A Fall Afternoon At The Tippecanoe County Courthouse

While out on a walk around Lafayette I spotted this small little fall scene at the courthouse. I saw this tree from down the block, and it was the only tree with color at the time. Of course I made it a point to get there as fast as possible to make the photo. It is kind of a simple photo, but that is why I like it. I kind of like how the photo cools as you go up through it.

Working The Scene

Years ago I watched a video by National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore. I act like I have watched it only once, but that is a lie. I have probably watched that video 50 times or more. It really informed me as a photographer. One of the things that I take with me every time that I go out to make a photo is his concept of working the scene. I am sure that he didn’t come up with it, but he is the one that taught me about it. I started off here next to the tree making the star photo of the sun coming through it. I then moved over a bit to try and get the courthouse lined up with it somehow. That didn’t work so I moved to the near parking space to see how that worked. It was then that I saw that I needed to walk across the street to really make the photo. It took me walking around the scene for a second to find what I wanted to do here.