"Over the past decade, The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson has quickly become a staple of the Halloween season in the Hudson Valley and surrounding areas. I had personally only heard whispers of it, before last year - when it quickly became obvious that I had seriously been missing out.

I tried to get tickets for it as soon as I realized the gravity of it, but that was no easy feat. It often sells out well in advance, and with good reason - it's unbelievable, in every way. It's probably unlike anything you've seen before. When I was able to get tickets for it, it was more than a week into November, but I was still set on seeing it.

I took a friend I hadn't spent time with in quite a while. We got to catch up a bit, and were both seriously impressed by the event they put on and the amount of work that goes into it, which is considerable, if not mind-boggling. If you get a chance to check it out, you'll probably be mind-boggled, too."

The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze typically runs from early October, through Mid-November. For information, click here.

"After a long hike at Olana State Historic Site, the boys came to a clearing overlooking the Hudson River, Rip Van Winkle Bridge and Catskill mountains. They stopped and took in the view while I scrambled to get my camera. Got the shot just in time before we were off to our next adventure. Photo taken October 23, 2011."

To learn more about Olana State Historic Site, click here.

"The Half Moon replica ship cruises by the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse along the Hudson River. The sight of this ship is magical with all of the sails and ropes billowing in the breeze. We could hear the workers (seen on the deck and up on the masts) singing and enjoying the beautiful day. I was lucky enough to have my camera ready just as the ship passed by the Athens-Lighthouse."

To learn more about the Half Moon replica, click here.

To learn more about the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse, click here.

"I took this from a roadway bridge that crosses over the the Amawalk reservoir in Somers. My wife and I had recently moved to Somers and were driving on the local roads sightseeing and getting familiar with the area when I spotted the tree line along the waters edge of the reservoir. I stopped the car, and walked out to the middle of the bridge at got this shot."

"This photo was taken on Seven Lakes Drive between Harriman and Bear Mountain in the early afternoon of October 22, 2015.

The roads through those woods were empty. So I stopped to look at the color of the trees. The way the bold double yellow lines matched the changing trees struck me. I crouched in the middle of the road and took the picture. It seems like the yellow lines run on forever through the woods."

"I took this on September 5th, 2015, while hiking on top of Storm King Mountain after of a summer of healing from a hip condition. I was exhausted, but the views were worth every painful minute!  Photo was taken using a mobile phone with no filters."

Want to learn more about Storm King State Park? Click here.

"Berean Park, at the end of Reservoir Road in Highland, is usually filled with children swimming in the reservoir. This recreation area sits at the bottom of Illinois Mountain. It was so different to see it so quiet and surrounded in autumn color."

To learn more about Berean Park, click here.

"This photo of the Bear Mountain Bridge was taken from a lookout at Bear Mountain State Park.

I moved to Tarrytown three years ago and have been making an effort to explore the beauty of the Hudson Valley. This particular outing was a quest enjoy the fall foliage!

My 14-month-old daughter and I spent the afternoon in the park. It was my first time there, and it certainly exceeded expectations, with gorgeous views, easy access walking trails, rich history, and the zoo! "

Learn more about Bear Mountain State Park, here.

"Early Friday morning, I noticed something strange in the sky. At first it thought it was an odd-looking plane or two, and went to a website to see if there were any current aircraft in that part of the sky. There weren't, so I kept going on with my day. About 20 minutes later, I took a peek and noticed the pattern of lights were still there, which was a bit surreal. This time I used a sky map app to see what was in that part of the sky. It turned out what was I was seeing was Venus appearing incredibly bright, along with Jupiter and Mars, very close by, which I had never seen before. I told my Dad he had to see check it out, and he encouraged me I had to photograph it. Good call. I pointed my camera above the trees you see in the foreground, and got this shot of the three planets, in order of brightness."