During a visit to Tuscaloosa, Alabama in the fall of 2009, I took the opportunity to capture some photographs of the scenery from the local landscape during the autumn season. The changing seasons always present opportunities for unique photography. This is especially true for the autumn season given the change in color of the fall foliage.

The key is timing your photography sometime after the leaves have begun to change, but before many of them have fallen in the lead of the winter months. This being a somewhat urban environment, it can be a challenge to isolate a completely natural looking landscape amidst the residential and industrial sprawl of the urban environment.

One evening at dusk while I strolled along the Black Warrior River, just North of the University of Alabama campus, I came across an ideal setting. The sky was clear, the lighting was perfect, and plenty of fall foliage still remaining the trees along the far shore of the river. The image I captured was a beautiful representation of the autumn season in central Alabama.

Upon reviewing the image later, I felt that some graphical enhancements would add more character to the image. The sky simply provided too much negative space for the composition. Using 3D terrain landscaping software and Adobe Photoshop, I created clouds and added them to the image. To complete the composition, the only slogan that could some to mind is “Sweet Home Alabama”.