The last time I visited Kuboda Garden in south Seattle, it was a little over three years ago, when (if you recall my post at the time) I got a chunk taken out of my leg by a less-than-friendly neighborhood dog.
Any surprise it took me this long to return? Fortunately, the only dog I encountered this time was a lot more civil...not to mention about the size of a well-fed guinea pig.
In any event, thanks to the
La Niña winter last year, our whole weather cycle in 2011 has been screwy, with the result that fall foliage started on a few trees in September but was spread out over a two-and-a-half month period, with many trees still green while their neighbors were already bare. At this point, many of the Japanese Maples at Kuboda are just hitting peak color, about two weeks after the show is usually over in this part of the country.
(NOTE: These are some of the first images from my newly-arrived Sony A-77. I'm still in "evaluation and testing" mode on this camera -- all I'll say for the moment is that it can clearly take wonderful photographs at best, but has a pretty steep learning curve and, at least from first impressions, a rather finicky nature. Let's just say I didn't realize I knew so many ways to inadvertently screw-up an image until I started shooting with this camera! ;-) )