Japanese Maple at Acton Arboretum, November 2021
New England in the fall can be stunning. The days are warm, the nights are cool, and the leaves turn beautiful shades of red, orange, and yellow. It’s energizing, with everyone out-and-about soaking up the last of what the season has to offer. And then - just like that - the vibrant fall leaves are gone, giving way to the more monochrome and quiet look of winter.
This year we’ve had what I call a “long fall.” The mild days lingered well into November, and the first real frost happened about a month later than usual. I tend to keep a close watch on frost reports not only for my little community garden plot, but also for photos. When I see a forecast calling for overnight temperatures dipping into the upper 20s, combined with some morning sun, I get my camera stuff ready and set my alarm.
In mid-November I saw just such a forecast, so I headed out early to a local Arboretum to see what I might find. The conditions were pretty good. The leaves and end-of-season flowers were frost covered and sparkly. I explored, and took a few shots, but knew I wasn’t getting anything special. I also had to work fast, because as soon as the sun rose and hit the frosty bits, everything quickly melted.
Then all of a sudden I turned a corner and found a stunning Japanese maple completely covered in frost. It almost looked like someone had sprinkled powdered sugar all over it. The maple was in a shaded area, but I could tell I had about 5 minutes before the sun would move into position to melt the leaves. At this point my fingers were frozen, but I couldn’t do anything about that either. I just had to dive in and start experimenting with shot after shot.
Did I feel ready to take the photos? No I did not. Do I ever feel ready? Not really. Starting before I’m ready is key. If I waited to feel ready, it’s likely I’d never take any photos at all. Every outing is really just a practice session, and with each practice session I learn a little more.
In the end I had about 10 minutes to shoot the frosty Japanese maple leaves. I’m really glad I started before I was ready, because - just like that – the sun hit the leaves and the frost was gone.