Autumn Harvest

While the season is by no means over, the peak color is draining rapidly.  A storm came through yesterday that probably knocked a lot of leaves off the trees and so I was even more glad to have gotten out in the days before.  Because of my health issue, my fall season was in jeopardy and that makes what I’ve been able to photograph even more valuable.

I’ll start with a trip to a nearby Nature Conservancy park in the city called Cedar Swamp (poetic huh?).  It was designated to preserve the rare Atlantic white cedar among other species and has truly spectacular groves of giant rhododendron which I can’t wait to see in spring.  Judging by the buds already set it’s going to be a wondrous display of blossoms.

Here’s an obligatory leaf shot to start out with.  I think it’s a scarlet oak, but the contrast of textures and colors on the granite boulder were too much to pass up.  The hell with originality.

 

Further into the cedar swamp itself I was caught by the color contrasts in this next shot.  And yeah, it’s a fern, what of it??

 

 

 

On our way to the rhododendron loop trail we went through a part of the woods that got creepy all of a sudden and I half expected the hunter from Snow White to appear from behind a tree with his knife.  Real Grimm’s Fairy Tale stuff.  I think if it weren’t for the color-changing ferns in the foreground, the picture wouldn’t work half as well.  The textures are really great and I like the depth it has, too.

 

Mushrooms are popping up everywhere and I used a downed tree as a tripod for this little microscape (check out the rhodie leaves – they’re huge!).  I think these guys are in the Amanita family.

 

 

 

Another day we went to lake Massabesic to hike around and see what we could see.  Mostly it was an excuse to be out and drive our 1988 BMW 325 ix.  We walked way out to a pointy cape-like section and the witch hazel was blooming like crazy.  I found some on the shore and loved the contrast of colors –

 

 

 

And what would a walk around a lake be without some traditional foliage shots?  I wished for a more interesting sky, but nature was not obliging that day.  Still, it was perfect weather and I was with my honey and who am I to complain?

 

 

 

 

 

Well that’s it for this post.  If I include everything I’ve shot so far it will be too long to manage.  Thanks for checking it out.