One Fall Day
When does fall "peak" 'round these parts? That's hard to pinpoint, since different trees turn at different times and at different rates. So there's actually a span of time during which the colors change and shift. My preference is for early fall, when the colors first appear: there are more leaves, and the colors are a bit more brilliant; I also enjoy seeing trees with green leaves in the midst of their transformation.
It may seem counterintuitive, but cloudy days tend to be better than sunny ones, at least when it comes to photography: bright sunshine tends to wash out the colors. It's even better after a light rain, as moisture makes the colors more saturated. My forest isn't spectacular; it doesn't present a riot of hues like, say, a classic New England hardwood forest, but I enjoy it all the same. Here's what it looks like on a dreary early November day.
You can easily identify the trees by their colors: yellow-gold is beech, red is maple, brown is oak, and maroon is dogwood.