Fall foliage – Seeing the Scenic City

Fall photos

Last year Derek and I found a stretch of trees that really pop with color during the fall. The trees are on the edge of a elementary school parking lot, so it works out well to take photos there during the weekend.

We drove past that area early last week and noticed the reds and oranges. I was looking forward all week to taking more photos!

I love having our own, established spot. And I also love that it’s nearby, too.

I’m thankful that Derek is patient and takes many photos (literally over 150) so he knows for sure that I will like some of them. It’s quite funny that I snap about five photos of Derek, and he’s satisfied.

I love taking photos, mainly of outdoor related landscapes. I would say that my absolute favorite is fall leaves though. I’m truly happy when I’m photographing a colorful tree!

Leaf peeping

I’ve been living my best life this past month, as someone who loves to photograph fall foliage.

A couple of weekends ago we went to a stretch of brightly colored trees that are along side of a nearby elementary school, and had some fun taking portrait shots of each other.

Then last weekend we found some trees in Coolidge park. I had to get on Derek’s shoulders in order to get the angle I wanted, with the leaves in the foreground and the Walnut Street Bridge in the background. He’s a good sport!

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Shakleford Ridge Park and leef peeping66 — My favorite picture!

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Shakleford Ridge Park

Shakleford Ridge Park is a park located in Signal Mountain. We hiked here last weekend. This was actually our second attempt to go here. Our first time wasn’t meant to be because there was a running race happening at the time, so the trails were closed down.

I am glad that we waited to go though, because there was a lot of color in the woods. We walked through a lot of beautiful scenes. Fall foliage always puts me in a good mood, after not experiencing it in Houston for three years.

It’s a woodsy park, with a couple of different trails. The main trail is the blue loop, which is a 2.7 mile round trip. It’s not too difficult of a trail, but there are some steep uphill parts.

There are some streams that run through the park, so there are quite a few bridge crossings.

We admittedly did not finish the whole 2.7 miles, but we did get close; we did over 2 miles. We came across the edge of the parking lot and we were both tired and hungry at that point, so we just cut across to our car. If we do this again I might consider packing a lunch and resting half way.

Shakleford Ridge Park and leef peeping3 — The first bridge at the start of the blue loop was a swinging bridge.

Shakleford Ridge Park and leef peeping21 — The only covered bridge on the trail.

Shakleford Ridge Park and leef peeping7 — More bridges!

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Shakleford Ridge Park and leef peeping26 — This is my favorite picture I took during the hike. A path to a photographer’s paradise!

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Shakleford Ridge Park and leef peeping37 — The Prayer of the Woods – a sign with a nice poem that someone left behind.