In Search of Fall Color

A few weeks ago, I drove to the Blue Ridge Parkway in Western North Carolina in search of clear night skies and fall color.  I captured some cool nighttime shots that I shared in my previous blog. 

I also captured a number of other photographs as I searched for the elusive predawn fall color magic.  It is hard to find that magic, but sometimes it reveals itself to me. Mother Nature’s gift is beyond my control.  On this particular morning, the gift was not fall color, but still lovely in its own way.   

The fog crept up from its valley hiding places as the day began to warm.

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Here is a capture with some fall color that I made later on this particular day, nice, but no magic here.  

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Still, the day was young and these colors caught my eye and my imagination.  This is the outcome, some of my favorite colors, green and blue and strong vertical lines.  

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My final capture of the day clearly has some fall color, but the sun was the gift giver, not the leaves.  I know, I know, another sunset; but they never cease to attract my attention.

Not to be bested by Mother Nature, a few days later I drove to Oak Hollow Lake in High Point, NC in search of the crescent moon.  I found it and these dawn colors awakened my fall color quest again.  

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And I found it, hiding among the trees beside the lake, but revealed by the rising sun!!!!!!!!!!  

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The lesson I learned: 

I must learn patience.  Mother Nature reveals her magic gift when and if she chooses.