Autumn Leaves next to the Wisconsin River
Gold in the Far Forest
There was virtually no wind, but every so often cascades of leaves filled the air. The video below is 60 frames per second slowed down to 24 frames per second.
Click on the four arrows icon to make the video full screen. My battery ran dead after this video. Some day, I will learn to bring fully charged spare batteries.
May God bless you.
Recently, God blessed me with a new camera, a Canon G7X Mark II, so I took it out to High Cliff State Park for a few test shots.
In the above shot, most of the trees are bare, but it still has nice color because of the leaves on the ground and the golden light of the sun setting over Lake Winnebago. I appreciate the detail and sharpness of the bare trees.
Here, I like the subtlety of color on the horizon and the wide dynamic range on the trees and leaves.
This picture seems like it could have been better. Maybe I got there too late to see the leaves lit up by sun rays. At full size, it doesn’t look too bad though.
The G7X has a relatively large sensor and a lens with a relatively wide aperture, so it captures low light scenes fairly well for a small compact camera. All the pictures in this post were taken with the camera hand held (no tripod) and the jpeg files are straight out of the camera (no post processing).
It is rare for any of my pictures to see Photoshop or any editing program. Although, maybe I should do more cropping and leveling of my horizons.
I took a hand-held sample video down by the lake shore, and uploaded it to YouTube. Unfortunately, every video I upload looks crummy: the images are not sharp and the colors are washed out. (I assume it has something to do with YouTube’s compression algorithms). Even though the colors are washed out, the static noise in the video sounds accurate.
I thought it would be nice to record the gently lapping water and the occasional distant call of a bird of prey. But in the video one has to strain to hear anything over the static.
Audible static noise in every video is an unfortunate and disappointing problem with the G7X Mark II. The audio quality in its videos is poor. My old G12 which cost less than the G7X Mark II had much better audio and much cleaner audio.
The sun sets over Lake Winnebago. I try hard to keep my camera level when taking pictures of flat horizons. It’s not easy when standing on wet rocks.
The G7X Mark II has a view screen that can flip back 180° so you can take a picture of yourself, if you wish. So I did. The sun was right below the horizon, and its light was rosy.
The flip screen also helps to take pictures from lower angles. Without the tilt screen, I would have had to lay in the water to get this photograph.
After that shot, I hiked up to the top of the first cliff.
This last picture is of the half moon rising over the sunset. The moon (in the upper left corner) is very far away, and therefore a little out of focus.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures.
Every one who lives has something for which to be thankful. Gratitude is the joy of life.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
— John 3:16-17, ESV.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Blue skies wispy clouds
honking skein over corn fields
moving through crisp air.
Bare trees in a line
crunchy leaves under the foot
rich smells of the earth.
Sights scents sounds
Autumn.
Sonnet 73
That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin’d choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.In me thou see’st the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west,
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest.In me thou see’st the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed whereon it must expire,
Consum’d with that which it was nourish’d by.This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
— William Shakespeare,
Sonnet 73.
Happy All Saints Day! Like the sunlight in that tree, it is the Word of God that makes the saints shine.
“I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” (Revelation 21:2, ESV). How does the Church dress beautifully for her husband, Christ? She adorns herself with the words and promises of God by believing them.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
— Revelation 21:3-4, ESV.
God’s word shines in our hearts giving us light and life.
At the entrance to High Cliff State Park this red maple stood in a sun beam between the clouds and green trees. After parking, I walked back, waited for the sun to reappear, and shot some photos with my old Canon A550.
Recently, my Canon G12 died. I ordered a new camera, but the new camera had to be returned because it had a dead pixel. So my A550 has come out of retirement. The 7.1 megapixel A550 was my first ever digital camera, and I have always had a lot of fun with it. When it retired, the batteries were not making a good connection, but I managed to fix that issue, and now the camera seems to be working as well as ever.
But for my old A550, this scene would have been lost. I hope you like the pictures, and that you have a blessed All Saints Day!
“Color turn to red.
Maple leaves to earthen bed.
Rest for now,” God said.
Crack in the Niagara Escarpment rock at High Cliff.
The Red Bird Trail follows along the edge of the Niagara Escarpment which forms the cliff of High Cliff State Park in Wisconsin.
The Niagara Escarpment is a large arch shaped, raised rock that runs from an area south of Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin, through Door County, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, a number of large islands in Lake Huron, Ontario, Niagara Falls, and continues on into New York. It is most famous because Niagara Falls runs over it.
“How magnificent are Your works, LORD,
how profound Your thoughts!”
— Psalm 92:5, HCSB.
God’s creation is magnificent, and reflects His glory. But the greatest and most profound thought of God for us is His own incarnation in Jesus Christ.
Christ is the only way of forgiveness and reconciliation. He is the only way to heaven. (John 14:6).
Jesus is the rock of our salvation. (Psalm 62:2).
“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”
— Isaiah 53:5, ESV.
The mountains are calling and I must go, and I will work on while I can, studying incessantly.
— John Muir.
John Muir was one of the founding fathers of our national and state park systems. The mountains called him, and he worked incessantly so that when the mountains called us, we could enjoy them.
God’s blessings.
Autumn leaves in Fall
Rich scents from the earth arise
God’s seasonal gift
haiku:
a major form of Japanese verse, written in 17 syllables divided into 3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, and employing highly evocative allusions and comparisons, often on the subject of nature or one of the seasons.
God’s blessings to you.
Light from Light 
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