As our autumn is fading, we are sadly saying goodbye to the brilliant
reds and gold of the Sugar Maples and happily goodbye to the hordes of “peepers”
who congest our roads and then leave without offering to rake a single
leaf. Things are getting quiet, but
before we descend to full November stick season, there is still much late
season color to enjoy. The Maples are
spectacular, but delicate and short-lived.
This year we seem to be enjoying an especially lovely late foliage
season and, as always, it is coming primarily from the long-lasting beech and
the sturdy Oaks.
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| Beach Forest |
The beeches display bright orange and gold. Over time the leaves mature to a rich brown, but when the
Maple leaves are largely on the ground, the Beech are just reaching their peak.
I have previously sung the praises of the “Underappreciate Beech”, so this seems a good time to celebrate the
wide variety of New England Oaks. Oaks
come in a wide variety, from low lying shrubs to majestic giants.
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| Champion Red Oak |
In
Chesterfield’s Friedsam Town Forest we are blessed with the county champion Red Oak, nearly 100 feet tall and estimated to be over 300 years old. Other varieties of Oaks include the
White, Pin, Black and the Swamp Oaks. Their leaves vary widely in shape and in autumn
color. Oaks can have bright russet
foliage, but they are known predominantly for earthy browns and rusty tones.
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| Stickney Falls Autumn |
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| Black Mountain Oak |
All autumn colors become apparent only after the green of Chlorophyll
has faded. Maple leaves get their
yellows from Carotene while their reds and oranges come from anthcyanins. For Oaks, the distinctive brown color comes
from Tannins. Actually, Tannins cause
the brown color that most leaves, including Maples, display after they have
settled into the forest floor.
Over the last days I have been out looking for autumn Oaks and I have
come to freshly appreciate the variety of photographic opportunities that they
provide.
The range of color in the leaves makes for attractive intimate tableaus especially
when something of interest can be placed in the background.
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| Frozen Floor |
Whether frosted, frozen or lying in the grass, fallen Oak leaves can
portray a sense of autumn’s end.
Because autumn Oak leaves tend to reach their color after most other
leaves have fallen, their arrangements tend to stand out in greater relief,
creating clearer patterns than are apparent in the masses of early foliage
A few years ago, I included Oak leaves in my back-lite Macro leafstudies. The results showed the variety
of shapes and the delicate quality of the “mighty” Oak leaves.
Of course, I still miss the amazing colors of that split-second of peak
foliage, but there is much to enjoy in autumn’s prolonged mellow tail. So, get out there and capture all the beauty
that our Beeches and Oaks have to offer, before stick season fully descends.
Jeff Newcomer, NEPG
www.partridgebrookreflections.com
As the spring
foliage in the Monadnock region has grown and matured to its settled summer
green, it seems a good time for me to finish my “Spring Photography, Get Out of
Isolation” series with a look at the richly varied hues of our early
foliage. Spring is a short but remarkable time for photography.
Much like autumn, which marks a brief transition from the extremes of summer
warmth and the cold dormant months of winter, spring is the seasonal inflection
point back to growth. Both autumn and spring are brief times of change,
but for all the momentary beauty of the fall colors, I believe that spring is more
varied and interesting and has its own special attractions.
In my early articles, I focused on the fantastic explosion of
early buds, as our trees and shrubs rushed to begin their short season of
photosynthesis. I concentrated on macro photography, both outdoors and in
the controlled environs of my studio. This week I will celebrate the wide
range of colors, mostly greens, that are on display for just a few days, from
when the foliage first appears, until the chlorophylls settle into their, rich,
maximally photosynthetic, greens. This is a period about as short as that
of the peak fall colors, and I find that it is just as spectacular.
As the leaves first arrive, they appear as a subtle dusting
of color against the stark network of branches and often show a wide range of
colors from deep red to orange and warm yellows. The variety of colors are
usually best on the hillsides in diffuse overcast light, but as is true in the autumn,
the spring colors are often most dramatic when seen in bright trans-illumination. 
