For the past several years, with time off because of Covid (not me, I have somehow managed to escape its clutches), I have gone to Bar Harbor, Maine, during the second week of October to photograph one of nature’s greatest displays—the changing color of the leaves, hoping that I get there at the right time. I have learned after much trial and error that the second week is usually quite perfect. If there is an early color change, I catch the peak during the early part of that week. If the change occurs later, I get the earlier part of the color change, but still get enough to keep me happy. Usually, I go alone, but this year my wife decided that she wanted to go with me. I therefore hoped that the color change would be a good one, since she had never seen it before. It turned out to be absolutely incredible. I had thought that the color change last year was one of the best that I had ever seen, but this year beat it hands down. Now usually, when Elaine is with me, I cannot do the crazy kinds of things that I do when I am photographing by myself. She actually likes to eat and sleep normally, whereas when I am by myself, I run around like an insane man, often ignoring eating until I no longer have good light for photography. So that having Elaine with me is much more civil, I get far more rest, and I eat much better. I never go to any quality restaurants by myself, just quick eateries. Elaine being with me is much more enjoyable, then, but it has one big downside—there is less time for photography. So I expected that I would not be as productive this year as in previous years. But boy, was I wrong!
This year’s color change was so magical that the photos almost took themselves. It was really incredible and I came away with a treasure trove of photos that I was very happy with. The maples were truly exceptional and the reds of the trees just blazed through many of my images. In some past years, the reds were not terribly notable, and I made the best of yellows and oranges. In future years, I might find myself very disappointed when the color change, for a variety of reasons, turns out to be much less than what I experienced this year. But that is something that I can worry about at another time. This year’s crop of photos was richly rewarding and very exciting. I came away very pleased with my effort this year, and it was a pleasure having my wife with me for a change.
Lichenified Tree and Fog Bank, Duck Brook Pond, Bar Harbor, ME 2022
Upper Hadlock Pond, Mt. Desert, Maine 2022