It is 50º outside, windy, overcast and it has been raining for three days. Typical autumn saturday along Lake Michigan. What are ya gonna do, stay inside where it is warm and dry? In a word…. no. Get up early, grab your camera and rain gear and go for a hike? Hell Yeah!
I began the day by driving out to the West Beach area of the Indiana Dunes National Park. It was still raining lightly as I left the car and headed up to a dune ridge on the Long Lake trail.
The interplay between the black and yellow colors and the symmetry of the leaves are what caught my eye when I took this photo.
Most people think warm, sunny clear skies are the best days for outdoor photography.
Ridge top section of the Long Lake trail.
Nope. Cool, windy gray days in fall are hands down the best conditions for bold, beautiful, saturated and true color.
Note that the colors in this image have not been enhanced, they are quite accurate. Although it seems counter intuitive, colors are much richer under cloudy conditions than in bright sunlight.
Overcast skies produce neutral and uniform illumination of the landscape.
This part of the trail runs along the base of the dune ridge.
The absence of sharp shadows and blown out bright areas permits subtle color gradations and detail to take center stage.
The wetness gives everything a glossy sheen.
Another image where the natural colors have not been enhanced. Nature does not need ‘filters’.
After finishing this and the nearby West Beach trail I decide over to Miller Woods for more fall fun in part 2 of this post.