In search of project ideas

Fall of 2004, I photographed my October Glory everyday to watch the color change. That was cool. I liked that project a lot.
The following spring, I started taking a picture of my October Glory once a week through the fall leaf drop, but I wasn't crazy about that project. It just didn't reveal anything fun until fall came around. I don't think I'll do that project again.
http://www.coffeedrome.com/jtreeglory.html

Then in spring, I followed a bud on my Aristocrat pear tree. That turned out pretty cool too. Or rather, I became an OBSESSED person. Not sure which. But I liked that project.
http://www.coffeedrome.com/jtree2h.html

I posted about the branch on my sugar maple in my introductory post. I enjoyed that project, even if it was really hard to focus on the same branch! (I just like the slide show because that's the first time I ever tried that.)

So, what I want to know from you guys is this:
What projects might interest you?

What could I do new and different this year? I think I will recreate the October Glory fall project starting in October, because the interesting thing that came out of that is that the fall color in 2004 lasted a month and was fantastic, but in 2005, it lasted only a week. But the color was even more red. So I think it would be cool to keep doing that one. (I should also record temperature and weather conditions, but it gets to be a lot, you know?)

But what else? What other tree photography-over-time projects would you guys like to see?

What kind of trees do you have to work with? Are you looking to plant more?

Sounds like interesting and fun projects to me. When my Meyer lemon was a baby, I measured it and recorded its height bi-weekly. Imagine what I'd have done if I had a digital camera back then!

Wish there was, but there's no room to plant anything new.

All the trees in my yard can be accessed from here:
http://www.coffeedrome.com/jtree2.html

But I also recently branched out (ha ha) and started following neighbor's trees. The redbud is an example.
http://www.coffeedrome.com/jtree2redbud.html

What I should do is I should cut down the stupid Bradford pears because they make me crazy anyway with worry. (Not that cutting them down would really give me all that much more room to play with. I over planted from the beginning. Learned my lesson on that one.)

Wow! I spent almost an hour on your site, Joulz. That's incredible. I'm going to assume you're a professional photographer, but if you aren't, you should be.

I guess we'll have to see if someone else has a great idea for a project. I can't think of anything new and different that you haven't already done. I'm not familiar, however, with all of those kinds of trees. The only one we have in common is the Linden.

Are there two that might make a good comparison? I was thinking side-by-side photos of budding, leaf growth, color change, etc., from spring to fall. Do you know what I mean? Same date, same time, different tree. Someone will have a better thought though. Thank you for sharing your site with us.

Joulz, I see you have a Black Cherry. How about following that one through all the seasons. Showing from 'Green Tip' to flower to young fruit, ripe fruit and fall color, and everything in between.
Welcome to DG, from a somewhat recent convert.
Andy P

Not a tree project, but close enough, and I think could be incredibly interesting and valuable. And somewhat shorter duration.

Document from flower bud emergence through opening, pollination, petal drop, fruit formation, and fruit maturation for some shrub or another.................maybe a viburnum?

I'd make that the wallpaper on my screen.

I've got a Prunus serotina seedling that suffered a rather severe buck rub injury a few years back. Based on experience with other trees having this type of injury, I thought it would either die or at least be disfigured. I was amazed at how quickly and completely it sealed the wound. While I don't wish this experience on you, I thought it would have been interesting to take periodic photos (weekly or semi-weekly?) to see this sealing occur in stages. Perhaps you could do something like this if you prune off a branch.

Wow! Great idea on the wound coverage, Maackia. I'll have to keep my eyes open for something like that.

Sarahskeeper: I like the black cherry idea. I'll put that one on my list. Should be able to do a zoom focus on that, since the lowest branches are pretty high.

ViburnumValley: Actually, I did a project kinda like what you suggested with my Aristocrat Pear tree. I keep thinking I should branch out to include the shrubs I have. But now they've all been in the ground for 5 years already, so I can't get the before/after shots that I love so much. On the other hand, I've noticed in the last few weeks that I have a Arborvitae that is dying. If I'd been thinking about this before, I could have documented its demise. I'm going out TOMORROW to get the first shot. We'll see how that goes.

McGlory: I had never thought of that sort of project before -- same date, different tree. I love that idea! What if I did that to show, on one page, three of the red maple trees I have? I could do it for the October Glory, the Red Sunset and the Japanese. The OG and the RS are quite similar, but then again, not so much, and of course, the Japanese is very different from the others. But it could help educate people about cultivar names. (I get a lot of traffic from K-12 addresses.)

Thanks everybody! Keep the ideas coming! I am inspired!
-Joulz

Julie, consider daily close-up photos of beech, shingle oak, willow oak, black oak, and shagbark hickory buds as they break dormancy and the leaves emerge and expand. They change form and color and do all sorts of cool stuff!

Guy S.

Julie I enjoyed your daily photos of color change. If I were you I would work with filters to enhance the colors of your trees. IE Green filter spring and red filters in fall etc.