Autumn Rain Brings Fall Colors

 

Eugene is a nice and decent size town, but it is not as resourceful as I like it to be. Driving on the freeway is not my favorite thing to do, but I have often been going back and forth between here and up north to procure what's missing here. It is surely not fun to drive on freeway particularly in the rain. In fact, it is very dangerous. 

My driving history is not as long as the regular folks here. I don’t have any breaking record to be proud of, but I did have a few very scaring experience. The most recent one was just less than ten days ago. It rained so hard on the freeway that I could not see the car ahead of me not mentioning the cars behind.  My windshield wipers worked as hard as they could, but still not fast enough to give me a clear view. I thought to pull over, but I could not see far enough to make any move.

I saw rainbow, double rainbows actually. The rainbow colors turned extremely bright at some point when the background color is light and then dimmed down when they hit the dark mountain range.  The scene was so dramatic and so unprecedented that I desired so hard to make a stop somewhere and snap a shot. But I knew it is a mission impossible and I should not even take my eyes off  the road… Rain diminished and so were the rainbows. But that glory-like moment is still in my mind.

Rain washes, cleanses and wipes the grasses green. Acres of green fields, sea of trees with fall colors, rivers and lakes and the reflections on them have composed a breath-taking landscape. The scene of Willamette Valley that I saw from the airplane is absolutely stunning!  On this note, I think it worthwhile to exchange for falling short of resources here.

Autumn rain brings fall colors. I ran out of the door with my raincoat and camera rain jacket when I saw the trees spotted with fall colors. I have been waiting for the leaves to turn colors and these few colors are enough to get me out of the house. There are many shades of red and this red looks so fresh and so clean that it stands out among brown tree barks, evergreens and the beige house in the background. It was a cloudy day, a better day to portrait autumn in many ways.

Inside the white fence is a large piece of property with a house sitting far away from the road. The wide open field is just right there, I guess, to be the barrier between the house and the street. It looks like a horse property, but I have never seen any horse (or even people) around. The owner must like the secluded living.  I have always had my eyes on this place because of the open space, the row of the trees and the white fence. I cannot tell you why I like white fence. Maybe I wish I have a horse and can ride my horse at my own property. And, I would love to live in a place like this. Quiet, secluded, open and surrounded by nature.

I took this picture to compare with the other one I took last year in a foggy day (see my previous blog "GotCha Fog". Can you believe how different it is when two pictures are taken at the same spot at two different time of the season?

Not having to drive on the freeway, local park is my other place to shoot fall colors. When the colors are intense and there are many colors, I feel like to paint over them and turn them into something more artistic. However, I just came back from a trip and did not have time to play with them. Instead, I used several different preset to give all images a bit of painterly look.

My corn flower is still blooming since I got it six months ago. New growth is still popping. It is not influenced by cool weather and rain at all. I have taken many and decided to take another shot today.
The flower colors are still as vivid and bright as they have been that is truly amazing.  No post processing was done. What you see is what it looks. Although they are not your typical fall colors, but I count them fall colors because they are the colors that I see in this cold days.

It is the rain that brings all the beautiful fall colors. I like to believe it and I like rain.

Play Dough - Painted Hills

Grandson Braxtyn loves play dough. He can spend good 3-4 hours using his creative hands and molding anything you can think of.  I don’t get to see him often due to the distance. Whenever I visited him, I liked to surprise him with a large box of play dough and some kind of molding device. He would drop everything he was doing and focused immediately on play dough projects. Nothing is more satisfying than to see the smile on the face of a little boy.

