Marcescence essence
With Spring around the corner I’m trying to spend more time among the leafless trees in the area, to better appreciate not only their characterful structures but also their relationships to one another. It’s intuitive to view trees as individuals, for me, but the reality is they rely heavily on each other for survival, even across species.
My hike a couple weeks ago turned into a difficult uphill slog (because, curiosity) but at the top I was happy to find the sun shining uninterrupted through the missing canopy onto the yellow-orange marcescent leaves of a young beech. This made the tree pop against the muted cool of the opposing hillside. Limestone cliffs behind me bounced reflected light back my direction, which gave all the supporting actors a warm glow.
The backlit leaves were the stars of the show that afternoon, and I had the great fortune of shooting them in wonderful light. I loved how the surrounding larger trees (I believe oak, ash and/or tulip trees) seemed to guard the smaller beech from the wind, like parents protecting a rambunctious child. This brought to my imagination the dynamics of a family who has adopted an energetic yet vulnerable toddler. In the heat of summer the taller trees will provide much-needed shade for the beech, which will help to maintain soil moisture and cooler temperatures, and thus crucial humidity, between rain showers.
My only complication that afternoon, technically speaking, came with focus. At 70mm and a fairly closed-up aperture of f/10, I couldn’t manage to get every trunk sharp along with the subject beech. So, if you zoom in to 100%, some of the bark is a bit soft. Perfect focus isn’t that important to me anymore, however, as long as the “point” of the image gets across to the viewer.
Before too much longer Winter will give way to Spring and the beech’s dried, golden leaves will fall to the ground to make room for a fresh green palette. I’ve learned the transitions between seasons are my favorite times to be outside and I’m looking forward to soaking up more warmth in the coming weeks.
Thank you for spending time here today.
