Forest Floor Swirl Experiments

I like do this every year. Spin the camera over the fallen leaves on the forest floor during a 1 second exposure.

Past Peak.

Well, the final report with regard to fall foliage conditions in Maine came out today: the entire state is past peak (for the most part). Which is why I haven't posted anything for the past two weeks: to me, it seemed as though much of the state was already past peak several days ago.

The 2011 fall foliage season here in Maine reminded me of just how fortunate we were in 2010, which was a glorious color season by comparison. 2011 saw many windy days and periods of rain followed by a sudden frost which assured a heavy leaf drop within a fairly short period of time.

I compared a few favorite photo sites this year to some photos I took at the same places last year. 2011 didn't even come close to matching the vibrancy of 2010, both in terms of colors and tree health.

I know it sounds like I'm grumbling, but I'm not, really. It's a very beautiful time of the year and I'm fortunate to call this place my home. And it's a relative thing. What might seem like a "blah" color season to me might completely blow away the minds of people who have never experienced autumn in New England. No complaints here; it's all good.

There are some terrific pockets of color here and there. And I'm not putting down the camera just yet. There are still coastal areas to explore, several hikes to take, and more than a few blueberry barrens to visit (they turn a bright crimson in autumn). I'm happy.

I will post a few more autumn photos in the days ahead of Halloween, but this will close out the blogging portion of the 2011 color season. Hey, there's always next year.

Leafpile #9: October 5th, 2011

(Sorry, no photos to share with this post. I've been busy with too many other things these past five days.)

The big news is that we now have peak colors in the northernmost sections of Maine and New Hampshire and Vermont this week! Now is the time to be there.

The White Mountains of NH are said to be "mixed but getting there soon". Last week I mentioned that I would be visiting northern Maine but I decided to hold off on that series of road trips until this week. I've rented a camera to augment my existing camera bag and will report more after the weekend.

The bad weather we've had lately in Maine - it was very windy today - doesn't seem to have affected the leaf drop in any significant way, which is good.

10/5/11 - to the memory of Steve Jobs.