December Colors?

What colors does December offer in

the dullest of all the months

of the year?

December is known for being the most overcast and dark month of the year. Well, at least for those of us in this part of the world.

The days are cold, dull, overcast...and the days get shorter and shorter. What beauty can be found outdoors in this month? Last month I challenged myself with November. Now? Maybe I'll challenge myself with December.

At least that will be easy for moment. There have been some great morning and evening skies to admire.

A long time friend that used to be a neighbor and I went with her son on Thursday evening just after sunset for a night hike along old 131 trail in the Kickapoo Valley Reserve.

When we dropped from the ridge to the valley, the temperatures dropped at least 10 degrees. My friends commented on that and I suggested we walk up and out of the valley. We did. As we walked, we were able to catch glimpses of meteors streaking across the sky. This was at 6PM when the meteor shower was not supposed to be at its peak. 

We were able to find the Milky Way and searched for any other stars or constellations we could recognize. I'm not very good at that at all. We found the Big Dipper on the northern horizon and the Milky Way stretched overhead from East to West.  I wanted to take a couple of shots, but that takes time to do.

I asked Briar who will be turning 12 next week to be my model. He was cold but he agreed to stand still and look up into the sky with a headlamp on.

This was a one shot deal and thankfully, I got it!

Those guys were chilled, so we hiked back to the car and drove to their house where we visited for a while before I left.

I got up early the next morning to continue my early morning walks with Charlie. I normally hike across the fields so I can watch the sun come up and enjoy the quiet sounds of the rest of the world waking up.

I was not disappointed at all. The skies lit up like fire. 

I set the camera in the cornfield and put it on a timer. I trotted out a little distance so I could capture myself enjoying the show.

It sure was incredible. And it seemed as if it were never ending.

Charlie and I walked back towards home and noticed that the only sounds we heard were a few birds and some dogs barking off in the distance.

We had the whole world to ourselves.

Tonight we are supposed to have patchy fog and rain. Sunrise on the ridge tomorrow morning might be worth looking into. Fog always makes things much more interesting.

The colors aren't just in the sky for December. I hope to find something exciting in the forest also.

Looking for colors in December.

A good challenge.

Hunting colors

These are the colors in the valley as I was walking around during midday. The colors tend to be washed out in the midday sun so they aren't as striking as they would be early morning or late evening.

So, I decided to change things up and use the Infared Camera. What would the fall colors look like in the blasting sunlight?

Well. Hands down.

Simply amazing.

I think the Infrared shot of the pond vs the regular color shot is pretty telling.

One of the more interesting things is seeing light in different colors.

I used the IRChrome filter which actually produces a blue sky and generally will produce white clouds and red foliage.

I figured out how to tweak the orange/red/yellow hues to bring out the differences in the colors of the changing leaves.

Most IR filters will not reflect the subtle color differences in the changing leaves.

Nothing however beats the light at sunrise in color...

After our recent rain and warm days I have gone out to hunt cool tiny fungi and something called slime mold.

I'm a curious person, so I like to find the little things on the forest floor.

Infrared IRChrome Filter

Ahhh. More infrared.

There is something so interesting and fascinating to me about another light spectrum.

There are no boundaries.

The sky can be blue.

Or some hue of cyan. Perhaps an orange hued color?

The leaves and grass are not green.They can be white or pink...or perhaps you fancy yellow?

It all depends on the filter you choose to use and any post processing.

The above 3 photos were shot with a 665nm Filter. The sky usually turns out a pleasing bluish color after a channel swap. The leaves can be pinkish or white. Or if you really want to change things up, with the Viveza you can almost make it any color in the light spectrum.

I got the filter I've been lusting after for about a year now. It is an IR Chrome digital filter meant to let your camera take a digital photo much like the Kodak IRChrome film. The film was very expensive and not simple to develop. It was created to see camouflage clothes against the backround of foliage. I should do an experiment with that.

I bet my camo clothes would not reflect light in the same manner.

Anyway.

