# October photo challenge:  Autumn



## Talysia (Oct 2, 2009)

Firstly, thanks to everyone who voted for me last month!

Ok, on to October's theme.  Given the season here right now (and given my user title) I thought that Autumn might make a good topic for the photo challenge.    I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's pictures!

As usual, it's two entries per person, and the voting starts around the 27th of the month.


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## Culhwch (Oct 3, 2009)

But, but, but, but... is spring here!

I may have to use an old photo. Or really think outside the box.


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## Talysia (Oct 3, 2009)

Looks like I dropped the ball a bit with this one.  Good luck to everyone, though!


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## Ursa major (Oct 3, 2009)

It could have been worse, Talysia.

You could have adopted the American term, Fall, with perhaps unfortunate results for friends, relatives, acquaintences or pets of the prospective competitors.







.


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## Lioness (Oct 3, 2009)

LOL Ursa...that would've been more open to interpretation, especially for those who are not currently in autumn at the moment.

Oh well...I've got an idea for an old photo I can use...problem is whether I've posted it here before.


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## Alexa (Oct 3, 2009)

I can take a few nice photos if this boody rain stops. The trees are splendid in autumn.


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## Lioness (Oct 4, 2009)

Well, I'll add an old photo to start us off. I'm 99% sure I haven't posted it before, because it wasn't in my photobucket album.


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## AE35Unit (Oct 11, 2009)

Heres one from me, recently taken. Its a flower head on a butterfly bush.
Its not quite done with yet....


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## Talysia (Oct 11, 2009)

That's an interesting close-up, and I love the colours in Lioness' first pic.

Here's my first effort. Blackberries always remind me of Autumn, especially going out to pick them.


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## AE35Unit (Oct 11, 2009)

When picking Katie up from grandma's I asked her to find me a nice red leaf for a photo, which she did!
I then took it out into the back garden and captured it with the sun behind it on the 19-35 zoom. (I wish that lens would focus just a tad closer!)
I have no lens shade so had to use my hand-could also do with a polarizer but one for a 77mm thread is beyond my budget!


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## chrispenycate (Oct 12, 2009)

Autumn is the Jura exploding in streaks and firework of colour, as if some overenthusiastic child with a palette of oranges, yellows, browns and reds had slashed random horizontal brush strokes across its face. Irrational and disorganised, temperature changing with altitude and wind paths, species following soil, or merely where the seeds landed.

But that is the Bernese Jura; , and I've no reason to visit Dave and Ruth; here it's boring conifers that don't even know winter has arrived until they're covered in snow.

Autumn is tits gathered on the seedheads of the sunflowers, colourful as any flower; who grew sunflowers this year?

Autumn is five million ducks and other waterfowl escaping the winter in Scandinavia or Siberia. Watched by the supercilious, power-line perched swallows preparingfor their own tropical holiday they carpet the lake in a patchwork quilt of eiderdown, scarcely deigning to move aside to let the little passenger ferries pass.

But they haven't arrived yet, and who can tell if they will manage before the end of October?

Autumn is raking up and bagging barrowloads of leaves and discovering the thousands of species of fungi concealed beneath. Now, there's something guaranteed.

But the raking leaves them broken and distorted, and there is no time to disengage them gently; those leaves have to go.

What else is autumn? The walnuts stuffed into the most improbable crannies by famine-fearing squirrels. Too late for the_ vendanges_, the harvest of the vines; half the stalks are by now pruned back to the tiny nub that will give next year's growth, the year after's wine. The valiant flowers give one last blast of colour, hoping to set seed before the bees close down their storm shutters, the nights fall ever earlier, in reflection of my own declining lifeline.

But who can photograph mortality? You get no seasons in a city.


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## Foxbat (Oct 12, 2009)

Thought I'd try a couple of autumnal sunrises.

here's the first.


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## Foxbat (Oct 12, 2009)

And here's the second.


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## BookStop (Oct 12, 2009)

Can anyone capture such a grand picture of this year's pre-winter festival of colors as Chris has already done in words? *sigh* 



Autumn is the best time of year for certain crops, and 'round here this year, the apples are amazing!


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## Alexa (Oct 12, 2009)

Here you have my first attempt. I hope I have captured that firework of colour that Chris was talking about.


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## UltraCulture (Oct 13, 2009)

My 1st photo, not an abundance of colour I admit but thought it quite an odd looking tree,

Is it dancing?

Is there the spirit of a dog staring out of the trunk?


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## AE35Unit (Oct 13, 2009)

Cool tree Ultra!


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## Talysia (Oct 18, 2009)

That is lovely, Ultraculture - I love the angle.  There have been some good ones so far.

