While in Iowa this fall, not only did I have plenty of access to photograph on private land, but people were also letting me know of places they had seen or heard about.
One such place I had heard about was on Old 34 where it crosses Big Creek just outside of town. Thinking it would be an afternoon shot, I drove out to the location about 3:30. The light in Iowa is quite different than what I’m use to shooting in Arizona. Even at that time of day, the sun is lower in the sky and you can shoot some great backlit trees. Due to no rain in the month of August, the creeks and rivers were quite low. Some of the small creeks were completely dry. Big Creek usually has plenty of water running through it, but not this year. I found a place to park along the old highway and got out my gear. Little did I know how much traffic would be on the road at this time of day. I’m sure plenty of the people driving by thought I was crazy for being on the bridge making photographs. Especially the farmer in the combine! I definitely moved off the bridge for him. After making a few images and having to move off the bridge multiple times due to safety, I decided to pack up my gear.
A few days later, on a Sunday afternoon, I thought there might be much less traffic on old 34 and possibly more color along the creek. The day was overcast instead of sunny and I knew this would give a completely different feel to the scene. I parked along the highway as before and got out my gear. There was barely any traffic on this day and I was able to shoot with more comfort.
I don’t know if one image is better than the other, but they are certainly different.
Prints available for purchase at TBecker Photos.
My trip to the Midwest was near its end. One of the last morning’s there, a heavy frost appeared after a night of clear skies and cold temperature. I decided to pass on landscape shots with clear blue skies, macro shots of fallen leaves covered in frost was much more appealing. The day before I had spotted a beautiful Autumn Blaze Maple Tree at my niece’s home with many of the beautiful red leaves on the ground. So off to my niece’s home!
As it was a school day, my great-niece wasn’t able to watch me the whole time I was shooting. I continued to look around the ground for leaves with lots of frost. The sun was getting higher and the frost would soon be gone. With my macro lens, I could see the incredible texture of the leaves as well as the frost. The fallen leaves looked as if they had been coated in sugar and ready to decorate a cake.
Different Isn't Wrong, It's Just Different 