Autumn is gorgeous in the U.S. Northeast, so much so that it makes up for having to suffer through almost unbearably frigid winters. For those in the Philadelphia area, there’s no need to go on a long leaf-peeping trip to catch some of the best harvest scenes and colors.

Wrapping around the Schuykill from Center City towards the northwest is Fairmount Park, one of the largest urban parks in the country. Within the park are several sections and segments, each home to its own charms.

At any time of year, the Belmont Plateau offers up a great view of the Philly skyline, but fall may well be its peak season.

Just down the hill from the plateau peak is the Shofusu Japanese House & Garden. Though not open past October for inside tours, the exterior grounds still provide a lovely tableau of tranquil garden life.

Both of these images were photographed and then digitally painted using Corel Painter. Mark has been using Painter ever since it was a product of a now-defunct company called Fractal Design. The software was then purchased – and much improved upon – by Kai Krause’s MetaCreations (also no longer in business). Happily, Corel snapped up the rights to the program and has continued to release it.

Though it’s no longer the several-days-long drag it was in the 1990s, it still takes quite a bit of computing power, as well as good judgement, to create a digital painting from an photo. Mark first crops, optimizes and color-corrects his photos, then sets up several different brush combinations in Painter and fuses the multiple results into the gorgeous images presented here.