"Fall On Me" by Bodhi Smith

Sep 29, 2023

 
colors
falling
blue
green
waters
leaves
yellow
orange
red
falling
fall
hues
let them all
fall
on me
 
MY THOUGHTS
It isn’t only color​, but a glowing, as though the leaves gobbled the light of the autumn sun and then released it slowly​ ― ​John Steinbeck, Travels With Charley
 
The first week of Fall is here now, sending us the message to live and enjoy life as vibrantly as all the bold autumn colors surrounding us!
 
So I listen and hear the crystal blue waters cascade down Glade Creek, as they flow past the Grist Mill, along a journey to cross the entirety of Babcock State Park, in their voyage into the depths of the New River Gorge...I feel the beautiful colors of autumn as they're coating all the foliage like paint on a canvas, surrounding and engulfing me in their aura, filling up all my senses in their hues. I embrace the magnitude of this scene popping at the seams in such beauty, I look upward with my arms raised, and proclaim with a huge smile, "let all these fall colors all, Fall On Me"...
 
You're my colors, fall on me, and I'll fall for you ― Bodhi, Fall on Me
 
This tree must be falling for me, as soon as I sat under it, it dropped its leaves. Oh sweet October! ― Charmaine J. Forde
 
A​s I walk around, I realize that October is a time of mixed emotions. There's the vibrant excitement of all the bold colors in the trees, with a fireworks array of reds, yellows, and oranges. Everything is popping full of happy warming colors...but mixed with this joy, is the awareness that the leaves are falling, and will soon turn brown, and all the wonderful color filling the trees will be lost until next year... 
 
Just as all these beautiful colors will ​soon disappear,​ so will the days of our life. We are all living on borrowed time. Fall reminds us this lesson, the impermanence of life, teaching us to enjoy the now--everything right here and now. This moment is all we have. Before we know it, all this will be gone, and so will we...Let this lesson of fall, "Fall On Me"...
 
The Fall is a time that reminds us: nothing is permanent. everything is temporary. We are strongly reminded that we must enjoy all that's before us now, right now. This moment is all there is, there is no guarantee of another... ― Bodhi, ​Fall On Me
 
Things change so fast. New things come around the corner all the time. Sometimes we welcome these as exciting newcomers, sometimes we're solemnly sad to see cherished things fade and go. Like ​those days of our youth​. Or seeing a rainbow after a storm. Or those once​-in​-a​-lifetim​e events that are here today and gone tomorrow. Or those beautiful moments you never wanted to end. Or ​having the vacation come to a close and you now must now leave ​that exotic place​ you always dreamed of seeing. Or your two-year old​ laughing and building a sandcastle on the beach​. Or your doggie being so cute your heart melts. Or that sunrise where the sky is on fire and it's the most beautiful thing you have ever awakened to. Or that beautiful grove of trees adorned in their gorgeous autumn foliage as they watch a stream of crystal blue flow past...
 
Every year, Fall always teaches us a lesson...what have you learned?
 
fall teaches us so much...if we only pay attention to her message ― bodhi, fall on me
 
let all these fall colors all fall on me! ― bodhi, fall on me
 
 
The Song "Fall On Me" by R.E.M.
From August 1986, this song "​Fall On Me" by​ R.E.M.​ is perfect to go along with my blog in meaning today (plus it has the same title as my photograph)  The lyrics of the ​tune are cryptic and open to interpretation, but they mostly relate to the themes of climate change and the environment. The opening lines mention feathers, iron, buildings, and pulleys, which can be interpreted as an analogy to the way we are affecting the environment through our modern inventions. The chorus emphasizes the need for change and the consequences of not taking action.
 
Ultimately, the song is about anything you want it to be. It could be about acid rain, but there is a double meaning. The sky is a metaphor for your reputation and living life carefree and how easily it can be tainted. How quickly its color polluted, by other individuals as well as yourself. You have to take care of it, be careful of your actions, who you share your secrets with....but is that really living? "Building towered foresight isn't anything at all"...if you do that then you aren't really living a vibrant genuine life. What is it up in the air for? You don't have to live a life of scrutiny if you hide. If it's there too long...exposed...like a leaf, it'll fall eventually...
 
And it sounds like your fault because "it's over, it's over me." You must deal with the repercussions raining back down on you...kinda like tears...the song echoes failure pretty heavily as well...failing yourself and everyone else...and how we are all in this together. From the start the song contrasts different themes and sounds, feathers and iron are compared literally in the first verse, hitting the ground before the weight can "leave the air." It also starts out kind of like a ballad, and returns to that at times, lots of voices singing in the background strongly represent the theme of other people talking about your reputation. Will the sky, or whatever "it" is, fall or will it not? This could all be bullshit, of course, but I think it's possible. It just seems very alive, too complex and emotional to be just about acid rain... "​Fall On Me" by​ R.E.M. ... (just click on the blue links to listen to any of the songs)
 
