That was the title of one of my speech textbooks in college (among other things, I hold a Speech Communications degree).  I took this shot south of Mandan a couple Fridays ago.  I was so excited to get the golden light from the impending sunrise, but once that happened I found myself seriously underwhelmed.

I like this shot a lot better, from a short while earlier and before the sun broke through the clouds.  I also like the angle better as well.  But part of the fun of this photography hobby is the experimentation part!

Digging deep for one last blast of fall photos.  This one is from the beginning of fall, when leaves were just beginning to turn.  I noted the appearance of that first little patch of orange in the background.

This tree had green and orange bursting forth.  What an amazing sight!

One more shot into the valley…looking toward the Square Buttes from north of Bismarck.

This is at the Crown Butte Dam on my way home from a long and particularly productive photo roaming day.

Final photo of the night and of this series.  The moon was up, the sun was going down, and I revisited this old automobile camping out under a hilltop tree.  It was the perfect conclusion to a very therapeutic day of roaming.

That’s it for foliage photos, but I have tons of additional North Dakota shots to share.  Stay tuned!

What can I say, I like old farm stuff.  I don’t know if it’s due to some nascent feeling that I missed out as a city kid…more likely it’s a by-product of beginning to feel my own age.

This was a “bucket list” photo. I’ve wanted to get this shot for over ten years.  FINALLY.  Nice hill, nice sky, nice old cabin…and beautiful autumn leaves.

The tree on the left lost its leaves very early. The ones growing out of this old stone structure, however, put on a brilliant display.

Having dramatic skies to work with doesn’t hurt, either.  The skies on this day alternated from unfavorable to fantastic all day long, from before sunrise until after sunset.

Gold and green on the branches, red and brown on the buttes.  I love these hills, they make for a great backdrop no matter what the season.

No, I’m not done yet.  This has been my most productive autumn photo season yet!

I’m spent on the whole “counting in French” thing…besides, I had to switch to Latin in honor of my first Latin instructor, Mandan’s beloved Ed Axtmann, who passed away this week.

This was when the fall colors were just starting to emerge, at the “abandoned” Binek mine.  Yes, someone still lives at the site, although it ceased operation long, long ago.

Open air outhouse – if you’ve really gotta go or don’t have a thing for modesty, feel free.

See the capitol hanging out beneath the boughs of this tree?  It sits along Apple Creek Road.  Still got a little bit of green in there…

This row is south of Bismarck in the wildlife management area.  I caught just the right skies, but getting the sun in the right position behind those branches was a challenge.

This is a tree I spent plenty of time photographing.  I even got full of all kinds of crunchy and pokey stuff lying beneath its branches.  Might be fun to revisit it later and post the results of that half-hour dalliance.

Have I exhausted my quiver of fall photos from 2017?  Hardly.  Even as the cruel North Dakota wind threatens to strip these trees bare, I’ve already got plenty of fun photos so far.  And I’m not ruling out a few more before we’re left with nothing but sticks and bare branches for the winter!

I actually, without even realizing it, have had a very fruitful autumn photo season. I posted a few shots yesterday, and here is the second installment.

I liked this assortment of color, found at McDowell Dam on Wednesday afternoon. A little bit of everything, except one color is obscured somewhat…

…which is why you take the shot from another angle. I’m not exactly sure which of these two I like best yet.  Leaning toward this second one.

Here’s a nice row of golds and reds, with very little green remaining anywhere but on the grass.  I love the reds, maybe because they’re less common out where I tend to roam.  They’re typically part of somebody’s landscaping.

Here’s the other angle of that scoria road I mentioned yesterday.  I actually took the time to process this one, instead of just posting the raw of the other angle.  This, too, is one of those shots where I can’t decide which angle I like best.

Here’s yesterday’s shot with the same color treatment.  I like the tree being close and larger, but now you don’t see the hills in the background on the left.   Hm…

Yes, I have more…but that’s all for now.  I hope to share a few more tomorrow. 🙂