Time was, I couldn’t enjoy autumn. I always looked past it straight to winter, which I hate: the cold and snow, the staying indoors, the heavy clothes and coats. But then a few years ago an autumn of astonishing color yanked me from my gathering funk, and since then I’ve looked for autumn’s color, frequently with a camera in hand. My camera has helped me appreciate so many things, and autumn stands at the front of the line.
I’ve often felt that my cameras never captured the full autumn color experience. The closest any camera came was the autumn day I walked through Holliday Park with my old Kodak Z730 digital camera — that old digicam gets wonderful color.
But this year, I had a new arrow in my quiver: Fujifilm Velvia 50, a slide film known for heavily saturated color. I put some in my Nikon F2 and, over several days, photographed as much autumn color as I could. And boy howdy, did I get some strong color back. Unrealistic color. The kind of color we all wish autumn could deliver.
Fortunately, I’m not opposed to such fantasy. Through Thursday this week, I’ll share Velvia photos from my October camera walks. All of this color will counterbalance the black story I need to tell on Friday.
For most of 17 years I’ve lived around the corner from a large cemetery. The trees in its parking lot were probably deliberately chosen for the intense color they deliver come fall.
This was the first time I entered the cemetery to photograph anything. I never think about exploring this cemetery because long ago it became something I fail to notice. That happens to things you drive by every day. I only notice these trees because they are near the street.
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