Monday, October 07, 2013

Second Snowfall of October? Oh my!

We had our SECOND snowfall of autumn last Friday.
Shock!
And this time it stuck...the ground was cold enough that the white stuff stay on the ground.

I was watching Luke for a couple of hours in the morning; I was reluctant to take him out to see the snow scenes without snow tires on my car.
He left around one; Bernie flew home around four so I got a little camera time in before he landed.
Since he wanted to just crash and sleep once he got home, I was free to go take some "me" time that evening too.

The view at the end of our street.

A quick peek at Neff's Canyon, about five minutes up the road from our place.

I love the well worn path at the base of the canyon.

At this point I am just itching to get my hands on the rental wide angle lens in order to get a photo of the whole scene in one shot.
I had the lens reserved for use on Saturday morning.
Bernie and Jeff were planning an all day golfing event, their annual "Fall Golf" outing that is now in its fifth year.
No guilt about spending the day out with my camera tomorrow too!


I zipped over to Mill Creek for some snowy shots.



I am torn: I love the macro shots.
Yet the views afar are awesome right now.
I usually do the far views first, then the macro.

And I try to remember to look overhead too.

And down at my feet as well.
A lot is visually going on up the canyons right now.




This time I remembered to wear warm boots.
Can't tell you  how often I jet up the canyon in crocs or loafers that really are not practical in snow.


A plant that delivers shiny red berries AND a rainbow assortment of leaf color AND trimmed with snow is AWESOME!














Who says speckles and freckles and spots are not attractive?




I can see rainbow colors glowing on the mountain sides too.
The sun is setting...the temperature is dropping rapidly.

But...what about the white berries on the red branches with their rainbow colored leaves?
I crunch through the snow to give them their due too.

The colors on the mountains brighten with each passing moment.

It is a race for the last remaining moments of light.




Someone else had been here before me.
The snow keeps track of its visitors.



Oh the sky!


How can I take in all this beauty at once?

Each bend of the road reveals more beauty.
I keep pulling over, mindful that the road will soon ice.
Who am I kidding, it went to 32 degrees about fifteen minutes ago.
The road IS ice, but I creep along at five miles an hour.
Which is part of the problem: going that slow lets me see more thing I want to photograph.




I sort of like the photos with just natural light, but I do a few flash lit photos too.
Which do you like better?





Yeah, I know.
WAY too many berry shots.
I got addicted to their shiny red snow capped forms.


Had to laugh at the sign.
Camping is not allowed at any time in Mill Creek Canyon.
With the snow, camping seems rather unappealing now anyway.


The light finally gave way to dark.
Photo time was over, at least for that day.

7 comments:

ellen b. said...

Lovely scenes and colors! Looks like you made the most of your time slots!!

Lorrie said...

It's really beautiful there. Snow already! Again! Winter seems to be making an early appearance this year. Love those red berries. The flash shot certainly highlights them.

Your previous post about the moose encounter reminded me of one I had years ago. I wrote it up in a post today.

Vee said...

you sure do respond to snow in October...early October...in the most cheerful of ways! = >

Your pictures are wonderful. I wanted to say that I like the the natural light best, but somehow I like the bit of extra light.

Pondside said...

I'm torn between 'with flash' and 'without'. Each has its good points, but I like the 'without' slightly more.
Red berries and white snow - there isn't a better subject!

Lovella ♥ said...

Those are just amazing photos Jill. I can see why you would keep hopping in your car.
The coloring here is very dull so far.
I am a lover of natural light. I rarely allow my flash to be used and always shoot in Manual now. Beautiful photos...all of them.

Kathy said...

Beautiful shots Jill. I like the autumn colours dusted in white.

Judy said...

Beautiful! I'm thinking you may be in for a very long winter...if the snow has already arrived. I'm still in summer mode over here (always running a little behind, it seems).