Autumn is the most colorful and spectacular time of year in southwest Alberta. In early September, the mountains and foothills begin to transform from one season to the next. Within a couple of weeks, the surrounding landscape becomes illuminated in shades of red, yellow, orange, and gold. Bathed by the sun’s warm rays during the day, and chilled by freezing temperatures at night, the colors of autumn become more intense with each passing day.
Rich, vibrant colors will blanket the countryside for a month, providing plenty of opportunities for color gazing and photography.
Standing at the base of Turtle Mountain
By mid-October, nature’s brilliant color palette will begin to weaken and wane. Although colors will have peaked by then, there can still be lots of things to photograph. Here are a few scenes I captured over the past several weeks, prior to our recent snowfall.
Boulders, rocks, & red leaves
Crowsnest River near Turtle Mountain
Golden leaves
Crowsnest River near Turtle Mountain II
Crowsnest River near Hillcrest
Crowsnest River near Hillcrest II
Leaves on snow
Backyard bird nest
Trees of gold
4 Comments
Vic: Great colors. Like the opening photo with the touch of red (berries); then leaves on snow and golden leaves. River shots and of lake/slide are also quite spectacular. Colors this year were extra special. As always… nice photos.
robert
Hi Robert,
I agree, the colors were awesome this year. They’re fading fast now, though. The wind has been blowing a lot of leaves off the trees the past few days. We’ll have to wait until next September to see all the colors again. Glad you like the pics. Thanks for commenting!
Your photos of the autumn colours are spectacular.
I wish we had autumn here but we don’t have the right climate for that kind of tree. I loved autumn in New Zealand. It was the first time I had seen it.
Cheers Diane.
Hi Diane,
I’m glad you liked my photos. The autumn colors were really nice here this year, until last week when we were hit with an early, heavy snowfall and unseasonably cold temperatures. This caused leaves that had not yet changed color to freeze. Instead of turning into bright colors, these leaves became drab green or a dull, brownish-gray. There are still some colorful trees around, though. I guess it’s spring in your part of the world. We’re heading closer to winter. It was nice to hear from you!