I’m betting most of you, are just like me. When you come to a bridge, not necessarily a covered bridge, just a cement bridge, taking you from one side of the river/stream to the other, we always slow down, right?

I also might get whiplash as I take a quick peek down the stream. Sometimes I’m driving by and I look and don’t see anything to make me want to stop. But if I hear Lisa catch her breath, I start looking for a place to pull over.

Most times I may see too much fall color, I know, how can he say “TOO MUCH FALL COLOR”? While a ton of color is pretty with the reflections of branches and trees and even the sky, it all fights for my attention.

I find that too many bushes and trees mixing together makes it hard to focus on a scene and then you add the colorful reflections which can be better than the trees upon the bank, it overwhelms your mind.

When it’s hard to isolate the fall colors, you can’t create a focused image. For a photographer, this is our main goal. Yes I can and will enjoy the colors and I will snap a picture of it as a memory (as seen above) but I’m looking more for an image like you see below.

The Perfect River Reflection View

I was near New Gloucester, Maine, and around Sabbathday Lake. Lisa and I traveled over a simple concrete bridge and I immediately pulled over and walked back for this.

It allows your eye to travel up the river and both the eddying currents and the smooth water provide reflections. Some are like a mirror and all the orange, yellow, and reds reflect on the surface of the water. But the jumble of colors where the surface reflects in many different directions is also pleasing.

Now the question for me is this, is this perfect in your mind? If not if you think you have a better version, leave a comment down below.

This is why I slow down when passing over a river. There is always the off chance that the right conditions will allow for clear reflections, the blue sky, and all these factors provide the reflections of red, blue, and orange.

Even in the forest, I will stop and take a look to find a special view as I go over the stream. Sometimes it is all a jumble of branches and grasses, but maybe I’ll get lucky and find that perfect little view with just the right light, a reflection, and fall colors. Below Lisa and I were traveling along the forested Gold Road in Maine and we drove over this bridge.

So, maybe you already look over railings as you pass over a bridge. If you take your time and have the opportunity to walk back to it you may find you are looking up or down the river at some beautiful fall colors or as in the case above you may follow the Gold Road in Maine and cross the Abol River Bridge and see this view of Mount Katahdin.

Jeff Foliage Folger

Autumn is a state of mind more than a time of year – Jeff Foliage

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