Taking the Perfect Fall Foliage Photo

The opportunities for shooting awesome fall leaf shots depends on knowing where and when to go. The Colorado Springs Gazette offers these pointers from professional photographers. Under the headline, "A Snapshot of Autumn," Gazette Reporter Scott Rappold writes:

"It's Colorado at its most photogenic, the favorite time of year for many photographers.

"But knowing when and where to go is as much an art as actually shooting the scenes that can be found in so many posters and calendars.

"'The beauty of the aspens in the fall, and really almost any time of the year, when you see that aspen, that really represents what Colorado is,' said Dennis Woods, a Colorado Springs landscape photographer. 'It's a combination of the white and the gray in the trunk of the tree and the yellow when it changes. It's like nothing else you see in the United States. The color is just so vibrant.'

"The Gazette interviewed five professional photographers, who shared their favorite places and techniques for capturing this fleeting, dazzling time of year, when Colorado's famous aspens put on their show."

You can read the rest of the tips and pointers here.

Awesome Fall Color Tour: Traveling Grand Mesa's National Scenic Byway

If you've never driven it in the fall, this is one of the premiere fall color drives in the Western U.S. There's nothing quite like looking west from the summit and seeing the gold bands of aspen interspersed with the emerald green of fir trees, chains of lakes sparkling in the sunlight, and in the distance, the blond and red sandstone of the Bookcliffs. The switchbacks and hairpin turns of Land's End Road is also not to be missed. It's worth it for the views.

9 News KUSA describes the drive of the Grand Mesa National Scenic Byway through Mesa and Delta Counties:

"The nationally designated Grand Mesa Scenic and Historic Byway crosses over the Grand Mesa on a 63 mile trek ranging from the orchards of the valley floor to the alpine meadows of its 11,000-foot summit. You can begin your trip in Plateau Canyon, where Highway 65 joins I-70 approximately 30 miles east of Grand Junction or in Cedaredge at the Byway Welcome Center next to Pioneer Town.

"A second access road to the top of the mesa was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1933. The twisting, rocky road (Lands End Road) was then known as the "Veteran Road" or 'Military Road' because many of the crew members were former servicemen. There were three CCC camps on Grand Mesa for crews who built the Collbran Road, three ranger stations, campgrounds and picnic areas and the Lands End Observatory. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the site is used by the Forest Service as a summer visitor center and provides a spectacular view of Grand Junction in the valley below.

"The byway's southern gateway in Cedaredge is home to the Cedaredge Welcome Center, where you can find interpretive exhibits about the byway and Grand Mesa.

"Grand Mesa is reportedly the world's largest flat top mountain...There are over 300 lakes and ponds hidden away on the mesa and more lakes per square mile than any other place in the western United States."

You can read more about the byway here.

Powderhorn Hosting Two Color Sundays at Resort

Palisade Ski Resorts has set up two color Sundays for this year. This is a great way to see the changing aspens up close, both on the drive up the Grand Mesa as well as on the ski lift. Please note, this would be a great way to wind up your Colorado Mountain Wine Fest weekend. Here's the details:

Color Sundays

It's almost time for the aspens to start putting on a show! This year you'll have a great chance to catch the beautiful fall colors as we will be having TWO Color Sundays.

Sept. 21 & 28

Lift Rides

10am-3pm

$5 Adults, $3 kids 12 & under

Sunset Grille- Lunch 11am-3pm

Wildewood Restaurant- Breakfast Bar 8-11am. Lunch 11am-3pm

Alpine Trade & Cafe- SALES 9am-4pm

Live Music-

Sept. 21 Chris Hughes

Sept. 28 Vintage Voltage

Plus season pass photos, bump-n-jump, hiking and disc golf.

The Science Behind Changing Fall Leaves

What exactly are the scientific processes behind changing fall leaves? If you've wondered, you're in luck. The Mountain Mail explains its all for you. "Under the headline, "Fall Colors Expected in Two Weeks," Mail News Editor Paul Goetz describes exactly how an aspen or cottonwood leaf goes from green to orange, read or gold. While different U.S. Forest Service employees contradict their colleagues in the last story we posted, over when exactly the leaves will change, Goetz's article offered this explanation:

"Increased night length is the primary regulator of autumn leaf change. As days shorten and nights lengthen, biochemical processes in leaves begin to change leaf colors.

"Leaf pigments come from chlorophyll, carotenoids, and anthocyanins.

"Chlorophyll gives trees basic green color. Trees in temperate zones store sugars produced by chlorophyll for their winter dormant period.

"Carotenoids produce yellow, orange and brown in foods such as corn, carrots and bananas.

"Anthocyanins are water soluble and appear in the watery liquid of leaf cells. They produce color in foods such as cranberries, red apples, concord grapes, blueberries, cherries and strawberries.

"Chlorophyll and carotenoids are present in the choloroplasts of leaf cells during growing season.

"Most anthocyanins are produced in autumn in response to bright light and excess plant sugar within leaf cells. During the growing season chlorophyll is continuously produced and broken down and leaves appear green.

"In the autumn, however, chlorophyll production slows, stops and eventually is destroyed, unmasking colors from carotenoids and anthocyanins and the tree exhibits color change. "

You can read the rest of this informative article here.

Fall Leaves May Turn Early This Year

It's time for the aspens and willows to turn various hues of gold, orange and red. But according to the U.S. Forest Service, the fall color may come a week earlier this year, due to unseasonably cold weather. (Well, all right, it's seasonable, but a little darned early).

Under the headline, "Feeling and Looking Like Fall in Colorado Mountains, "9 News KUSA reporter Anita Dill writes:

"People in the high country may soon be putting away the lawn mowers the getting out the leaf blowers.

"The leaves are already starting to turn. Catherine Olsen lives in Twin Lakes in Lake County. She says she doesn't expect to be mowing her lawn for much longer.

"She says the leaves are already turning from green to gold and it won't be long until they are fully changed and fall off the trees.

"Floyd Freeman, a forester with the U.S. Forest Service, says the mountain vegetation has been getting plenty of water so the turning leaves are likely the result of cooler temperatures at night.

"Typically the best time to see fall foliage in the mountains is the last two weeks of September. This year, that peak may come early."

See the story here.