Painted Hills or Play Dough

When I was a child, I was told to believe that God used his play dough to mold us human beings. He then baked the molded shape of human figures and blew in his breath to give them life. The Caucasian skin tone is lighter because it is from the batch of undone products. Africans are apparently the well-done batch because the result is a darker skin tone.  And, Asians are perfectly baked and so we have the medium and ‘just right’ skin color, not too light or too dark.  Not to fret if you don’t like your skin tone. This is just the hearsay from Asian grandmothers.  Your grandmother may have a better story for you:-)

Sculptures

A miscalculation about the driving distance, we missed the golden hours, but it was not too bad. Sky was bright, but the hills were still in the shade on our arrival and they gradually re-surfaced as sun rose higher.  The better time to be here appears to be sunset, but I don’t regret a 5:00am wakeup call either. The hills are sculptured to the shapes that spark motion and flow. A supreme paint brush has magically touched them and brought up the gradient look. Dramatic white cloud has turned the blue sky into a pastel tapestry.

Honey-Covered

I saw a small mount coated with honey, light and amber, dripping from the top.  The tip point seems to glue to the sky, but it is infinitely far away. I want my photography skills to be higher and higher, but I know that I won't never reach the top.  Just when I thought that I have built a higher mount, there is another one higher than mine (一山比一山高). Regardless how good I am, I know I will always find someone else better than I.  My conclusion is to settle in my 'lofty' goal and be content with wherever I am. I see brown as honey, you may see it as chocolate, or champagne. If not for this diversity, the world won't be as fun.

Nature in Motion

Divine design does not end with a honey-covered cone. It turns and twists. It flows and moves. The hill is stationed, but it looks in motion. The play dough is no longer a single tan color, it is a shade mixture of tan, brown, burgundy and wine colors. I am not sure if it will look exactly the same when I come around next time. Nature is unpredictable and therefore, magical.

Brush Strokes

The brush strokes are painted across and deep beaudoux color is left on the tips. Fall rain has enriched the  pasture so green. The contrast between crisp green and rich burgundy is vibrant and mid-tone tan is set to balance. Fine falling gravels add slight texture and also spread the beaudoux paint down and across the diagonal lines...  Kneading, molding, sculpturing and painting work continue as the seasons change and hopefully, I am making progress in my photography skills as well.

Fall color or Make your own color

 

We wore shorts and short sleeves 75% of the time while in Italy. In just a few weeks, autumn weather is here at home. I was hoping to catch the last glimpse of remaining flower blooms in my yard, but they had way passed the prime.  I guess I can always shoot something from what's left, but I cannot bear to observe the desolate look. Winter will be long, but I absolutely want the best of them in my photo library.

We are blessed with a mild summer. Sunshine is still pouring lavishly in September and even in this October morning. I have seen red maple leaves spattered on the ground in the neighborhood, but it is not quite the same at local parks. It has something to do with the elevation.

I was looking for some colors, but Fall has not put on her wardrobe here. I was happy when these two people walking into the scene and heartily greeted me like I am their old friend.
 

Enjoyment is to walk the golden path with a good friend in good rhythms and hand in hand. Thankfully and unexpectedly became my subject. One wears red and the other blue like they know exactly what I want.

My personal preference is to have my trees and plants neatly trimmed and organized. Trailing flowers are charming sometimes if they are 'groomed' and not overly intrusive.

This flower plant grows on the long and stringy stems which are very coarse and intertwined. Erecting upright from the ground, they still look like weeds to me. I don't dislike them, but I think they need a make over.

This morning I snapped a monochrome shot and thought I like it much better than its original colors (purple flowers and green stems). Better yet, I added slight texture and pour some red wine on it.  Suddenly I saw rhinestones sparkling on a dual tone velvet robe. So I dreamed it along...

 

Married to someone who does not complain has taught me to turn the claim and complaint to improvements and inspirations. If I am not pleased with what I have or what I see, I work out a way to ease and please myself particularly now camera is my loyal friend to help me in the process.

 

I attended a worldwide Photowalk last Saturday. The event is aimed to support Kenya Orphanage. On that note, I was gladly to get up 5:30am in order to meet up with the group in Lake Oswego according to the schedule. Nothing is more fulfilling to hang out with the group of people with common interest and passion.  We started our walk at Farmers Market, a very nice one which is surrounded by park, nice restaurants and shops.  

