I had always wanted to visit Acadia National Park when the fall colors were at their peak. I was inspired by many amazing photos taken by other photographers, and I wanted to try and capture some of my own images. I arrived in the middle of October, just before the season ended, and many facilities shut down to prepare for the winter.

One morning, while hiking around the park, I came across a symmetrical cluster of tree trunks covered in green and blue lichens, adding lovely cool tones to the bark. It was surrounded by warm, contrasting tones of yellow and orange leaves.

The area was still damp, which created a more dramatic look. The weather was overcast and still damp from the morning rain, which made it hard to control the contrast.

I used Lightroom to edit this image, mainly adjusting the exposure and subtracting the saturation but boosting the luminance of the orange and yellow hues with the point color tool. I also added some clarity and texture to bring out the details of the lichens and the leaf details. Next, I added a little black that helped to enhance the colors lost from the reduced saturation.

This was my first trial run, and I am looking forward to going back soon with a better understanding of autumnal composition and shooting under cloudy conditions.