On Sunday morning, I went to Leesylvania State Park in Prince William County with one objective in mind, to see and photograph up close the new emerging buds, blooms, and other early growth using my 105mm macro lens. It was overcast, so there was filtered light, which was good, since it was late morning. I also used my speedlight (flash), off camera.

As it turned out, it was a spectacular couple of hours. As I walked through Bushey Point toward the Potomac River, everywhere I looked there was new growth. It was windy along the river so movement was a bit of a problem, but I compensated with shutter speed and patience.

As I entered Leesylvania, I immediately noticed a few Eastern Redbud trees beginning to bloom, at the same location where they bloom each spring. I pulled over and shot the following images. You can see why I stopped. The trees were covered in colorful buds and blooms. Below, the tree’s old, ragged bark and its single set of colorful, new buds captured my attention.

Initially, I thought that it would be hard to beat the beauty of the Redbud trees, but I was wrong, because there was beauty even in the simplest, single tree bud (below).

As I approached the river at the end of one branch of Bushey Point trail, there were tiny yellow buds (below) bursting out of the ends of several of the trees and very small leaves beginning to sprout out of the branch tips.

As I was returning from the river, I noticed very small and colorful seed pod clusters (below) hanging from a tree. It was very interesting to see that one type of tree had already flowered and produced seeds, and it was only mid-March.

By the way, if any of you know the name of the above trees/plants, please provide them in a comment below. I do not know the names of many plants and trees, but I can appreciate their beauty.

On the way home, I passed many flowering trees, to include cherry trees that I just could not pass up, so I stopped and photographed a few. One is at the top of this article and the others are below.

Sunday, weather permitting, I am planning to photograph the Bluebells at Merrimac Farm Wildlife Management Area. Bluebells only grow in shaded areas along creeks and only live about a month. They are the first plants to grow and bloom, and their colors are a brilliant contrast against the otherwise browns of early spring. Click on this link for an article and Bluebell images from last year. https://stevetabone.wordpress.com/2011/04/09/virginia-bluebells-at-merrimac-farm-wildlife-management-area/