What does fall mean to you?

I suppose that for most folk, especially those of us in southern California, fall means return to school, or the start of football (high school, college or pro). It means the end of baseball and the World Series. It means that it's time to shop for Halloween costumes, or even early Christmas shopping!

For me, after all these years, it means the time to pull out the camera.

In the fall of 1985 my dad and I took the 1st of many fall photo trips: trips where he and I would go somewhere in the western Unites States and do nothing but photography. These regular fall trips lasted several years, with the last big week-long trip in 1994. We saw all of California; we were in Colorado where he was born twice; we went to New Mexico, Arizona, and a couple of times to southern Utah.

So for me, that first week of October was always the target date - everything was planned. We'd scout out the roads, the hotels, and plan for our lunches from the back of the car. We discovered early on that that 1st week of October was the prime time for the turning colors in the area. Whether it was in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado, or in the Dixie National Forest in southern Utah where Bryce and Zion reside. We found fall color in the Sangria range in northern New Mexico, and fall color in the Cascade Range in California. We found color everywhere......

For us, it was the best of times, doing photography together, and more than that, growing closer.

And so, as fall approaches, my eyes pick up the change of the light angle, and how clear the light is getting, and I look at my camera bag and suggest a trip.....