I love driving around this time of year spotting the many varieties of Japanese Maple trees that people have planted in their yards. The variety of colors is always surprising, deep yellows, brilliant orange, sparkling reds. We find that ours changes a lot from year to year. I guess it depends a lot upon the temperature, the amount of water, and of course the soil composition. Around here, thanks to the redwoods we're usually on the acidic side of things.
The tree as seen from my studio window (don't mind the dead palm fronds in the way, it just glows, especially in the foggy sun.
I couldn't help compare the color of our tree this year to some of the rusty reds I've dyed lately.
I like how different the tree looks when it's foggy or cloudy.
These fabrics really do echo the colors on the tree.
I tried taking a picture of the tree from the same spot every day or few days and plan to put them together into a little short video. More on that later.
These fabrics really do echo the colors on the tree.
I like this closeup of the wet leaves. Shows the variation of color within each leaf.
Here's one of my favorite pictures I've taken this entire fall. A leaf landed on my windshield and the colors were so striking with the background. It took several tries to get it in focus, but finally I got this shot of it before it blew away.
After looking at it in Palette Builder, no wonder I liked it so much. Look at this glorious fabric color combination. Definitely useable.
Friend Jaye has been playing with a fun online color picker called Palette Builder. You upload a picture and chooses various points to pull colors from and matches it up with solid fabrics that are available.
I gave it a try with this picture:
The initial pick was so drab and 90's looking compared to the dynamic colors of the photo. But then, I hadn't noticed that these kind of boring colors are indeed there in the photo.
Bella Solids Kansas Green 9900-149
Bella Solids Soft Finish Black 9900-199
Bella Solids Prairie Green 9900-102
Bella Solids Rose 9900-62
Bella Solids Brick Red 9900-229
Bella Solids Baby Pink 9900-30
But adjusting where the colors are being chosen from in the photo can really alter the look of the palette. Now this palette I could actually imagine myself using for something.
I was lucky enough to go on a roadtrip to Arizona in early spring for Giants Spring Training with my parents. We started off with a stop in Sedona. I hadn't been in here in a while and it was just as beautiful as ever. The sky was changeable from brilliant blue to stormy in a few minutes.
My parents ready for the first hike of the day.
The bend in this tree branch looked so human to me, like the folds in skin when your elbow bends.
I was really taken with the reflections in the water.
We were confused by all the ducks (stacked rocks) but it turns out they're grouped like this to mark where people think the vortexes are in Sedona. Oh who knows?!
That bright pop of spring green was so striking against the gray and dark green and red rocks.
This was one of the nicest trees I've hugged in a long time.
All of a sudden it was the golden hour.
I remembered to take a panorama shot for once. Oh that wide open sky.
A spot of color in the early spring forest.
I liked this heart made of rocks on the river beach.
