birches + berries

the late afternoon sun sent a shaft of low warm light through the birches…and closeup the red berries glowed…i am entranced :))))

tree-god blessings

how can the birches not bow to such a magnificent god?! :))))

birch tree ceremony

these birches make me feel as if i am in another world…a fantasy land of sorts.  i see them with the broken tree leading them in some sort of native ceremony, paying homage to their tree-god.  it's something i think of every time i see them!

bowing birches

pierson woods contains a grove of birches that calls to me :))). these birches are storm battered and bent, but their graceful bending fascinate me!

sunset on stewart's island

more sunset fun and glory :)))

holiday greetings!

this was shot a couple of days ago just after the winter sunset…the pier is from the east shore of Stewart's Island, an Sippican Land Trust property in the outer harbor of Marion.  The shore in the distance is the western coast of Cape Cod, looking across Buzzards Bay towards it.  i'm not sure who puts the tree up, but i have seen it in years before :)))) a nice seasonal touch!

another angle

and this was taken from 10 feet to the left of the center spot…

i find them all different :)

a different angle

another view, taken about 10' to the right of the first shot.  I like how the multi-colored marshgrass lining the banks winds through the marsh, pulling the eyes with it :)

a favorite shot

I love to shoot Ludes Estuary from the culvert overpass on Creek Road :)  I have wandered in the marsh from there, and entered it from Route 6 as well, but I keep going back to Creek Road…high tide, low tide, incoming, outgoing, sunny, cloudy, rainy, all kinds of weather and seasons!  every time I drive by on Creek Road I sneak a glance :)

right now I am entranced by the fall colors in the marshgrass that line the banks of the estuary…

radio tower remnants

i remain fascinated by the ruins of the Marconi Towers :) this is a base anchor for the tower-supporting guy wires.  there were 14-400 foot towers, each one surrounded by 4 of these bases.  they remind me of gun bunkers...buried in the forest.

the view at the end of the trail

definitely worth the walk through the uplands and the wetlands :))

end in sight…

if you look closely, the section of the trail that I used for this shot is at the very end of it in the previous shot :)) 

the trail continues on…

and on towards the water…

fall trail colors

the trail continued on, and the lure of the colors and light kept me going, with many photo stops along the way :))

and this shot has become a favorite!

further along the trail

the trail called me on…

crossing the wetland

 the ferns alongside the trail really caught my eye here.

osprey marsh fall trail

just before the first of the two nor'easters we've had in the last 2 weeks i went to osprey marsh to get a shot of the sign.  this 19+ acre property was donated to us this summer by the Howland family, and abuts the original Howland Marsh.  the sky was blue, and the light glorious on the upland leaves in the mid afternoon that day :) and even though I was carrying only the tripod with the camera and one lens (usually I carry a pack with several lenses) i could not resist wandering the newly expanded trail down to the water's edge!

come walk with me...

 

fiddlehead unfurling

back to the macro shots :)  this is a great time of year for that...nature explodes in spring! a fabulous time for exploring the woods and trail.

i got distracted yesterday afternoon when i went to Brainard Marsh to admire the newly planted Atlantic White Cedar trees...

and i was reminded again how challenging it can be to get the image clean and isolated with that sweet creamy background that i love so much and works so well...

 

radio tower woods

i love the various remainders of the radio towers submerged in the woods :)  since the towers came down 50 years ago the field has been left alone to regrow as it wishes.  all this has grown up around them in that time...and this is a great time of year to see the remains, without the foliage, and the briars are visible and more easily avoided!

 

tree bark window

this is what really drew me in...this beautiful cutaway to the layer below the bark :) and why i really returned to the site with the heavy (23lb.!) camera backpack (which includes the macro lens) and the tripod!  you can see it in context in the previous post -- what a difference a change of lens makes!!