It rained before our arrival. Outside seating was still covered with large water puddles and drops.

I was taking reflection pictures, but I did not like the building reflections. When the image was downloaded and brought in close, I saw 'etched glass'.  Sunny side color is lighter and shady side darker. Taupe and Mauve, not natural fall colors, but why not? To take it to the next notch, I threw in some fall colors that I just took along the road pretending that I saw fall colors through the reflections.

 

Art has no rules.  Colors, impressions, inspirations are all in our mind. As long as you open your mind, you would begin to see things. I don't want to play your mind either. I am just writing what's come to my mind.

Two week's indulgence in farm fresh Italian food,  my eyes were on organic vegetables and fruits. I cannot stop thinking about the juicy tomatoes and crunchy pears we had there. I am dragging to buy hothouse tomatoes or the fruits that were harvested way before the maturity and have been refrigerated before they hit the marketplace. 

People in this market want volume and therefore, the merchants figured out the means to expedite the fast and mass production. We consumers either have to deal with chemicals or 'organic' prices. The good news is, farmers market is becoming more trendy and popular.

Brussels sprouts is not necessarily the popular vegetable because of its bitter taste. But if the cooking is done right, the taste will actually grow in you.  At least that is my experience. Avocado is not an Asian vegetable and I have never tried it till just about ten years ago and now I love it.

Just about done with the last segment of the Walk, I discovered this Anemone. It is one of my most favorite flowers for macro shots. Unfortunately I lost my two plants in the last snow storm. Below is a quick snap without a tripod. I amplified the background and painted a little.  Temperature seems to be quite a bit lower today. The cool tones seem to illustrate the mood by itself without me even thinking about it.

View in the Frame - open and yet enclosed

Through the eyes of being a photographer, I begin to love windows.  Window is like the live view screen on the camera, it helps to filter through the wide open space and frame the ideal image to please our eyes.  When an image has a focal point, it is given a meaning and therefore appealing. 

Tuscany, Framed

The rolling hills at Tuscany is like lines and lines of poems that rhymes and goes on and on to no end. I did not use a telephoto lens and I felt that I could not focus on one segment without carrying it on to the others. As we cruised along the road, I fast-produced lots of panorama clips which seem to satisfy my anxiety to take in everything, but at end of the day, I found the images framed are more attractive and drive me to be more attentive.

I did bring my tripod, but it does not always practical coming to the popular tourist spot where I either had to dodge hundreds of heads or there was no extra room for a tripod. September is usually not a prime tourist season, but it still is here. I found myself constantly in the way of another photographer and had to snap my shots whenever there was an opening.

Grape Vines, Under and Up-Closer

Lodging at the place next to the acres of vineyard is an unforgettable experience. The smell of the rows and rows of ripen grapes flows into the air a sweet and vinegary aroma. It is enjoyable to walk down the vineyards; It is soothing to rest under the structured grape arbor; It is captivating and satisfying looking through a window with grape vines and ripen grapes hanging down... Wonder why I did not see such grape arbors in Willamette Valley. Maybe our grape vines are too young to be manipulated as a sustained structure?

Either we look through the windows from inside or look in from outside, the frame (window or door) can easily transform the dullness to magic. I like French doors. The images shown through the checkered panels are like a live version of puzzles.  This simple lunch place serves freshly-caught fish, home-made pasta (of course), killer appetizers and potato croquettes that melted in your mouth after you break the crunch on the surface. If not for the wood frames, the white light bulbs and planters, the ocean scene will disappear and no ambiance to speak of. I just cannot get enough of these open frames.

Difference is in the Framing

Not until recent trip in Italy, I did not think much of open doors and windows without glasses.  The distinctive history of Italy has established its exceptional styles of architecture. Instead of wood frames, there are stone and rock version that often remind me of the stronghold and fortress in historical Roman Empire.  They were built upon a long and hard history, meant to be unbeatable and forever lasting. I wowed when I walked into this space and was wholeheartedly in love of what I saw. The view won't be so stunning without the dramatic stone columns which bring in the contrast and frame for us a natural painting.

