Muskegon River Fall Scene

A scene from a fall shoot with the camera club from a few weeks ago, this was taken at Newaygo, MI on the Muskegon River, early morning. One of the best local places for fall color this year that I saw.

Edit: I had to compress this image quite a bit to get it under the 200K limit.

Beautiful colors, Toni. I like the contrast of the dark branches with the bright leaves. Because I'm personally big on reflections, I want to see more of the water.

I know what you mean about compressing this type of image. By the time I get the file under 200K, I'm not so sure I want to show it to anyone.

Thanks, Chuck. I do have others with reflections, but haven't processed them all yet. Also images of just the reflections which could be interesting.
The dark branches against the bright orange leaves is what attracted me to the scene, along with the tree on the far left being backlit (more or less) by the sun. There is something about maple leaves and dark tree trunks that never fails to attract my attention.!

Toni: Nice color. Were you in the river when you took this? And is that a bridge to the left of the frame? I just bought a "solo" canoe, and last weekend on its "maiden voyage" took some shots from the river. It gave me a perspective I didn't have before.

I agree that reflections are nice, but sometimes in order to the "look" you want in your image, you have to choose (at least I do). I like your composition here.

Thanks, Andy. No, I wasn't on the river. We had to do a bit of "brushwhacking" to get to the spot, but it was worth it! I believe this was at Eh Henning County Park in Newaygo, and yes, that its a bridge, although I'm not sure which road crosses the river at this end of the park. We started to leave this spot, then quickly ran back when we saw some kayakers heading down stream and got off a few shots with them in the river at this spot. The Muskegon River is a good one for canoeing...did you happen to see any Bald Eagles?

At the other end of the park is a parking lot and another bridge (M37, no doubt), which you might have gone under...that bridge spans higher over the water. Lots of fishermen in that area looking to catch a trout or salmon the day we were there.

Toni: Sorry, my post was unclear. My reference to "the river" was the Tittabawassee River here in Saginaw, where I posted the shot you commented on. That shot was taken from my canoe.

But, as a matter of fact, I DID see a bald eagle. I had tied up at my friend's house and gone up to tell him I was there and we were walking back to the river to get my canoe. He flew very close by us. We were up on a high bank so when he flew by, it was almost at our eye level. It was probably as close as I have ever been to one that was not captive. Of course, no camera in hand

Ah...I understand now, Andy. Yes, any of the rivers are great places to see the eagles, although they always tend to fly away from me when I do have a camera handy. Don't be fooled...I swear they know when you do or do not have a camera, so they tend to tease us when we're not prepared.
At least you had the opportunity to see one close up in the wild.