mountain drive in autumn

On October 26, 2001, I drove from my home in Old Hickory, Tennessee to Irmo, South Carolina to visit my dear friend Rachelle and her husband Aleks for a long weekend. My route took me east on I-40 through the Rocky Mountains. The trees were all turning their colors and it was a bright, clear day. The sights were just so beautiful that I had to take pictures. Since there was no place to stop, I took some of these photos from the car while driving. I just held up the camera to the window, pointed it in the general direction of what I wanted to shoot (without looking at view-finder or display) and pressed the shutter button. I was pleasantly surprised at some of the results. I later stopped at a rest stop and snapped a few more photos.

mountain_drive_1 [JPEG 1024x768 124k]
The sky was very clear and very blue.

mountain_drive_2 [JPEG 1024x768 144k]
A very pleasant scene slightly spoiled by the gunk on the windshield.

mountain_drive_3 [JPEG 1024x768 172k]
As soon as I started this descent, I knew I need a photo of the view. There were several such descents along the way, but most of them required all of my attention.

mountain_drive_4 [JPEG 1024x768 184k]
A bit crooked and hazy, but still a nice scene.

mountain_drive_5 [JPEG 1024x768 156k]
I liked the layering of the near and far hills here.

mountain_drive_6 [JPEG 1024x768 420k]
I snapped this one of the trees at the rest stop. The myriad of colors in the foliage was really impressive.

mountain_drive_7 [JPEG 1024x768 284k]
This is the picnic area of the rest stop. It was quite well-kept and had gorgeous views.

mountain_drive_8 [JPEG 1024x768 360k]
Here we see a mountainside full of colorful foliage. I tried to get the utility pole out of the shot, but I still hadnt quite gotten the hang of the camera's field-of-view. '

mountain_drive_9 [JPEG 1024x768 360k]
The rest stop had a cute little footbridge over a drainage ditch. I though it would make a nice subject for a photograph. I reckon this one is my first real attempt at actually composing a photograph. The framing is a bit off, but I think its still quite nice. '