All photos in this chapter are © by Joe Konz
As the array and variety of photos in this post might attest, autumn was an exciting time of year for me to be in the park taking pictures.For many of my working years, I took half of my annual four weeks' vacation in autumn — partly to look in on the Major League Baseball World Series (I worked nights many of those years). But also because of how much I enjoyed taking long walks through Garfield Park and beyond, along Pleasant Run Parkway and even to downtown Indianapolis and back, primarily to soak in the splendor of autumn colors.
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In my early autumn shoots in Garfield Park, I found that the prime time for colors was in mid-October. But later on, I discovered I could wait until early November (such as the two photos at the top of this chapter) and still get decent autumn colors. The bright red-leaf tree in the photo above was showing this brilliance on Nov. 7, 2013. I really like the dark, gnarly trunk and trunk extension of the tree in the left foreground, too.
Above and below: These shots, both at the north end of the park, along Raymond Street, were taken on Oct. 21, 2010. And yes, that's Fire Station 29 in the one above.
About the photos above and the first three below ... This is another grouping from that October 2004 shoot. The one above is significant to me for two reasons. One, there is a runner on Conservatory Drive, just right of and slightly above center. If you look closely, you can see her in a white top and black pants. She is a small speck in the photo, but she is there. Two, the modest brush you see along Bean Creek in the foreground is quite low here. Remember, this was in 2004. Today, the view you see here beyond the creek while standing at the same place I was standing when I took this photo is impossible because the brush is enormously tall. All you would see today is, well, enormously tall brush.
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Above is the arts center parking lot, where the park’s original Olympic-size pool used to be. Below is a landscape composition looking northwest into the park from near the park's south access along Southern Avenue. Below that, an art-inspired closeup of a solitary leaf on a patch of dirt.
The photo above looks out into the commemorative Grove of Remembrance at the north end of the park, west of Fire State 29. Below, looking south near dusk toward the Confederate Prisoners of War Monument that stood at this park site from 1928 until it was removed in 2020.
Above and first two photos below, all from from Oct. 21, 2010: I remember spending an inordinate amount of time on the tree above, making all sorts of pictures of those color-mixed leaves juxtaposed with the trunk and branches. I believe the tree is a sycamore, but I'm not positive. The two compositions below came when I turned to exploring variations of a backlighting situation. I was particularly taken by the bizarre artwork that nature created in the second photo below with the arc of leaves and a short, slender branch in the foreground.
Above and below, from Oct. 15, 2014: Occasionally I liked to shoot in the park on overcast days, to see how colors might be affected by the diffused natural light. I couldn't believe the rich color I got in the trees on the shot above, one of those heavily overcast days. I even tried lowering the saturation in post-processing, but it had an adverse effect, in my opinion. So I dialed it down a tad. This view looks north from the pedestrian roundabout at the park's south end.
Above: A shaded lawn of fallen leaves from the October 2004 shoot. This site is just west of the park's south access off Southern Avenue, looking toward Allen Avenue in the Garfield Park-South neighborhood in the background.
Above and below: Two photos from Oct. 26, 2009. The one above looks north down Conservatory Drive from north of the Bean Creek bridge at the drive's fork in the road. The photo below is a "perspective" shot from a bench along the pedestrian path alongside and behind Burrello Family Center, not far from the asphalt basketball court.
I had only modest luck trying to photograph squirrels or birds in the park. The photo above was one of the few exceptions (in another, I photographed a frost-covered squirrel during a winter shoot, so check the Winter seasonal chapter to see it. And in still another, I got a squirrel creeping very close to me in spring, so check the Spring seasonal chapter to see it). This is a crop from a larger frame during my shoot on Oct. 21, 2011.
The first image below, which I took Nov. 1, 2016, came the closest to accomplishing my ideal target capture in autumn photo pursuits: a wide perspective shot depicting the breadth of space and colors, both on trees and on the ground, but also including at least one person in the image to give it perspective… and a personal touch. The fact that the individual was walking two dogs and wearing a bright color (blue) that helped stand her off in contrast from the autumn colors was icing on the cake. Again, at least for me.
I first saw the individual walking about 8 seconds before taking the shot, so I used the interim time to compose and frame everything and to wait for her and the lead dog to get past the lamppost before tripping the shutter.
During the same shoot, I lucked out with another favorite, the shot of the arts center stairs and adjacent lawn doused in season-colored leaves (second photo below). Please note that you can click on any photo to see a larger and sharper version.
The photos above and first two below were captured in my first full autumn shoot in mid-October 2004. The image above is MacAllister Amphitheater, framed in seasonal colors and a nearby tree trunk and branch.
The first shot below is special because within two years after this was taken, one of the two trees in the center of the image — just left of the orange-leafed tree focal point in the distance — was cut down because of disease or storm damage. So technically, this scene can never be rephotographed exactly as I got it.
The tree in the second image below is the one I'm using in the "Garfield Park in Pictures" logo on the top of every chapter in this series. This grand maple is special for me, too, because I managed to get this in one of its last fully healthy years. In the years since, it has been slowly dying. Its leaves and colors are no longer as full and resplendent.
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The first image below, taken from the east ridge overlooking Conservatory Drive and looking northwest, was another from the October 2014 outing.
The first photo below is a shot I wanted from the get-go: Autumn colors dressing up the pedestrian roundabout near the former site of the Monument to Confederate Civil War prisoners at the south end of the park. The tree in the second photo below can be found along the path behind the Burrello Family Center not far from the stone pedestrian bridge over Bean Creek along Conservatory Drive.
The third photo below was taken near the lawn stairs leading from the arts center parking lot up the hill to the south end of the arts center. I liked how the leaf colors, green lawn and dark shaded branch on the right complement the amphitheater in the distance. Plus, leaves on the dark-shaded branch are framing the structure.
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The tree in the image below stands just outside and east of the amphitheater, close to the asphalt pedestrian path, and the view looks northeast. I was intrigued by the way the sundry dark branches manage to hold their own (in prominence in the composition) against the leaves' spectacular orange color. On another occasion, I photographed this same tree but from a different vantage point and with its leaves largely stripped (second photo below).
Autumn during the day in Garfield Park is one thing. Beholding fall colors at dusk and after dark — and a nice rain — is quite another.
The pictures below were taken on my strolls to and from night meetings of the Indiana Photographic Society at the Garfield Park Arts Center in October 2011 and October 2012.
Next up, Chapter 14: Four Seasons: Spring
Previously in the Garfield Park in Pictures series:
There are so many great photos here but one of my favorites is the one with the green leaves against the background of the bright red leaves.
ReplyDeleteThese photos show how the eye of the photographer and timing make for such enjoyable composition.
Agreed, Connie. I know how you can appreciate all that, being a photographer yourself. The shot you mentioned was one of the last ones I decided to include here. I was worried it would come off as gratuitous. But then I rationalized that it was a worthy study of color contrast for a composition of this sort. So thanks!
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