves filling slow stretches of stream beds.

Fall colors framed every view; every view could be fully captured it the wide angle lens.

What a treat!

I was *shocked* to find that I had never, in five full years, followed the path past the colliding rivers at Porter Fork.

I was also shocked to find that even with a wide angle lens the colliding rivers couldn't be captured to my satisfaction.

(Consider visiting and seeing for yourself?)

The reds were particularly in glory that Sunday.

Snow still lingered on the wooden walkway.

The wide angle lens did it justice.

A photographer was at work just ahead.

She was Asian, and was photographing an Asian family in the fall colors.

I wondered if they were all just visiting or if they lived here.

The bushes with the white berries were splotching wildly into fall color.

Sometimes the sunlight was caught behind the leaves and mini stained glass windows were made.

God tries His hand at Modern Art?

How else could one explain the random colors on that leaf?

What moment inspired the crimson stems on white berries?

Or red speckles striped with purple shadows on a lime and yellow back ground?

Shadow play.

The coy berries are given away in silhouette.

Purple leaves shine red, dark veins turn white in the sunlight.

 

Oh I was reeling at the leaf by leaf creative colors here.

The bushes were filling the area next to a shaft toilet building.

 I decided to take a short potty break.

And was sucker punched to find this note attached to the door!

Hrumph.

A hiker passing by laughed.

"Do they think they can close the whole forest?  The forest is everyone's outhouse now."

Ewww.

Double insult:

The toilets are locked Nov. 1 for winter anyway.

The "forest" is part of a the Wasatch National Forest, but Mill Creek Canyon park is county owned.

We pay a county fee to enter it.

Hrumph.

Well, the toilets were opened to the humans again on Oct 18.

Whoopie.

Open for 13 more day!

 

Back to the fall color...

Crazy  how trees grow at an angle to grow on slopes.

I did note a bit of lens warp when I shot looking up.

Nice effect though.

The wide angle view did allow one to understand how big the trees are compared to the road.

See the road there at the bottom of the picture?

I had to laugh at how often a car with a sun roof would suddenly stop, and an upper body holding a camera would emerge, shoot a picture, then the car would drive on.

The bikers and the walkers really get the best views though.

The best smells and the best sounds of running Mill Creek and shuffling scuffling leaves.

I must be crazy...why do I ever leave this canyon in autumn?

Why do I do mundane things like laundry and grocery shopping and vacuuming inside?

Why do I not unfurl a blanket, place a pillow and lounge beneath trees like this all day?

Indeed...why is the forest not filled with people resting on their back instead of driving along missing the splendor over head?

If there was ever proof needed of foolishness, I think I may have found it!

(Final word on the wide angle lens buy vs rent question: It will be rented as needed. Unless of course the Fairy Lens Godmother leaves one under my pillow some night.

There IS a Fairy Lens Godmother for grown up photography addicts, right?)