10-20-19

Lithia Park is in Ashland, Oregon and very well known for its beauty (at least in the area).  It is a relatively large park for a non-metropolitan community and is always well maintained.  One of the things it is especially known for is its fall colors.

Every year during the fall, numerous photographers flock to the area to capture the colors that can be found throughout the park, including myself.  Unfortunately what you end up with is a lot of the same photos from multiple people.  Of course, this hasn’t really slowed me down, but it is a little bit discouraging as I want to have something unique.

I had been in the park earlier during the day to capture some of the colors but definitely wanted something different.  Luck would have it, I had to drive through the area one evening and wondered what a night shot would look like in the park.  Okay, I have done some night photos there previously but was looking for something new.  A couple years ago I took a photograph in the park (during the day) which I liked and also received favorable reviews.  I thought this might make a good night photo and went there.  After several attempts with different angles, different light painting attempts, I was disappointed with the results.  Not wanting to repeat what I had previously taken night photos of, I started to leave.

As I was driving down the main road through the park, I saw a composition that I thought might be promising.  After turning around and returning to a parking spot, I jumped out and set up my tripod to photograph the scene.  Luckily the traffic was next to non-existent so making a few attempts was without the worry of getting run over.  The results were far greater than I imagined and much better than my thoughts from the first location.  Just goes to show you, you never know what you may come across until you are actually there and see it.  I’m glad I went!