Here is some of my first works with the IR Chrome Filter. 

I took Tuesday off for a 'self' adventure. I wanted to just go somewhere were I didn't have to guide someone or even have to give a time as when I would be back.

That was my birthday gift to myself.

And it was a good one.

I used DxO software to work with this. When this company purchased the NIK software from Google, they did a great job of developing it further.

Below is a couple of shots from this morning. Not the classic IR Chrome shots you will see displayed on photo sites.

I do my own thing.

This has to be one of my favorite of the day. Partly because it is so vivid and surreal.

The real light of this moment was like this:

This was taken with my regular camera. I do love this one as it represents how the creek and the air above the creek react to the hot sun.

Fog.

Yet. The Infrared is so wildly different! 

I didn't get the typical IRChrome shot.

It would look more like this:

Bright blue sky and bright blue waters.

And there you have it for now. Since Tuesday, I've been trying to just peer at the news and not become so engrossed in it that I cannot sleep at night.

I don't have the answers and I sure wish I did.

Floods, Fall, Charlie

Of course it is all about the weather. This past week has been rain, rain, heavy rain, and then some more rain. If it rains an inch the creek is up. If it rains 1/2 inch, the creek rises.

While walking out to do chores yesterday morning I could hear the ground gurgling underfoot. I don't know if it will dry out enough in the next week or so for us to do a final lawn mowing. The winds and rains have clogged the porch gutters and I can't get up to clean them as the ground is so saturated that the ladder just sinks into the ground.

We went from cold temperatures to hot and humid for the past few days which brought in so much moisture and more rain. The Asian Beetles and the Box-elder bugs have swarmed the house in those brief moments that it did not rain. The weather is supposed to turn sharply colder in a few days and fall weather should return.

I have gone out for a walk with Charlie each day that we get a break from the rain. The subdued light was pretty beautiful for taking some fall photos.

Charlie was mostly interested in finding chipmunks and squirrels. He does still try to chase them. They generally fly up a tree and he loses sight of them. I call and he comes back fairly quickly.
He still wears the collar but I haven't had to 'ring' it much. I find the bell ringing distracts him enough so he comes to my call right away.

I think come winter I will be able to leave the collar off on our hikes. He is wearing his little black cord here too. He seems to understand that the cord means "stay close".

Yesterday I went solo to the creek and walked through the neighbor's land on each side of me along the creek. I got caught in a downpour and was thankful that I'd brought a cheap emergency poncho to put on over me. It protected my camera case and kept most of me dry.

It was alarming to see how swiftly the water began to run over the trails and down the ridge road.

I got home just in time too. The thunder began to roll and the lightening began to light up the afternoon sky.

Chores had to wait until there was a pause between storms. Three different wall clouds went over us in just two hours. Odd weather for mid October.

We are in a Flood Warning again for the Kickapoo River. It hasn't really gone back to normal since the rains at the beginning of September. I drove up the west side of the river the other day when I went to check on my MIL.

The power of that river water is incredible. It moved huge round bales that had been wrapped in a tube and displaced them all along the river.

I'm so over this rain! My driveway gravel and dirt is turning green in spots!

The Brown Season is Here!

Even though the brown season is here, there are some things that are still colorful.

Sunrises and sunsets seem to be somewhat spectacular this time of year.

The October sunsets are visible without moving from my porch so this time of year all I have to do is step outside for a moment to enjoy the spectacular show that mother nature puts on for us.

Most of the fall leaves have come down except in areas that are protected from the wind or the oak trees.

Yesterday, the skies were spectacular for accenting the colors left before winter. The greens were brilliant. The colors alive!

A front moved in as we walked to the 'bus stop' to get the kids.

On our way back from the bus stop it began to drizzle. So we cut through the fields.

Of course I'd brought a plastic bag to wrap the camera up in.

Our adventure was fun, we were damp when we all got home and the rain stopped. OF course!

Today the temperatures aren't going to get above 40 something and the winds are going to howl.
Looks like a good day to do indoor things.