Trees 2023-04-05 (Fairbanks, AK, USA)

I found a Nikon Coolpix S5300 at Value Village for $10, and it seems to be working fine after buying a new battery for it (about $30). I found the reference manual online and read through a lot of it to become familiar with the camera features. So, I was eager to give the "new" camera a try. The weather was overcast and gloomy, but I decided anyway to take a few tree photos.

Pardon me as I am still learning the basics of distinguishing the different types of Alaskan trees. My understanding is that this is challenging even for an expert to do during the winter, when the leaves are missing.

This tree with the u-shaped branches has a certain majesty to it. I seem to recall the bark was heavily furroughed at the bottom, indicating cottonwood (Balsam Poplar) but I wouldn't swear to it in a court of law.

Cottonwood (?) exhibit A

Cottonwood (?) exhibit B

This tree has an interesting curvy shape to it. My first thought was that it is an Aspen, due to the smoother bark, and a sort of greenish hue to it; but it doesn't quite look like the Quaking Aspen photographed in my reference books. And in some ways it looks similar to the previous tree.

Aspen (?)

This small, thin tree caught my attention because of the little cones. I'm not sure what kind of tree this is, but the cones look the same as the alder cones photographed in my reference books.

Alder (?)

None of the above images were post-processed, except a few were rotated. The camera features I used were the "Best Shot Selector" function, which takes multiple shots and then picks the least blurry one; and also I used the white balance adjustment feature, using the overcast sky as my white reference color.

I cut off a twig with some cones and buds, and I took some photos using my coin microscope:

Cone

Twig

Bud

I didn't do any post-processing on the above images, except I had to re-encode them in GIMP, due to a problem with the microscope JPEG output.