Picture This!

Science tells us leaves change color in the fall because trees stop the process of photosynthesis and the green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves, allowing the reds and yellows that have been there all along to become visible.  Native American legend, on the other hand, says they change color when spirit hunters in the sky slay the Great Bear constellation and the bear’s blood drips on the leaves, turning them red. Whichever you choose to believe, you can't help but marvel at the brilliant hues of fall foliage. John Schelhas certainly does. Schelhas is a research forester with the USDA Forest Service's Southern Research Station at Tuskegee and Auburn Universities and an affiliate faculty member at the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences and says though his work is all about trees, the spectacular colors of autumn still can take his breath away. He is the latest Picture This! winner with this photo of fallen red maple leaves veined in gold. He took the picture a few years ago while visiting Cloudland Canyon State Park in Georgia.