fall colour

Rolley Creek Fall Colours

Vine Maple Fall colour foliage along Rolley Creek at Rolley Lake Provincial Park in Mission, British Columbia, Canada

rolley creek in mission bc

Fall foliage along Rolley Creek (Purchase)

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   Some years are great for Fall colours, and some not as much. This appears to be a year in the Southwest corner of British Columbia that is not so great. Our dry Summer seems to have allowed powdery mildew (a fungus) to grow on the leaves of the Bigleaf Maples (Acer macrophyllum) and as a consequence has impacted the Fall colour display. So instead of great yellows and some orange, many trees are turning from green to a orange tinged brown. Not nearly as photogenic!

   While the Fraser Valley does not have a wide variety of plants that make great Fall colours, there is always the Vine Maple (Acer circinatum) to the rescue. This tree, while not as nearly large as the Bigleaf Maple, seems to always come through with at least decent Fall foliage colours in some locations. Just like looking for wildflowers, sometimes all you need is one! While hunting for what turned out to be the elusive Rolley Falls (more on that in my next blog post) I was able to find this Vine Maple along Rolley Creek on the way to the falls.

Silver Lake Fall Reflections

Bigleaf Maples (Acer macrophyllum) reflecting in the water of Silver Lake in Silver Lake Provincial Park near Hope, British Columbia, Canada.

reflection of maple trees fall colours in silver lake provincial park

Fall Colours at Silver Lake (Purchase)

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   Another photograph I made this Fall at Silver Lake Provincial Park in the Skagit Valley near Hope, British Columbia. I was fortunate on both of my trips here last Fall to have a near perfect reflection on the lake – I only wish I’d had even more hours of light to work with all the possibilities!

   I posted a panorama made on the same evening in a previous blog post. I also have a gallery in my newly organized image archive dedicated to Silver Lake Provincial Park you may enjoy.

Group of Small Mushrooms

group of small mushrooms in campbell valley park, langley, british columbia
Mushrooms
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   I made this photo in a favourite local park – Campbell Valley Regional Park in Langley, British Columbia. There is not much in the way of wide open scenery here, but it is a great place to focus on smaller things such as mushrooms, wildflowers and occasionally birds. If you have read my previous mushroom posts over on Google+ it will come to you as no surprise that I have not identified this species of mushroom.

   I would normally shoot something like this with my macro lens, but in this case I was not going to be able to get close to this log at all without destroying a lot of underbrush, so I setup my tripod on the trail and used my Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens to “get closer”. I am not against placing items in a scene, but for this particular photo I did not place the Maple leaf – it was already laying there. I do have another version of this photo without the leaf, but I believe the above composition is stronger with the leaf in place.

Yakima Peak at Tipsoo Lake

yakima peak tipsoo lake frost

   This shot of Yakima Peak behind a frosty Tipsoo Lake in Mount Rainier National Park was yet another learning experience. I learned that if you set your alarm on a hotel clock radio, check that the time is set properly. As a consequence to my lack of due diligence, I missed sunrise, but I did see Tipsoo Lake for the first time so it wasn’t all bad.

   On this particular morning I estimate that it was about -10°C (14°F) which was a bit chillier than I had anticipated. All the frost had heaved up the soil on the trail a few inches which made walking on it a bit tricky in spots but I think the crunching sound helped wake me up a bit. Sometimes I wish I could stand the taste of coffee. This turned out to be a bit late in the season for good fall colour at Rainier but I still like this shot of Yakima Peak rising above Tipsoo Lake with the foreground of frosty wildflower stems and leaves. A week later and this area had about 2 feet of snow. I can only imagine how much must be up there right now.