The Silver Spring Penguin

Copyright 2009 by Ray Fudge. Reposted with permission.

Stalking is a misdemeanor crime in Maryland, but stalking autumn leaves is still perfectly legal. That’s good for local photog Ray Fudge, who said he waited and waited and waited for the opportunity to snap this pic outside the Summit Hills apartment complex on East-West Highway.

“I had been watching this group of trees for several days as the leaves changed. I planned to shoot them earlier in the day but the rains kept coming and coming,” Fudge wrote in an email to The Penguin.

As rain clouds finally took off, “the sun dropped below the horizon and the leaves began to glow, almost like flames,” Fudge continued. “I set the camera to underexpose the leaves by about half a stop to give the colors a boost and to hold back a rather bland sky.”

After a little Photoshop action to “fix” the sky, Fudge came up with a radiant (if fleeting) image of autumn at its peak.

Photo courtesy of Ray Fudge. Reposted with permission.

Copyright (c) 2009 by Ray Fudge. Reposted with permission.

Local shutterbug Ray Fudge snapped this autumnal image Saturday afternoon, just as torrential rains gave way to a clear October evening. The scene: outside Summit Hills, a cluster of apartment buildings off 16th Street and East-West Highway.

Get used to the look of raindrops on fallen leaves — NOAA’s weather gurus predict a solid chance of rain through Tuesday night and possibly into Wednesday.

Photo courtesy of Ray Fudge. Reposted with permission.