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Top Ten Places to Film Fall Color in the United States


There are really only a few places in the US where fall colors can be enjoyed at their best, and the following list will help you if you want to see and film some of the most spectacular fall scenery anywhere. The list can also help to save you time and money by not visiting those places that may be somewhat disappointing.

1. Columbia River Gorge, Oregon
In addition the the beautiful colors of the trees that line the gorge, the gorge also offers plenty of fascinating geological features. One of the highlights is the many maple trees, which guarantee some great photos, and the entire area is within easy reach of Interstate 84.

2. Washington County, Maine
One advantage of this area is that is within easy reach of many other parts of Maine, and the drive here is worth it during the fall for the vibrant and spectacular reds and oranges of the leaves. In addition to the fall colors, do not miss the chance to sample a local specialty, the delicious blackberry pancakes.

3. Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri
This area is well known for its Independence Day celebrations, although it is a pleasure to visit any other time of the year, especially when the leaves show their colors during fall. A boat tour guide can take the most dedicated nature filmmaker out on a trip to ensure that the best shots are not missed.

4. Lake Champlain, Vermont
Vermont is well known for its beautiful fall foliage and this is one of the best places in the north east of the country to enjoy the fall colors. If you are wondering how to film nature at its best, simply set up your camera here and point.

5. Hudson River Valley, New York
Within easy reach of New York City, this area is a great destination for anyone wanting to capture some fall colors at their best.

6. Cypress Valley, Texas
Another great destination for anyone wondering how to film nature. The leaves in the area turns yellow during the fall and offers the opportunity to take some great video footage.

7. Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
The trees in this famous park look their best during September, making it a great place for anyone wanting to shoot some great nature footage earlier in the season.

8. Great Smoky Mountains and Asheville, North Carolina
One of the most visited national parks in the country, the Great Smoky Mountains area is wonderful to visit any time, although fall is spectacular. An unforgettable way to see the area and get some great photos is from a hot air balloon ride.

9. Yosemite National Park, California
An experience that anyone living in California should take advantage of, Yosemite is familiar to most of us from film and television images and is a wonderful destination for any serious or amateur nature filmmaker.

10. White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire
Another great fall destination for those living in the north east of the country, the White Mountains offer spectacular views as far as the Atlantic on a clear day. A great way to experience the area is by a train ride up to the summit.

Fall is the time that nature comes alive in colors!

Silent Kingdom

frost

Another film for the Underwater Over Land Film Challenge.

The theme for this challenge was “Animal Kingdom.”
Unfortunately this film had to be put together in just a few hours.
Family matters kept me home for most of the time period we had to complete the film. So, on the last day I headed out and spent most of the day driving around trying to find anything to film.
I knew I didn’t have enough wildlife footage to even come close to doing a film that really addressed the theme. So, I came up with the idea of doing a film about there not being any wildlife in the “Animal Kingdom in the tenth hour.

With the film due that night, I sat down about 9:00PM and started trying to put something together. My plan was to do a voice over but as the night wore on, that grew to be less likely.

The clock struck 2AM and I was still trying to put something together to beat the deadline.

Finally I just started laying down track, hoping that it would all make some kind of sense.

Although not the film I was hoping to do, I made the deadline and hopefully it has a bit of a message.
[flv:http://www.silverphoenixllc.com/phoenixblog/movies/SilentKingdom.flv 592 331]

Where Do You Hide 500,000 Snow Geese?

where

I’ve been checking the weekly bird counts at DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge since mid-October for the migration of the snow geese. It’s a spectacular sight with tens of thousands of birds arriving in a single day. But the numbers never rose above a couple hundred at best.

I emailed refuge manager Larry Klimek to find out if I had missed them somehow. Larry informed me that something caused the snow geese to change their migration patterns. In fact, the geese haven’t made DeSoto a stop in their migration for the last five years. They now come through Central Nebraska on their way South.

So what has changed to cause half a million birds to find refuge elsewhere? Has so much land along their Iowa route been turned into housing developments that they’ve shifted their route? Has global warming done something to change it?

Whatever it is, Iowan’s have lost the opportunity to view one of natures true spectacles.

But it’s not just us that have missed out. Eagles, coyote, fox and other predators have one less source to help sustain them into the winter months. Might this effect their populations in Iowa? Can they make the shift as well to follow the geese? Will we see a decrease in their numbers? Only time will tell.

Hopefully next Fall I can witness the mass migration with my own eyes before it is lost forever only to reside in fireside chats on a cold winter night.

The River

A strange thing happened to me this round of the UWOL challenge, I actually was able to change my mind about the subject of my film.

Normally whenever the theme is announced for a new challenge, an initial thought will pop into my head and no matter how hard I try to think of something else, my brain locks onto that first idea I had and that’s all she wrote.

Maybe at first, the idea sounded really good but upon further reflection, I realized it might be more difficult to pull off in the three week time frame that I had originally thought.

When I first heard the theme was “Habitat” for UWOL #11, my first thought was a film on vanishing forests here in Iowa.

Every year in the Cedar Rapids area, they have what the call Parade of Homes. The public is given an opportunity to tour homes built by local contractors. Homes range in price from $150k to over a million dollars.

One of the million dollar plus homes was in the middle of a great forested area. As my wife and I were being driven up the lane in a golf cart because it was tucked back so far off the road, I was saddened by the fact that such a beautiful area was being bulldozed to make way for more million dollar homes.

Oh, there were still plenty of trees and a great pond, but the natural beauty and wildness had forever vanished with the building of this development.

So, that was what my film was going to be about.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this was part of a bigger story. Something that couldn’t be told in the normal span of time we have for the challenge.

Normally my brain would be so focused on this story that I wouldn’t be able to shift gears and find another story that needed to be told.

But this time was different. This time for whatever reason, a new idea popped into my head. That idea has become the focus of my UWOL #11 film, “The River.”

Stay tuned as “The River” starts to take shape.