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The Changing Season
November 2004
For some people, autumn is their favorite season. The colors are the most beautiful of the year, and there’s a long tradition of driving around the mountains to enjoy the views. For others it is a somewhat sad time. The leaves they love in the spring and summer have gone, and all we have left are the bare branches. Or perhaps we all feel a little of both emotions. In any case, our photographers have found lovely scenes to capture images of the new season and give us a positive sense of the gifts of autumn.
Our cover photograph by Randy Williams is the first prize winner in the “Mountain” category of our 2004 photography contest, and shows us a magical scene of a shaft of sunlight striking the tops of trees and lighting up their golden leaves. The shadows in the foreground and on the mountains provide a lovely frame for this moment of beauty. It is a wonderful way to bid farewell to the vanishing leaves.
Our next two photographs were also winners in our contest. “The Ashokan from Cornell Mountain,” by Michael F. Wentland, shows a lovely blue sky framed by floating clouds. The dark ground below is a striking contrast for the light above. By contrast, “The Notch” by Philip W. Dezan depicts a later scene. Perhaps the first snow has arrived on a grey, overcast day, and what we see is a landscape with subtle hues and abstract forms.
In the next double page spread, we see warm colors. Ted F. Randazzo’s unnamed photograph captures a reddish sunset, framed by a bare tree and the corner of a house. The ground below provides a lovely curve to contrast with the horizontal clouds and the vertical tree. “Fallen Leaf of Wonder” by Gary Wisniewski also shows us some lovely reddish tones, this time in an autumn leaf lying underwater on a sandy streambed.
The next spread changes color. Here we have two more subdued yellow/brown images, both by Eileen Camuto. On the left is “Cattail Reflections Mountaintop 2004,” with its delicate composition of long stems reflected in the water. On the right the cattails are upright, forming a cluster of color against the dark background.
And, finally, we have Richard Bruner’s delightful image that he calls “Branching Out.” Here the photographer was lucky to have a deep blue sky as the background for the autumn leaves. The dark, twisting branches create lovely forms against the sky above.
Our photographers have done well to show us the beauty of the season.
--David Finn
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