This photo is a cry of frustration.
This is my sad substitute for what I’d really prefer to be shooting ... a beautiful leaf filled with the colors of fall, backlit by the sun. This year in Georgia, we got an abundance of rain, far more than the long term average, and an order of magnitude more than we have in the past two drought years. Somehow, this has resulted in the phrase “fall color” being an oxymoron.
I’ve been privately grumbling quite a bit, to the point Susan thinks I’m making Mother Nature mad. I keep telling her, Mother Nature and I go way back. Sometimes she gives me crap, and I shoot it out of spite. But this yerar, she’s just totally holdin’ out on me.
At this time last year, the colors were brilliant. The year before, I found color in mid-October. All of those were shot within a hundred yards of my front door. Over time, certain trees and areas have become visual “markers” in my memory, and this year my brain keeps saying, “what’s up with all this dull grayish crap? It was stunning here last year.”
So instead I find a leaf that’s fallen off one of our indoor plants, and hold it up in a beam of light in a sad imitation of “The Real Thing.”
If you'd like to buy a print of this image, there is an admittedly slim chance it's already on sale at PhotoDude Labs (it can't hurt to look). If it isn't, e-mail me, and I'll reply with the particulars.
All images are ©1996-2004 Reid Stott, and may not be reproduced without permission. If you'd like to license an image for usage, contact me for details.