Being in Southern California it’s tough finding fall colors. Thankfully this trip north to Santa Cruz in November I nailed it and I had no idea I would get this lucky. Like in the January shot I mentioned we were staying at the Fern River Resort in Felton. Redwoods are everywhere on the property, but so are Chinese Maple trees. This shot was taken maybe 20 feet from our cabin on a very cold and damp morning. The 3 redwoods that sit between cabin 3 & 4 tower high above the Chinese Maple. Redwoods, like pine and sequoia trees, are green all year long. Not so with Chinese Maples. This being November I would have thought the color change would have come sooner, but I’m so glad it didn’t. And though the redwoods don’t change color, catching the time of year where the trees are dropping their seed cones mixed with the color change of the Chinese maple was to me a perfect inspiration for a fall shot. Soon the maple would lose its leaves and the seed cone would continue its journey. Who knows, maybe in years to come we’ll be back and see a new redwood growing. For this shot I specifically chose my long telephoto lens so I could create that shallow depth of field starting with the redwood seed cone and letting the background blur out.