You can see the veins of gold and yellow in the Rocky Mountains from miles away.  Given the fact that today is the 5th of October, it is a bit late for such an abundance of color.  Not that I nor anyone else is complaining.  It is stunning.  Many of the scrub oaks (with one of the shortest growing seasons in New Mexico), have not even begun to turn colors.  But the aspen are in high fashion mode.  I have never seen as much red as there is along Highway 64 between Tres Piedras and Tierra Amarilla this year.  The colors run the gamut between plum and yellow, with assorted shades of red and orange in between.  I photograph trees in this area every year and have yet to determine why one year yields more colors or different colors.  Some people say it is the right combination of moisture and dryness at just the right time.  In addition to the golds and reds, the color of the trunks seems to be whiter.

Aspen trunks_   Aspen profile The clouds were playing tag with the sun during this shoot, making it necessary to stand in one place for a bit until the light was right.  The young aspen below, under a canopy of other trees, was in just enough shade to mute the colors slightly.

Young aspen

The leaves in this grove of aspen were outrageous and reminded me of artificially-colored gumdrops.

Aspen gumdrops

Below is a many-colored aspen abstraction.  You can almost smell the forest.

Aspen abstract Enjoy the transition!

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image@