My second entry.  I'll admit that I didn't find anything like this when I went looking for autumnal things to photograph, so I had to make a little collection of them and take a picture of them in the garden instead.


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## UltraCulture (Oct 18, 2009)

I like that Tal, proper autumnal.


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## HoopyFrood (Oct 18, 2009)




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## BookStop (Oct 19, 2009)

Oh, nice frame of leaves, hoopy.


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## Wybren (Oct 19, 2009)

Wow! Some really nice shots this month.

I really like them apples!


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## Rosemary (Oct 22, 2009)

Loved your 'collection' Talysia and those yummy looking blackberries!

An avenue of trees in Hyde Park, Perth, Western Australia! 







Oh - it worked!!


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## Quokka (Oct 23, 2009)




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## BookStop (Oct 23, 2009)

Nice trees, Rosemary. The bark looks to be painted on.

Can't see your photo, Quokka


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## Ursa major (Oct 23, 2009)

BookStop said:


> Can't see your photo, Quokka


 
So it isn't just me, then.


(And it's already difficult to pick a winner this month: I like far too many of the entries already.)


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## Quokka (Oct 23, 2009)

It was there but now I look at it I think it was too big, how do I get the larger image and not the thumbnail?


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## Ursa major (Oct 24, 2009)

The thumbnail is fine: all we have to do is click on it to see the larger image.


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## BookStop (Oct 24, 2009)

Second entry - I went out today to try and capture something amazing, but in the end, I'm going back to this pic I almost posted a while ago.






This fairy-tale cottage is part of a museum in Switzerland. I thought it was enchanting, so I snabbed the pic a couple weeks ago.


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## chrispenycate (Oct 25, 2009)

I still think I paint better pictures with words, but here goes…


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## UltraCulture (Oct 26, 2009)

Running out of time so i'll stick this in for my 2nd effort.


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## Lady of Winterfell (Oct 26, 2009)

Just letting everyone know I will post up the voting tomorrow.


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## Sephiroth (Oct 26, 2009)




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## Tillane (Oct 26, 2009)

Wow.  That top one is absolutely stunning, Seph.


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## Sephiroth (Oct 26, 2009)

Cheers, Til!    

Most of the credit goes to the Pass of Killiecrankie, though.  What a place!

Site of a famous battle which is the subject of a great song, too. 

Was just lucky that it decided to stop raining long enough to let us take some pictures.


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## Ursa major (Oct 26, 2009)

What a place indeed, Seph. And a wonderful picture.

(There are so many beautiful things in there, but I think all those colourful trees are perfectly set off by the blue-greys of that river. And then there's the sky; and the distant valley....)


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## Sephiroth (Oct 26, 2009)

Thanks, Ursa.  The light on the distant slope was a welcome touch, and most fortuitous, because it was _very _far from being a sunny day.  


Incidentally, it's the site of 'Soldier's Leap', _"_[SIZE=-1]_where, it is said, Donald MacBean, a government soldier, avoided certain capture or death by jumping 5.5m (18.5 feet) across the river after the Battle of Killiecrankie on 27th July 1689."

_(Note: not the exact spot in the picture...) 
[/SIZE]


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## Wybren (Oct 26, 2009)

Sephiroth said:


>



* Picks jaw up from the floor*

WOW, that is beautiful!! Well done!


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## Erin99 (Oct 26, 2009)

And wow. Seph, I _do_ like that shot.  Didn't know we'd pick similar spots.........


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## Erin99 (Oct 26, 2009)

Sorry to double post. But:



AE35Unit said:


> I have no lens shade so had to use my hand-could also do with a polarizer but one for a 77mm thread is beyond my budget!



I'm not sure which type you mean, but you can get cheap circular ones from the place I use regularly, with free P&P: 7dayshop.com - Online Store



Anyway, Taly, congratulations! I voted for you in the last challenge, too! A well-deserved win and a theme to get us thinking.


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## Wybren (Oct 26, 2009)

*once again picks jaw up from floor*

Loopy they are beautiful! 

man this is going to be a tough month


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## Erin99 (Oct 26, 2009)

Oh, wow, thank you, Wy! It's so hard not to end up posting similar shots to Seph, since we seem to always be taking the same kind of shots (and cos we got to the same places to shoot our pics). I didn't realise my shot would be so similar to his; I hadn't seen this thread until I got home and downloaded yesterday's shots and hurriedly posted sme up before the poll.............


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## Overread (Oct 26, 2009)

*ahem puts it in the right place now*

liking those pinecones Liesha! 

Thought I would enter something even though its not that autumy 





it sort of works - maybe..


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## Sephiroth (Oct 26, 2009)

Hey, it's not _that _similar, Leish.   Different angles, different view, etc...