 

How do you like to live in the house where a large panel of open window unwraps for you the whole world of sea below and the blue sky above, right in front of you? Don't you feel like you can walk on water and easily reach out to the sky? This house makes me dream. That's what I am talking about...

Now I understand why Terra cotta color is so popular here. I cannot think of a better color to harmonize the sky and the earth, and to amplify the entire color scheme to its extreme, so perfectly.

It is the combination of vintage flare, the color drama and the ultimately irresistible nature. It is the Italian charm that draw people over here, time after time. This also explains why the Italian designers are so inspiring and outstanding. 

Amalfi Coast - the Mediterrian Blue

Once just a geographic term for me, and now I have been here.  The adventure and experience that I had within the week is dramatic and the impact on me is huge.  I am still swimming in the volume of pictures I have taken and can barely begin to re-organize myself and let out what I have taken in.

Prior to my trip, I have known of the elevation, the cliff and the scaring busing adventure. I had a good share of nightmares that I either fell on the cliff or I was shaken out of the bus and went straight down to the ocean... 

The reality was, my fear was still there, but not as drastic as what I had envisioned. We are truly blessed with absolutely wonderful weather and are able to complete our journey without hassles. Most of all, God has removed my fear and affirmed to me that with His Presence, I shall not fear or fret.  

The scenery at Amalfi coast is more dramatic than Tuscany and the varieties are better for photography. The beauty in Tuscany is natural, peaceful and comforting while Amalfi Coast forces you to breath harder and desire bigger. The Mediterranean blue water is screaming at you wherever you go and it provides the most gorgeous backdrop for the landscape. Everywhere you go, you see the blue. Wherever you stop, you are looking down the water. In the beginning, I could feel the tremble on my feet, but it got better every day.

 

Italian’s intricate architecture is undoubtedly enriched by its impressive history. To me, the residential houses are particularly charming in respect of its appearance and how they were built - one next to the other and one on top of the other. It is surely not built under a building ordinance or regulation code. They seemed to be established by people’s imminent needs and simultaneous inspirations throughout the centuries. Every house has the appeal of its own and they are all so closely attached to each other. 

I was intrigued by the layers of winding streets. On one street, you can start to walk uphill and half way, the road goes down.  If you don’t want to walk down the street to compete with the hectic traffic, you can choose to use stairs and walk up and down hundreds of steps. Once you use the steps, you are set in a maze. Pray for good luck that you are not confused by the twisting and turning stairs.  One wrong turn can get you to walk another hundred steps before you can find your way out. If you are tired, it is quite frustrating to get lost. But if you are fresh in the morning and in for the adventure, it is lots of fun to get lost and get back on track again. 

The sun was just down for couple hours on that day. I was up at Cimbrone Garden looking down, I meant, straight down. I found my stiff legs were gravitated to the ground, moving very slowly, one step at a time. The heavy stone fence gives me an assurance that I would not fall through the gaps, but it still took me a while to come close to the fence for a quick snap.

Wonder if you have heard of Tiberius Leap. Tiberius Cesar is the second emperor of Rome. He was in power when Jesus was crucified. We visited the remnants of his palace, Villa Jovis in Capri. I enjoyed Italy history but not architecture relics particularly these emperor's palaces where brutal and inhuman events had taken place. Tiberius had infamous acts that he dropped his young conquests to this 1000 foot cliff to death for his own pleasure. I wanted to check out this place to measure how far I can push myself to overcome my fear of height.I did finally make it to the edge of the railing, but I could not take a clear picture when my hands and feet refused to coordinate.

I am removing Tuscany and Amalfi Coast from my bucket list, but it does not mean that I won't go back. I am so happy that I finally made myself a tourist (not a business woman) in Italy. There is a reason why Italy is such a popular tourist destination and like Hawaii, people do not just go there once, they go regularly.  It is that unbeatable and irresistible Italian charm that captured your heart time after time.