It is peak Autumn color around Central New York right now. I grabbed my camera and favorite walk about lens and headed out early to walk the trails at Beaver Lake Nature Center near Baldwinsville, New York last weekend. The weather was near perfect for mid-October with a slight breeze, blue sky and temperatures rising from the mid-30s to the mid-50s (Fahrenheit) during my visit.

I first trekked out to my favorite, the Bog Trail. This is a short walk out and back with boardwalks through a northern bog. This time of year, the plants and trees turn all kinds of colors like these Flowering Dogwood leaves.

The Lakeview Trail is a short loop which leads out to Beaver Lake Nature Center’s own Inspiration Point. Here I had wonderful side lighting on the beautiful colors of the maple and oak trees found along the shore of the lake.

The Deep Woods Trail is a 1.4 mile (2.3 kms) walk which goes just off the lake before looping back through an old growth forest. Along the way I looked for images which said “Autumn” to me. I found it on a moss covered log on the ground as these two maple leaves had fallen on. Here nature is slowly breaking down the log to become future fertilizer for new growth. The leaves indicate a quicker seasonal change from Autumn towards Winter.

The last trail I walked was a short 1/2 mile loop called the Pine Meadow Trail. It skirts a meadow surrounded by an old Red Pine plantation. I choose this High Dynamic Range image to show you the trail going between the rows of the pine trees. This trail filled the air with the smells of pine.

With all the shadows mixed in with bright sunlight and sky, I knew I would need a set of photos to cover the range from -2EV to +2EV. Skylum’s Aurora 2019 HDR software merged those photos to create this image.

Autumn in Central New York gave me a bountiful treat of warm sunny days to enjoy and a rainbow of colors to photograph.