Fall Colors in Chadron, Nebraska, September 30, 2006

Leaves, Chadron, Nebraska, September 2006. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

In late September, 2006, the fall colors around Chadron were plentiful. I was drawn to these red leaves while hiking in one of the city parks with a friend. This is a pretty straightforward composition, letting the subject stay centered. There are some counterbalancing elements, both in the curves of the leaves, and the out of focus diagonal branches behind. Add the yellow-green background contrasting the intense red foreground and you've got some visual interest to keep your eyes entertained. The more I look at it, the more I want to do some retouching trickery and remove the thin, out of focus leaf at the bottom center.

Red Hoodoos at Toadstool Park, September 4, 2006

Sandstone formations at Toadstool Geological Park, lit by a red-gelled flash, September 2006. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

I admire the work of Larrie Thomson, a night photographer who does colored light photos of structures in ghost towns. This night at Toadstool Park was a good opportunity to fire through some colored gels and see what I could get. You end up shooting several to make sure the exposure works; it won’t do to blow out the red channel here. I like the negative space the appears around the spires, and the motion-blurred stars within that space. The texture that appears within the spires is fun to explore.