I Needed to take a step back and enjoy the fall. Roger and I have been swamped completely at work for the last week or two, so our blogging has suffered. Unfortunately, the call of duty can triumph over our desire to write. The weather here in VA has varied with lots of cold rain on the weekends and of course good days during the week.
So today, I had some personal business in the morning and wanted to just gather my thoughts for the afternoon. I headed out to the Shenandoah Valley through the lovely town of Sperryville to catch the tail end of the fall foliage. It peaked last week and would have been nice, but cold soaking rain is not my favorite.
In Sperryville, next door to the general store is a maple tree, resplendent in orange and gold. The sun was a little bit high in the sky, but I was able to filter the light for some nice backlighting. 
Across the way, a small B&B had the pumpkins on the porch, and the porch had a view of the tree.
Up and across the Blue Ridge to the river—didn’t see grandma’s house anywhere. It’s tough, sometimes to get good photos here as the persistent haze is what gives the mountains their name. A little boast on the clarity slider on an applied gradient, helps cut through to see the distant colors. 
Finally, back home. Folks, don’t forget to really look around your own back, or in this case front yard for fall color. I planted this Japanese Maple, 6 years ago and have watched it grow with the house. 
I shot a bunch of pictures from the river overlook with the intention of building a panorama. We’ll see how that turns out, if it works I’ll write about it. Oh, if not, it will never be seen. That is the last tip for today, if you want people to believe you are a good photographer, don’t show off your bad or average work. Be selective, very selective.