With leaves now fallen, Yates Mill Pond woods landscape exposes a stark vista

It wasn't until recently that I learned that there are as many as 60 species of heron in the Wild Kingdom. So while doing my 2-mile walk Friday at Yates Mill Pond Park, I was excited to see that a heron was in photo-range distance for my iPhone while it slowly walked in high steps in the pond near the main pedestrian bridge.

If I had brought my DSLR camera (Canon 6D), I'm certain I would have been able to get a much clearer and sharper picture than the ones I got with my iPhone 13 Pro (see lead-off photo). A little farther away from the heron and the bridge were the set of water fowl shown in the photo below. Notice the small group of ducks in the distance from the fowl in the foreground and, in the extreme top of the image, a solitary duck that appears to be swimming toward the others. 

These two photos were the highlight Friday of my photo shoot, and they came near the end of my walk. I didn’t pull out my phone to start taking any pictures until the last half-mile or so of the trail course while still in the woods west of the pond.

I started taking pictures to document the stark vistas I had been admiring in light of how almost all the leaves on the deciduous trees had fallen or blown away. But also, the fact that there were no longer leaves on branches to admire made scores of fallen (or snapped) tree trunks and branches stand out unlike anything I had experienced there previously. 

The first 10 photos below illustrate (I hope) what I was describing in the paragraph above. Below those are some simple landscape photos, including the farm on an adjoining property, which I’ve photographed and presented here before. There are also shots of the trail and a particularly favorite gnarly tree I always come across while walking this trail. 

I finish with some pond reflection images, including a couple featuring the pedestrian bridge and a modest covered area at the bridge’s midsection. 

Autumn stroll at Yates Mill Pond Park

 

Wednesday was a day to decompress from Tuesday's unfortunate presidential election, so I spent an hour or so strolling the mile trail around Yates Mill Pond at the state park in Raleigh. 

Trees there were showing autumn colors, but I elected to lead with a photo of the wooden pedestrian bridge reflected in the almost-still waters of the pond (above), captured across the way while traversing the trail. 

We saw little wildlife Wednesday, other than squirrels, a few turtles and a beautiful blue heron. Sadlly, the heron flew over us quickly as we cross the bridge in the photo above and landed too far from us for our iPhone cameras to do it justice. Nevertheless, I gave it a try, and my best shot appears among the other shots below. 

Above and below: The pond, reflections and fall colors. 

Above: Wild, dried grass draped over the fence marking the park's southeastern perimeter. 

Above and below: Horizontal and vertical orientation shots of a root cluster and the corresponding tree trunks found along the trail. 

Above: A mix of yellow and red leaves from stacked branches of different trees in front of me along the trail. 

Above: A downed tree trunk off the beaten path, er, trail. 

A tree trunk whose branches of varying directions and configurations struck me as interesting.

Above and first two photos below: Shots of the trail I was on.

Above: Leaves with differing autumn colors.

Above: A short tree trunk stub that looks like it's been in this abbreviated state for some time.

Above: A few turtles not far from the trail on the far side of the pond.

 

Above and first two below: A few different framings of the mill, the first integrating foliage immediately in front of me across the water, the two others after I found unobstructed openings to grab shots without interference. 

Above: This shot shows the most autumn color, but unfortunately it was taken in a backlight situation. Hoping to add some definition and contrast, I ran a copy of the image from my high-dynamic range (HDR) software. After slight crops to the top and bottom and a slight enhancement to the orange, red and green colors, I got the photo you see below. One enhanced definition I was particularly pleased with was the reflection in the water of the red leaves from trees along the shore. 

Above and first six photos below: views of whitened branches and foliage on trees along the shore of the pond on the other side of the pedestrian bridge. I've always liked these tree shapes, whose appeal increases during autumn when they take on this white coloring. 

Above: Resting amid this foliage is the blue heron, but I was so far away from it, that my iPhone couldn't do it justice ... and cost me some sharpness to boot when I elected to use near maximum zoom. 

Above: A cool fall color combo on these leaves.

A sailing club ... and a bit more

Above: A view of some of the Indianapolis Sailing Club's keel boats in moor. This view is from the clubhouse, which overlooks the pier and harbor.

The Indianapolis Sailing Club had an open house Saturday, so I took advantage of an invitation from a fellow Indy Meetup Photo Club member -- who also is a member of the sailing club -- to check out the grounds. It was a type of scouting trip; the IMUPC is going to have a photo outing there next month, and I thought it would be good to see what we'd be looking forward to.

The Sailing Club has its grounds on Geist Reservoir on the Northeastside of Indianapolis; coincidentally, the Indianapolis Yacht Club is in the same area, just across the Fall Creek Road bridge over the reservoir.

In addition to the sailboat setting, the Sailing Club grounds proved to be a place to see wildlife (I grabbed pictures of geese, ducks, a blue heron and a squirrel), motor boats, other motorized craft, kayaking and even some fishing.

I shot all of the images you see here with my Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens equipped with a 1.4 extender. Even with the extender, I often felt I didn't have enough reach for what I had hoped for ... especially for the blue heron shot.

It was sunshiny as I made the drive to the club, but by the time I arrived, skies were already overcast and temperatures seemed to drop slightly. By the time I left, which was around 4:15 p.m., it started to rain lightly.

For a full gallery of images from this shoot, follow the link in this sentence.

Above: A closeup of keel boats.

Above: Another keel boat.

Above: A look up at the clubhouse from one of the several stairways spaced around the hill and leading to it.


Above: A 1/400 shutter was fast enough to freeze the craft and its occupants ... and slow enough to get me that nifty sheet of spraying wake.


Above: A motorboat with an attentive four-legged creature serving as chief lookout.


Above: Trolling for a catch. Not long afterward, with no luck, these fishers moved off, probably in search of a more fruitful spot.

Above: Kayakers enjoying their outing.

Above: Bill Kennedy, the Indianapolis Sailing Club's official photographer who will lead the club's presentation next month when the IMUPC pays a visit for an outing.

Above: The first of a few wildlife images from Geist Reservoir. This is a blue heron, juxtaposed with the elegant lakeside housing in the background.

Above: An attentive squirrel, waiting to gauge my next move.

Above: This gaggle is fortunate to have parents who know how to split the "look both ways" duties.

Above: Ducks out for a cruise.