Adopt a Leaf or a Bud

Created by Elizabeth Wylde, Friends of the Fresh Pond Reservation, Cambridge, MA

Leaves and flowers have a dynamic life – if you have time to watch. Taking photographs over a period of time and making a movie is one way to begin to appreciate the stages leaves and flowers pass through. Elizabeth Wylde created a movie of the budburst of a Silver Maple – the first stage of a flower.

This movie was made using QuickTime Pro, which is the $30 extended version of the freely available Apple QuickTime. See the instructions to make such a movie.

Tips:

Put a blank piece of cardboard, possibly white or light gray, behind the leaf to make it easier to see the leaf

Consider writing the date on the cardboard or adding the date to each picture using image processing software

Stand on the same side of the leaf to take pictures

Try to take pictures during the same time of day to keep the light angle as constant as possible

Mark your leaf with a colored piece of string gently wrapped around the stem.

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