Parc National de la JACQUES-CARTIER

This has been a fabulous fall to get out into the woods and enjoy the splendor of the autumn colours: shades of orange, gold, scarlet and burgundy.

This is a view north up the Jacques-Cartier River valley taken from the first lookout (256m above the valley floor) along the trail called "Les Loups". I like the way the eye is drawn up the valley and the tapestry of warm colours at the lower altitudes slowly transforming to darker, cooler greens higher up.

To see views from the two other lookouts go to my Picasaweb album.

Late Fall Beauty

Our friends Denis and Judy live in Randboro, a small hamlet near Sawyerville, by Cookshire and twenty minutes from Lennoxville in the  beautiful Eastern Townships. Mid-morning on a day threatening rain, Denis took Paulette and me along the east fork of the Eaton River to show us some of the spots he returns to paint year-after-year, especially during spring breakup. This old sugar maple hangs on to the last of its intensely red leaves (October 17). By now the leaves have fallen and been carried off by the river.

Canon 7D, 15-85mm zoom at 15mm, 1/80 sec, f / 7.1, ISO 200, hand held

This photo is similar in composition to A.Y. Jackson's 1914 painting entitled the Red maple (which hangs in the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa)