Another cornucopia of park photos

I guess I should stop explaining how I don't intend to shoot pictures when I head to Yates Mill Pond Park in Wake County for my almost-daily walk. That was the case Tuesday, but by the time I'd walked 3+ miles, I had taken 122 pictures, most of which were taken in the last half of the stroll. 

I lead with the silhouette because it's one I don't recall doing before at the park. I spent more time exploring close shots and combinations centering on acorns, because I really liked the acorn shots that I came up with for the previous post. I only took four of five on that shoot. This time, it was probably four times that amount. 

But I took other pictures, including leaves, both fallen and still on the limbs. And I grabbed a couple shots of the pond and main boardwalk, as well as a group of geese who happened to be on the short end of the pond, and a heron on the large side. 

The water fowl shots were taken on high zoom with the iPhone 13 Pro, which means the sharpness is suspect. Still, I did my best ... at least with the heron shots ... to steady the phone on the boardwalk railing. 

To view a larger version of an image simply, click on the photo. To view a gallery of all the shots taken Tuesday, follow the link in this sentence. 

Above and first three photos below are closeup shots of different portions of a larger, gnarly tree trunk base, which I show in its entirety in the fourth photo below. 

Above: A most busy confluence of tree trunks and limbs along the Millpond Trail. Below is a closeup of a pine trunk midsection's distinctive exterior patches. 

Above and below: A tree trunk and limbs silhouette with and without the peeking sun being part of the composition. 

Another silhouette (above) and the dark side of a backlit pine cone (below) that I gave maximum shadow restoration treatment in post-processing. 

Above and below: A couple different shots integrating acorns as a primary or equal subject. 

Above and first seven photos below: More variations on an acorn(s) composition. In the eighth photo below, I gave the treatment to a bur from a bur oak.