Falling above Home

Menlo Park has been home for over a decade and ever year I remark that the trees lining our strees change to beautiful colors in late November. I took the skies to capture the colors before the leaves fall to the ground and return us to Cement City.

Color at Home
Sunset and fall colors, from drone Menlo Park, CA I've lived in Menlo Park for over a decade and every November I've always noticed the trees turn red, orange and yellow. I've never particularly paid close attention to how much color there is other than to note: "Hey, fall color in the Bay Area *does* actually happen!" I also never thought to try to take photos of them because the neighborhoods don't typically seem like your normal landscape photography scene. Despite living here a decade, I never really explored my neighborhood. We have beautiful redwood hikes within 15 minutes and we'd always adventure to a "real" hike. However, COVID changed all of that: the parks were initially closed and we needed to do *something* for our weekend walks. It turns out I have an absolutely BEAUTIFUL neighborhood. And guess what -- there's Redwoods ALL OVER. Jeff started to challenge those of us in his Escaype photography group to look at scenes in a new light. He would institute weekly challenges or explore us to photograph as close to home as possible. He gave me a location about 10 minutes away with a challenge to photograph it. And I was heading out to capture a nice sunset from there when I realized: "maybe I should stay here and try to capture the fall colors from the drone." So I did exactly that. This series is a set of photographs taken from above, using a drone, over the course of 2 sunsets in Menlo Park. The fall colors were peaking and I wanted to look at them from a new light -- in a way that might combine the beauty of the trees with the man-made structures next to them. I did my best to protect my neighbors privacy and used angles that did not peer into their homes. I hope you enjoy. DJI Mavic 2 Pro: 10.26mm, f/2.8, 1/500 sec, ISO 100

Redwoods and Maples
Sunset and fall colors, from drone Menlo Park, CA I shouldn't be surprised that there are Redwood trees all over my neighborhood -- there's one in my backyard that I somehow seem to have ignored for 14 years. When we started walking around the neighborhood I noticed how people had tons of Redwood trees in their front and back yards. So when I went to photograph the fall colors, I knew I wanted to find a scene that combined the big Redwood trees (which don't turn color) with the Maples and aspens/birch trees that do. It took some careful flying but I wanted to get close to the trees without crashing. I had to come in slightly above the trees to keep the sky out of the photo and I loved how the fall colors cup the Redwood tree in the center of this photograph. DJI Mavic 2 Pro: 10.26mm, f/2.8, 1/20 sec, ISO 400

Fish Grove
Sunset and fall colors, from drone Menlo Park, CA The first evening that I explored the neighborhood from above, I spent flying above a particular street that had one colorful tree after another. I was mesmerized by the lines from those trees. I wanted to photograph a different area on the second night but I needed to scout the "best" spots first. Around 1pm I drove around with the drone, flying it high into the sky, to spot any groves of colorful trees. I explored one area near the Menlo Park City Hall but realized I was too close to a no-fly zone, so I went back to the neighborhood and found this spot. Sammi and I ended up walking through these trees a few hours before sunset. I could tell they would be especially nice because walking under them was impressive! Unlike the normal grid pattern of the other streets, I was drawn to the circular nature of these ones. I see the shape of a fish here. I'm picturing something like a goldfish cracker, where the head and body are on the right, with the tail on the left. Can you see it? DJI Mavic 2 Pro: 10.26mm, f/2.8, 1/50 sec, ISO 100

The Endless Cycle of Life
Sunset and fall colors, from drone Menlo Park, CA Just like the last photo, the circular nature of this scene drew me to fly here. The pattern of the trees reminded me of an "infinity" and mimicked the way that these trees go through an endless cycle of growth and decay. Here you can see some trees still green and bursting with life, while others are starting their transformation to their winter mode, where the leaves change color and eventually fall off. A few sprinkling of trees have already completed that transformation. And we also see the balance -- the way that Redwood trees tower next to their smaller companions, and the homes that have placed themselves amongst the colorful landscape. I photographed this at a low angle so we could see as much of the trees as possible. I loved how you can see the red wood of the 2 Redwood trees in the center. DJI Mavic 2 Pro: 10.26mm, f/2.8, 1/30 sec, ISO 160

