IN THE FIELD: Before The Storm 2
This past weekend I ventured out to capture some autumn color before the hurricane swept through the area.
Before even leaving our property, I stopped to photograph the spirea bushes in one of our garden beds. They always put on a spectacular show of flowers in the spring, and in the fall the leaves turn brilliant orange and red.
Tuesday morning I headed outside and walked the property to asses the damage from the storm. It was still windy and raining, but the majority of the storm had passed. And just as I figured, the wind and torrential rain had stripped the bush of all it’s leaves. I’m glad we were able to enjoy the marvelous color for a week or so this autumn season.
I composed this shot with one of our cherry laurels in the foreground to add some balance in color and contrast.
Photo specs 80mm, 1/30th @ f8
David Heilman 
Except for some Bradford Pears that hadn’t completely changed yet most everything else is sticks. Love the color contrast there.
Not to much left on the trees around here either…glad you like the color contrast. The green leaves really helped the composition and added a bit of interest.
I am glad you and your family are safe. it is good to see such brilliant colour and I wouldn’t mind seeing the post-storm photo to see the contrast.Must have been overcast to have taken the photo at 1/30 sec. Happy hallowe’en.
We came out pretty much unscathed…very windy 60mph and lots of rain. Got power back last night at 8:30! Happy Halloween to you too!
Excellent, David! Glad to know there weren’t much damage in your area.
we didn’t see the rain much, but the wind gusts were strong that most of the trees in my area are now bare.
Thanks Gracie, as much as I love the sea and the coastlines, being inland has it’s advantages when it comes to storms like these. We live up on a ridge so flooding wasn’t an issue. The wind…well that’s a different story!
I am glad to know that you weren’t in the area of sandy! Your photograph is amazing, I loved it. Thank you dear David, have a nice day, love, nia
Our area didn’t suffer as like the coastal areas did. We had very high winds and lots and lots of rain and power outages. We are all safe though.
It’s good that you were able to capture the vibrant colours of this plant before the storm.
That poor shrub was facing the wind during the whole storm. It’s sheltered somewhat by two laurel bushes but I suppose 60mph wind gusts were a bit much.
I’m so glad you could capture your beautiful autumn leaves before they vanished with the wind. The colors are wonderful. (I’m missing that now that I’m back in So. California.) So glad to hear that you didn’t get a lot of damage from the storm.
It was a short lived spectacle of color…I’m waiting to see if the bush nearer the house will have the same color. It’s always a few weeks behind. I would miss the change of seasons also if I lived elsewhere. We were pretty lucky with the lack of storm damage. I fully expected trees to come down all around us…but they held there own!
Lovely colors, even though briefly!
We have another bush of the same variety, and it always blooms later and changes color a few weeks later than the one in the front garden bed. Hopefully I’ll get some shots of that one also.
Nice contrast in colors! Good to know you were safe.
Thanks Fergie, we are safe and sound. No damage to the house…though I sort of expected to be out there nailing tarps down on the roof and getting out the chainsaw. Had a lot of branches come down though.
Superb shot, I love the contrast. So glad to hear that you survived the storm – we are horrified to see the damage and flooding on the news.
Thanks Jo, it sure was pretty while it lasted! I feel for the folks along the coast. They took a beating. We live on ridge so flooding isn’t an issue. Just a whole bunch of strong gusty wind and tons of rain!
Lovely colors. Almost everything here is down to brown or sticks, very little color left. Glad to here you weathered the storm safely.
We have the same conditions here…most of the color is gone. Deep sigh. Next year!!! No real storm damage except for branches and debris everywhere. We got lucky compared to folks along the coast!
Nice that you got a photo before the storm of the lovely color. Happy that you didn’t get too much damage.
Good thing I did too…there aren’t many leaves left on the trees except for the young beech trees and some of the oaks. Other than that, the trees are bare till spring. Where we are was just a lot of wind, rain and debris..and no power for a day or so. Some folks nearby still don’t have power.
Lovely colors! I am glad you were able to enjoy it, even though it was brief. Also glad you did not have serious damage from the storm.
I sure was a sight to see with the woods as a backdrop. I think this was the most colorful this bush has ever been! We had no real damage from the storm…just a lot of broken branches everywhere. We did notice a few dead trees that succumbed to wind in the woods though.
you live in rather lovely area surrounded by colourful forest 🙂 Autumn must be the lovliest time of the year here just because of all these colours!
It sure is, although this year the color was more intermittent and not nearly as vibrant. I think it was due to lack of rain in the summer. There is always next year to look forward to!