We left the shoreline in Michigan City this morning with a glorious sun shining from our left.

Good thing, because we were headed toward Kokomo through some pretty dreary countryside. Flat northern Indiana in very late fall is not my idea of glorious vacationland. Nice, bright sun would at least show things in their best light.

Indeed.

At our first stop we were greeted by the incredibly red tree you see to the right. And the backlit presentation helped it stand out even more from its dreary surroundings.

Back lighting is usually to be avoided. It usually dims colors, certainly makes proper exposure much more difficult, and it usually obscures at least some details.

Ahhh, but when it shines through leaves….

When it highlights the feathery edges of downy weeds gone to seed….

When it produces special colors and shades in the clouds it shines through….

When it shows the internal structure and colors of grasses….

Well, maybe it’s okay.