Don't worry about it!  (And yeah, I didn't know what you'd be posting either, heh...).  

But I _really _like your second one.  It's beautiful.  Love the water droplets on the needles and cones...


And thanks, Wy!


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## Wybren (Oct 27, 2009)

NP, just saying how I sees it.

Seph is right, they aren't that similar, I mean sure they are the same geographic location but not too similar.

The pinecones remind me of summer and christmas 

OR It could work , at least its something for the challenge, not much autumny around here to photograph I am afraid, though really Brisbane in autumn doesn't really look much different to here any other time of the year TBH.


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## Talysia (Oct 27, 2009)

Oh, there are some really lovely photos here - it's going to be very difficult for me to choose a winner this month!


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## Lady of Winterfell (Oct 27, 2009)

Wow, there are some amazing shots this month. I think this may be one of our best group of entries yet! The rules for the voting are as follows:


****Any member of the Chrons may cast a vote, even if they did not enter a photo for the challenge****​ 

**Please do not vote for yourself**
**You may only cast your vote once**
**The poll will end at 11:59 pm on Saturday 10/31 (Arizona time)**​ 

The winner will decide the challenge theme for November! 



* Good Luck Everyone!!! *​ 


*Get Voting!*​


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## BookStop (Oct 27, 2009)

This is so very difficult this month! 

Chris, Taly, and OR - I love the simplicity of the shots
AE - I love, love, love the leaf!
Seph and Leisha - arg - all your pics are gorgeous!
I like all the pictures this month. Um...I'm going to go for....Um...

AE's leaf picture. It's simple, it's beautiful, and it's so obviously Autumn.


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## Tillane (Oct 27, 2009)

Some really great shots this month - really loved Lioness's beautiful tree pic, UC's dancing tree and both of Leisha's (has Leish ever posted a duff pic?  I think not...).  However, no surprises where my vote went: for sheer jaw-dropping awesomeness, it had to be Seph's first shot.  Just plain wonderful.


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## Talysia (Oct 27, 2009)

This is so difficult!

I love all of these pictures - I really do.  Ultraculture's tree, and BookStop's apples, not to mention Quokka's beautiful pic stood out, as did Leisha's lovely landscapes and Rosemary's pic...  It's so difficult to pick just one.

In the end, though, I have to agree with Tillane - Sephiroth's pic gets my vote.


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## Wybren (Oct 27, 2009)

I am abstaining from voting this month, I think there are some very good shots this month and I dont feel I can choose just one, so seeing as I can't vote for all I am not voting for any.

I would like to highly commend Seph and Leish's first shots, Bookstops fairytale castle and Apples, Taly's blackberries and even though it isn't a photo, Chris's autumny words.

Well done everyone who entered this month


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## Foxbat (Oct 28, 2009)

Seph for me this month.


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## BookStop (Oct 28, 2009)

Wybren said:


> I am abstaining from voting this month, I think there are some very good shots this month and I dont feel I can choose just one, so seeing as I can't vote for all I am not voting for any.
> 
> I would like to highly commend Seph and Leish's first shots, Bookstops fairytale castle and Apples, Taly's blackberries and even though it isn't a photo, Chris's autumny words.
> 
> Well done everyone who entered this month


 
I know exactly what you mean. I almost did the same thing. Shame we can't vote for our top 10 or so, eh?


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## Lioness (Oct 29, 2009)

I loved Leisha's close up of the pinecones. Seph's was awesome, but Leisha's just a tiny bit more


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## Lady of Winterfell (Nov 2, 2009)

And with a whopping 58% of the vote, our winner for October is......


*Sephiroth!!!*​

Congratulations Seph!!! Spectacular shots this month. Whenever you're ready, give us our challenge for November.


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## Sephiroth (Nov 2, 2009)

Thanks, Lady W.  And thanks to everyone who voted!  

My vote went to AE35Unit, for his leaf.  


I'm still vacillating over this month's theme, but I'll have it up before I go to bed, I promise.


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## Overread (Nov 2, 2009)

Congratualations Seph!! 

and well done to all who entered - again a great spread of ideas as shots form around the world!


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## AE35Unit (Nov 2, 2009)

Fantastic guys-I kinda missed the voting boat I'm afraid, been awfully busy with stuff at home of late! Thanks for all who voted for me and well done Seph! Superb


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## Wybren (Nov 2, 2009)

Congrats on the win Seph, it was an awesome photo


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## Sephiroth (Nov 2, 2009)

Cheers, guys.  The new theme is up -- hope you like it!


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## UltraCulture (Nov 3, 2009)

Well done Seph, a worthy winner.


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