Fishtail
Sunset and fall colors, from drone Menlo Park, CA Pulling back and looking from a higher, further distance, we can see more of the shape of this area of the neighborhood. The intersecting grid pattern is replaced with curves and circles. That fish shape from the previous photos is more evident, with a big sweeping tail. I kept this photo dark so you would focus on the trees DJI Mavic 2 Pro: 10.26mm, f/2.8, 1/30 sec, ISO 120

Tie Die Cotton Balls
Sunset and fall colors, from drone Menlo Park, CA The forecast for my first night was predicting a colorful sunset, which is why I started to prepare to take the drone out for a spot about 15 minutes away. At the last minute I decided that a nice sunset with red and yellow trees would also go well and made the decision to photograph the fall colors instead. I kept flying over this particular row of trees. One after another they lined up with color. I had hoped to photograph them more perpendicular, so you could see more of their color, but I couldn't control where the sky was lighting up with color. I thought the trees looked a little like cotton balls. DJI Mavic 2 Pro: 10.26mm, f/2.8, 1/240 sec, ISO 100

Bay Color
Sunset and fall colors, from drone Menlo Park, CA While the sky was looking beautiful to the west, I also turned the drone around and looked *east*. There, too, the color was lighting up beautifully over the Bay Area. I used the circular nature of this neighborhood to "cup" the trees and draw the eye back towards the mountains. DJI Mavic 2 Pro: 10.26mm, f/2.8, 1/30 sec, ISO 120

C is for Color
Sunset and fall colors, from drone Menlo Park, CA The next set of photographs is taken from above, looking mostly straight down. I positioned the drone higher in the sky to be able to capture more of the neighborhood and its fall colors. I love how different this perspective looks, given that we're so used to experience things from the ground level. From above you see different shapes and patterns that you completely missed by looking more straight on and close up. I keep being drawn to the circular patterns of this area of the neighborhood. From above we have a harder time telling which trees are taller than others (though you can make out the tall redwood trees to the right). It's interesting to look down on the roofs, see all the houses with solar panels, or which houses have had the most leaves fall into their yards. DJI Mavic 2 Pro: 10.26mm, f/2.8, 1/15 sec, ISO 500

The Smiling Face
Sunset and fall colors, from drone Menlo Park, CA Pulling out even more, flying a bit higher, we can see even more of the surrounding area. The houses become less prominent and more like little dots within the landscape. I love how the *color* starts to dominate when you look down like this. My eye focuses on the shapes of the color rather than the specific objects below. I see a face. The mouth is in the center of the photo, with a slightly skewed eyes off to the left. Am I imagining things? DJI Mavic 2 Pro: 10.26mm, f/2.8, 1/40 sec, ISO 100

Roundabout
Sunset and fall colors, from drone Menlo Park, CA When looking straight down from the air, the photographs become more about patterns and lines. They tell a story of how the landscape is set or how we might navigate through it. The trees enhance the circular nature of this neighborhood, while the straight lines at the corner help frame the entire scene. I couldn't help but see a "roundabout" here -- European style, where you can keep going in circles, or enter and exit at your will. DJI Mavic 2 Pro: 10.26mm, f/2.8, 1/30 sec, ISO 200

Mansion Land
Sunset and fall colors, from drone Menlo Park, CA I nearly didn't include this photograph in the collection because there was far more color in other parts of the neighborhood, but what ultimately drew me to come back to this were the HOUSES. Should I say *mansions*? Can you imagine living in one of the homes? They're absolutely huge. It also only seems fitting that these huge houses are also shielded by the largest tree in the world -- Redwoods dot the huge mansions. DJI Mavic 2 Pro: 10.26mm, f/2.8, 1/40 sec, ISO 100

Red Playground
Sunset and fall colors, from drone Menlo Park, CA With the final photograph in the series, I wanted to focus our attention on a single tree. Rather than look at the entire neighborhood, I was drawn to the pop of color in this. It's surrounded by green on one side and red on the other. This is exactly what the tree is doing, changing from green to red. And boy to those red colors stand out. I love how the lower right of the tree is still going through its transformation, still retaining some of the green and yellow stages of its life. DJI Mavic 2 Pro: 10.26mm, f/2.8, 1/20 sec, ISO 400

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