Beech trees are some of the late fall holdouts—keeping a tenacious grip on their leaves sometimes all the way through the winter. I love the way their leaves shift from green to gold to copper and then, sometimes, to ghostly bleached white in the wintertime.
Panasonic Lumix GM5, Lumix 20mm lens, ISO 200, f/1.7, 1/6500″ exposure.
This variety of willow (that I’m not entirely sure of…) is one of my favorite early spring “poppers”. Its tight catkins burst into fireworks-like explosions of fuzzy yellow wonderfulness.
Nikon D600, Nikon 24-120mm lens @ 120mm, ISO 640, f/14, 1/320″ exposure.
Morning sunlight illuminates a curl of birch bark.
Nikon D600, Nikon 50mm lens, ISO 160, f/1.8, 1/2500″ exposure
Beech trees are some of the last to drop their leaves—even holding on to them through the winter as they bleach to papery white.
Nikon D600, Nikon 50mm lens, ISO 800, f/1.8, 1/3200″ exposure
Young beech trees march off into the distance…
Nikon D600, Nikon 50mm lens, ISO 100, f/1.8, 1/1250″ exposure
Nikon D600, Nikon 50mm lens, ISO 400, f/1.8, 1/800″ exposure.
Nikon D600, Nikon 50mm lens, ISO 400, f/1.8, 1/1000″ exposure
This cherry tree is a stalwart next to Fargo Brook. Given that the brook has been rather unruly in the past couple of years and jumped its banks due to flooding rains, I wonder how long the tree will last before its hold is eroded and it falls like many other trees before it.
Nikon D600, Sigma 105mm macro, ISO 800, f/4.5, 1/2500″ exposure.
This giant sugar maple has lived a long life in the woods near our house. It’s a favorite of mine, and I greet it almost every day as I run through the woods—”Good morning grandfather.” I’d guess it’s around 200 years old. Most of the land in our area has been clear-cut at least twice since Colonial times, and the majority of the bigger trees around us are no older than 60 or 70 years old. The term “witness tree” is used in these parts to describe trees that a farmer would leave standing to help define his property line (note the stone wall in the foreground). There were several such witness trees along this property line, most having given way to gravity and crashed to the ground. This one remains though it’s shedding branches and it’s only a matter of time before it too succumbs.
Nikon D600, Nikon 18-35mm lens @ 18mm, ISO 1250, f/16, 1/25″ exposure.
John Hadden Photography 