There's a problem, feathers, iron
Bargain buildings, weights and pulleys
Feathers hit the ground before the weight can leave the air
Buy the sky and sell the sky and tell the sky and tell the sky
Don't fall on me (what is it up in the air for?) (it's gonna fall)
Fall on me (if it's there for long) (it's gonna fall)
Fall on me (it's over, it's over me) (it's gonna fall)
There's the progress we have found (when the rain)
A way to talk around the problem (when the children reign)
Building towered foresight (keep your conscience in the dark)
Isn't anything at all (melt the statues in the park)
Buy the sky and sell the sky and bleed the sky and tell the sky
Don't fall on me (what is it up in the air for?) (it's gonna fall)
Fall on me (if it's there for long) (it's gonna fall)
Fall on me (it's over, it's over me) (it's gonna fall)
Don't fall on me
Well, I could keep it above
But then it wouldn't be sky anymore
So if I send it to you, you've got to promise to keep it whole
Buy the sky and sell the sky and lift your arms up to the sky
And ask the sky and ask the sky
Don't fall on me (what is it up in the air for?) (it's gonna fall)
Fall on me (if it's there for long) (it's gonna fall)
Fall on me (it's over, it's over me) (it's gonna fall)
Don't fall on me (what is it up in the air for?) (it's gonna fall)
Fall on me (if it's there for long) (it's gonna fall)
Fall on me (it's over, it's over me) (it's gonna fall)
Fall on me, don't fall on me (what is it up in the air for?) (it's gonna fall)
Fall on me (if it's there for long) (it's gonna fall)
Fall on me (it's over, it's over me) (it's gonna fall)
Fall on me, don't fall on me
 
 
The Song "Fall on Me" By Andrea Bocelli
And another perfect tune with the same title as my photo...Released in september of 2018, "​Fall On Me" by ​Andrea Bocelli.​ is both a sad and an uplifting song, and I can easily envision it being played at a funeral service or celebration of life. It speaks to deep pain, loss,  and longing, but also to hope for a brighter future—all things represented by the beautiful metaphor of the season of autumn—all the emotions that are ever-present when we lose someone we love. Like beautiful colors that suddenly fall and turn to brown, but we know that we'll live on, survive the winter of loss, and see another spring full of blossoming new life, fields of flowers, trees of green, and hearts refreshed anew...  "​Fall On Me" by ​Andrea Bocelli. ... (just click on the blue links to listen to any of the songs)

Alright, Yeah! 
I thought sooner or later
The lights up above
Will come down in circles
And guide me to love
But I don't know what's right for me
I cannot see straight
I've been here too long
And I don't want to wait for it
Fly like a cannonball
Straight to my soul
Tear me to pieces
And make me feel whole
I'm willing to fight for it
And carry this weight
But with every step
I keep questioning what it's true
Fall on me
With open arms
Fall on me
From where you are
Fall on me
With all your light
With all your light
With all your light
Presto una luce ti illuminerà
Seguila sempre, guidarti saprà
Tu non arrenderti
Attento a non perderti
E il tuo passato avrà senso per te
Vorrei che credessi in te stesso, ma sì
In ogni passo che muoverai qui
È un viaggio infinito, sorriderò se
Nel tempo che fugge mi porti con te
Fall on me
Ascoltami
Fall on me
Abbracciami
Fall on me
Finché vorrai
Finché vorrai
Finché vorrai
Finché vorrai
I close my eyes
And I'm seeing you everywhere
I step outside
It's like I'm breathing you in the air
I can feel you're there
Fall on me
Ascoltami
Fall on me
Abbracciami
Fall on me
With all your light
With all your light
With all your light
 
 
 
​SOME MORE APROPOS  QUOTES
Fall colors are funny. They’re so bright and intense and beautiful. It’s like nature is trying to fill you up with color, to saturate you so you can stockpile it before winter turns everything muted and dreary​ ― S​iobhan Vivian, Same Difference
 
I wish that every day was Saturday and every month was October​ ― Charmaine J. Forde
 
May you Fall in love with October
and all the beauty it brings,
May your life be as colorful as
the turning of the leaves,
On each blessed autumn day
― Charmaine J. Forde
 
Leaves descending to the ground,
Orange, magenta, green & brown
The cool crisp breezes in the air,
Autumn season must be here
 
I am Falling in love again with autumn,
The smell of warm cider,
The orange color leaves,
Pumpkins everywhere
and the crisp breeze,
People walking or riding their bikes,
Folks jogging or going on hikes,
I love autumn for many reasons and
I'm pleased to admit- this is my favorite season
 
​I am captivated by the beautiful colors of Fall,
Show me,show me,
Show me All!
Orange, yellow, purple, reddish-brown,
And the rustling of the leaves as they fall to the ground.
 
