Maple blossoms are another of my yearly subjects…one of those happenings I time my life by. I love them. Many people are probably totally unaware that the maple blossoms at all, let alone with such intricate beauty. They might see the red blush on the trees in spring, but unless they have gotten really close, they may not have realized that the first red blush is flowers. There is a second red blush, generally as intense, when the first leaf buds open, but that comes later.

You have to get really really close to see that the flowers are not just red…they have yellow centers with red petals and frilly green stamens. The impression from a distance is much redder than the actual blossoms.

I checked my archives and the maples in the back yard have bloomed a full month ahead of the same trees last year. That is how mild the winter has been (though snow-squalls are predicted for this morning).

In past years I have had to wait until the lower limbs blossomed or until I could find a small maple in bloom. This year, with the Canon SX40HS’s long zoom, close focus, and digital tel-extender function, I was able to capture better-than-life-size images higher up in the tree. The close-ups here were taken at 1680mm equivalent…840mm optical plus 2x d.t.e. function, hand held, from about 6 feet underneath. Since the breeze was bouncing the limbs around quite a bit, it was a matter of timing and taking bursts of shots at 4 fps. Using d.t.e. function keeps shutter speeds on the high side anyway.

1) f5.8 @ 1/500th @ ISO 160. 2) 72mm equivalent. f4 @ 1/1000th @ ISO 100. 3) f5.8 @ 1/320th @ ISO 125. Program with iContrast and –1/3EV exposure compensation.

Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness.

One last shot before the Maple Blossom Special is round the bend, and the red is gone until the leaves first pop!