Autumn in the Blue Ridge: A Photo Essay

My sorrow, when she's here with me, thinks these dark days of autumn rain are beautiful as days can be; she loves the bare, the withered tree; she walks the sodden pasture lane.
--Robert Frost

If you missed autumn this year (2006) in the Blue Ridge Mountains, I’m sorry; you missed a fantastic show! We’ve had fog and rain, clear skies and dramatically cloudy days, calm silky days on the water and wind.

Below are some of my beautiful experiences this autumn, and I hope that you will find my images pleasing, as well as achieving a sentiment of somewhat experiencing the sense of this autumn through them!

Click the images to see a larger view.


Lower Crabtree Falls

Starting out early in the morning on October 16, my friend, and fellow photographer, Bob and I set out to hike Crabtree Falls; we were not disappointed by what we found! This image is just one of the many gems to be found along the trail of the longest cascading falls in the east.


Autumn Mist

Taken at about 3:00 PM (10/17/06) on the Blue Ridge Parkway; just a few miles south of the James River. It had been raining hard earlier in the day and then became foggy and misty; combined with the autumn color there was a mystical feel about the Parkway.


Morning Reflections

The morning of October 20 seemed magical in so many ways on the Parkway! This image was taken that magical morning after a night of rain; the clouds were dramatic and the autumn colors vibrant, and the sun peeking through the clouds made for a theatrical performance of light and shadow!


Chilly Autumn Day

This image, I call “Chilly Autumn Day” was taken at Abbot Lake at the Peaks of Otter. Bob and I drove up there in hopes of finding some great autumn images and this is one of my images that were such a joy to find. It was overcast the colors were beautiful and the autumn chill in the air invigorating!


Silky Day

Silky Day was taken from the walking bridge at the James River visitor center on the Parkway. It was around 3:00 PM and not even a whisper of wind resulting in this soft silky appearance of the water and sky.


Autumn’s Reflections

I took this image yesterday while Bob and I were out looking for great views on this late autumn day. This was taken on Otter Creek, just below the Dam of Otter Lake on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was a difficult day to find good photo opts unless you sought out shaded areas out of the very bright sun; we did, and I think it paid off!


If you enjoyed these images you can find more of my fall, 2006 photos here.


Tags: [Blue Ridge][Photography][Autumn]