Fall color

[leuallen]

I live in central Illinois and don't travel so I have to look hard to find landscapes. Fall is the best time especially if the color is good as it was this year.

The first picture is of sumac. There is a back road that is just lined with the stuff and looks to be on fire when the sumac is in color. Sumac color lasts a very short while. I went by this area three days latter and the color was all gone and it looked dull.

The next picture was take at a housing development in the woods with lake and all. It is hilly with winding roads and just beautiful. Many trees. I sure would like to live there.

These houses are perched at the top of a tall hill near the edge. Maybe a half dozen of so houses. Taken from the valley below. I was pretty far away and use a 420mm equivalent focal length.

The last picture is in a very narrow valley. There is a small clearing on one side near the road that allows you to see the opposite side of the valley. This is important to me as I am getting old and cannot trek into the woods as I would have to do at most locations. Then there is the problem of trespassing if you go in to get a proper view. So this spot was a goldmine. This was with a 310mm equivalent focal length.

I  use m4/3. Would like the quality of larger formats but since I shoot mostly telephoto the size, weight, and cost rules that out.

Larry

[Jeremy Roussak]

I love the last in particular. The second looks a bit oversharpened.

Jeremy

[leuallen]

Funny, I rarely sharpen so this is not sharpened. It is probably the contrast boost with the small details giving this effect. I did crush the blacks and increase contrast with a fair bit of saturation from the contrast. I do not usually process this way but it is how I felt about these images.

[Alskoj]

Thanks for sharing your fall colors. 
I feel for you.  I used to be stationed in Oklahoma.  Not exactly a landscape mecca.  I now live in Colorado and feel truly blessed.

[leuallen]

It's not too bad. I like the challenge. When I get something good, I feel doubly proud.

[leuallen]

11-16-2017

I played a little with the second image. The sharpening effect is due to the nature of the subject, sharp lens and small contrasty detail. I even tried turning off all raw sharpening in LR and it had little effect. The new version has altered color balance: blacks were neutralized (were quite blue), color temp reduced, contrast reduced, and saturation reduced. I don't know if it is any better.

Larry