It must be October, the trees are falling away and showing their true colors​ ― Charmaine J. Forde
 
​Everybody loves the fall season; I know you’ll agree, Who doesn’t enjoy seeing dark orange, magenta, and brown autumn leaves falling from the trees?​ ― Charmaine J. Forde
 
Everywhere she walked the color shouted and sang around her...In October​, any wonderful unexpected thing might be possible​ ― Elizabeth George Speare, The Witch of Blackbird Pond
 
Autumn colors remind us we are all one​, dancing in the wind​ ― Lorin Morgan-Richards
 
Autumn teaches us a valuable lesson.​..there is no time of the year when the trees are more beautiful than when they are different colors. Diversity adds beauty to our world​ ― ​Donald L. Hicks, Look ​into the ​Stillness
 
Autumn is a cunning muse who steals by degrees my warmth and light. So distracted by her glorious painting of colors, I scarcely realize my losses until the last fiery leaf has fallen to the ground and the final pumpkin shrinks. Autumn departs with a cold kiss, leaving me to suffer the frigid grasp of winter in prolonged nightfall​ ― ​Richelle E. Goodrich, Making Wishes
 
The color of autumn...yea​h how everything looks like it's on fir​e...But it's dying! Death never looked so lovely​ ― ​Kiera Cass, The Siren
 
When leaves have to let go of the tree, they wear their best colors and they dance all the way to the ground​ ― Karen Kingsbury, Finding Home
 
Inhale autumn, long for spring​ ― Jalaluddin Rumi, The Essential Rumi
 
Just as all these beautiful colors will ​soon disappear,​ so will the days of our life. We are all living on borrowed time. Fall reminds us this lesson, the impermanence of life, teaching us to enjoy the now--everything right here and now. This moment is all we have. Before we know it, all this will be gone, and so will we...Let this lesson of fall, "Fall On Me" ― Bodhi, Fall On Me
 
 
 
SPECIFICS ABOUT THIS PHOTO
Loss is both sad and hopeful. Like beautiful autumn colors that suddenly fall and turn to brown, but we know that we'll live on, survive the winter of longing, and see another spring full of blossoming new life, fields of flowers, trees of green, and hearts refreshed anew ― Bodhi, Fall On Me
 
Pictured here is an olde grist mill alongside the flowing crystal clear-blue waters of Glade Creek as the last rays of the sun are peaking through the trees near sunset on a windless warm Autumn evening in Babcock State Park close to Landisburg, West Virginia...
 
In order to create my vision you now see before you, a single long exposure was used and this single frame was not merged with any other exposures (like I so often do with my photography to achieve the perfect lighting of the entire scene)...
In my photography, I always use filters to create longer exposure effects, saturate colors naturally, and balance the light in my composition in-camera...I often use as many as four filters at time, and I always use at least one filter in my completed impressions...
 
And to get the effects and balance I was looking for in this composition, I used two ProgreyUSA Filters. along with the ProgreyUSA G-120Z Antarctic Magnetic Holder. to secure these filters to my Nikon D850 with a Nikon Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. ... 
 
Camera Settings for The Glade Creek Grist Mill: 
ISO-64, 111mm at f/11 for 111 seconds using one ProgreyUSA 3.0ND Antarctic Magnetic Filter. to bring the light in the image down 10 stops, permitting for the extra long exposure which creates this dreamy effect of motion blur in the blue waters as it cascades down Glade Creek. While at the same time, naturally saturating all the red, blue, orange, and yellow colors in the image...Along with one ProgreyUSA 0.9GND Aurora Filter. to bring down the light in the tree-tops in the background an extra three stops, and thus balance down the image and help permit details in all shadows of the mill in the middleground and stream in the foreground to come out better in the exposure.  Impression taken about 20 minutes before the sunset at 6:46pm EST on October 2, 2022...
 
I wish to openly thank my sponsors who have always supported me through both the good and bad times...for truly this long exposure impression would not be possible without the use of my Induro PHQ3 Series 5-way Panhead with an Induro (now Benro) Stealth Carbon Fiber Tripod. in combination with the ProgreyUSA Filters. which I use with every photo I take...
 
if nothing else...if i open my eyes, if i hope, if i cry, if i think, if i sigh, if i giggle, if i dance, if i love, if i breathe, then i have lived a full days worth of life, i'm blessed...nothing is wasted, nothing ― bodhi, if nothing else
 
i do not want you to just be into my photography, instead, i'd much rather you take a journey into my pictures, and feel the impression i have created, feel it with all your senses ― bodhi, into my photography
 
contemplate without thinking. be certain only in your uncertainty. stop the world. slow down everything. let it all be. shut off the noise. hush. relax. seize this moment. reconnect. feel and sense what surrounds you. listen to all the colors of light whisper as they envelope you. see the melody and harmony that float about unnoticed. taste the solitude of all this wonderment. smell the beautiful silence. now discover your peaceful serenity. then, reach out and touch your faith with all your senses. this is my world. awaken! ― bodhi, my world
 
my photography is my way of keeping a diary ― bodhi, my diary  
 
I leave you today wishing that bright joy 
and spiritual peace fill your life...
Imploring you to make every moment count, 
no matter what, always and forever, 
for that is the only thing that truly matters... 
  
and above all else,
I hope this message and impression find you well.
 
Namaste,
Bodhi
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