Fantastic Deanne - I thought the pine needle on the hydrangea was about to fall off while I was looking, the detail is so incredibly clear. I love the way you've captured the fading beauty of summer together with the rich colors of fall. Thank you for that treat.

Mary

Wow! those are great shots!

I love the face in the CH and the Fothergilla and Lily stalk, too. It DOES seem strange to see annuals still trying to "make a living" next to autumn colors.

Makes me sort of wistful.

Maybe, Deanne, you could give me some pointers on how to get some good night pictures of the windowboxes lit up for Christmas? (I know diddle about cameras... time to buy a tripod?).

What a wonderful time of year to have a new toy to play with. You certainly are having a ton of fun!
Here it is so dreary and the forecast is for wet flurries ALL week long. I need a toy too....

Thanks Mary, Marie and Chelone!

Chelone, I'd LOVE to come and play with cameras with your window boxes lit up in their Christmas finery! You really aren't very far away at all and I've been wanting to take a drive to the coast for a while now. Anyway I did a photo of our Christmas tree a couple years ago with available light only and it was great fun and the image turned out quite nice. You definitely need a tripod, either a cable release or timer on your shutter and it really helps to be able to have some control over your White Balance so the images don't come out too yellow (if you don't have the settings on your camera to do that it can be corrected in your image editing software)I had to play around with a bunch of settings and then check the images to tweak things but I love doing things like that.

Marie, I'm glad you put this into perspective for me because I'm a bit frustrated that there is zippo subject matter for me to run out and photograph with my new 'toy'. You are correct, of course, that this IS a good time of the year to be learning a new camera. ~~ You DO need a diversion up there. How are your plants under lights doing? You know you really could be doing a lot more with plant propagation indoors. I find the banks of lights in the house lift my spirits when the days are so dark and dreary this time of the year.

Oh yes, I forgot to post one of the pics. This is one of my favorite things in the borders right now. 'Nora Leigh' phlox with that wonderful variegated foliage next to Eupatorium 'Chocolate'. So pretty for late season interest
{{gwi:185043}}

Deanne

Well, you still have some color outside to test out the new camera! I love Nora with Chocolate. The foliage on the Fothergilla and ES are stunning right now. Have fun with the camera-we don't mind seeing any of your "experiments" :o)

Deanne, you get so much mileage out of that Nora Leigh I am always keeping an eye out for one. I will probably have to order one. This was my first year with Eupatorium 'Chocolate'I am really likeing it.

I am looking forward to some bird photos from you. Will you be able to connect the new camera to the telescope?

You had ask about my photography experience. I was a photographer at an inhouse studio of a fairly large office products group. Mostly product shots, but had to do some people shots and sometimes got to do some creative stuff. It was a way to make a living doing something I liked but the grind of deadlines and productivity. took a lot of the fun out of it.
I still like taking pictures but am just getting lazy about it. Norma

I forgot to say how much I liked the tree shot. And the Fothergilla. There is something that grows along the edge of the woods here that looks very much like the Fothergilla. I have been meaning to look it up in my native plants books. N

Great shots! I like the Fothergilla, and the yellow tree pic. Would like to try a Fothergilla.

Deanne, more beautiful photos! Thank you for sharing all of the lovely plants you have surrounding your.

T.

The climbing hydrangea with the Âgreen man (?) mask/statue is my favorite. Is the hydrangea old enough to bloom? If so, can you post a picture of it in bloom? I think next year my climbing hydrangeas on the shed would have bloomed  but I moved them a week or two ago to clear the shed for demolition. I was surprised that they didnÂt have a very big root system. That combined with the move, likely means IÂll either have killed them or it will be years before theyÂre ready to bloom again! So IÂd like to see a blooming oneÂ

What beauty you still have in your garden and you have done such a fabulous job of capturing it. My Endless Summers never got that good looking. Maybe next year if we don't get such an early frost. The fothergilla is a wonderful color. I have that on my want list.

Michelle

I just bought the Eupatorium chocolate last month after being assured that it will not reach the jumbo size of Gateway. It's still in it's pot because I have not selected it's Place of Honor yet- but sure looks good next to Norah !
Kathy in Napa

Deanne I am so sorry it took me so long to get here! I have to say how fun it is to see such crisp closeups-pine needle tips!!(I wish my camera was that capable!) I just know you're having a ball practicing with your camera. That fall tree pic(Maple?)has a sweet composition-I like when tree trunks appear so black with the glowing leaves above.

'Nora Leigh' is still on my to get list-your pic proves how valuable that plant is even this far into fall-love it with the dotty clusters of Eupatorium flowers.

Thanks for taking the time to post all that you have!

~Babs

OK, where do you get the Endless Summers with fall foliage? And where in your garden is that tree in the last picture? I can't place it. Pure genius using the Norah Leigh with Eupatorium 'Chocolate'. Norah's been kind of a dud for me the last couple of years...not enough sun no doubt. Sad to see it all go, but now we can start looking forward to next year.

Sue