Skylands, Mt St Francis and Ringwood Manor, October, 2017

Before sharing photos, I always confess that I know nothing about how to photograph, and I have only a simple little camera with no extra lenses. I feel so self-conscious because photography has made such leaps in recent years. When I began as a birdwatcher, it was my understanding that it was impossible to photograph a hummingbird in flight and capture its wings -- all you saw was a blur -- because cameras were not fast enough. 

Now so many people have really fine cameras and everyday prize-worthy photos flood my Facebook page. This flood astounds me, every day. I go "ooo" and "aaa" and save the photos. 

So I apologize for sharing photos that are untutored and not from an expensive camera with all kinds of lenses. I take many photos of trees because I can get up close to them and they don't fly away. Luckily, I love trees. 

The first picture looks exactly as I wanted it to look. The sunlight illuminating the lemon yellow leaves, the brightly lit sycamore bark, the blue sky. 

Shagbark hickory 

Paper birch / white birch / canoe birch 

Nyssa sylvatica 

I believe these are pear puffballs but I'm not an expert. They are edible but I did not pick them because I think we humans are crowding mother nature enough. 

Yellow birch, Betula alleghaniensis 

Trees at Skylands are planted in such a way that they form artistic groupings. 

Diana, Goddess of the Hunt, after whom I am named. 

Aquatic plants, pine needles, and white rose petals from a recent wedding. Can anyone identify the aquatic plants?

The fabric-like bark of Chinese elm 

Most of the trees are still green 

Stone wall at Ringwood Manor 

This luridly, brazenly red tree was on the grounds of what used to be Mount Saint Francis. I've never seen such a tree. Eye poppingly red -- every leaf. Anyone know the species?