Photograph info: With school canceled due to another snowstorm, we spent Thursday afternoon at storybook-beautiful Tintinhull Farm in Tinicum Township (ten miles south of Durham Township) hanging sap buckets on maple trees.

The farm's owners, Glen and Cindy, have produced maple syrup on the 250-acre farm for the last 15 years. It's a true labor of love given the months of work and expense involved and how little they charge for the final product, but fortunately there are enthusiastic neighbor-volunteers to help.

The six week sugaring process starts with Glen training volunteers to identify maples, drill & hammer taps into trees and hang hundreds of buckets from the taps. One to two weeks later, depending on air temperatures, the full sap buckets are collected in a huge tank pulled by a tractor. The tank is delivered to the sugar shack where the sap is boiled down until it thickens up and becomes syrup. It takes 50 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of maple syrup.

Glen and Cindy sell their maple syrup directly to customers from the sugar shack; bottles are returned for refills while the supply lasts.

We'll be returning to Tintinhull Farm for part two of this process - stay tuned for follow-up photos.

Camera settings and post-processing: Photographed with the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L lens at various focal lengths, f/stops and shutter speeds, all with ISO between 100-400. Some white balance adjustment; curves for contrast. "Spots" are falling snow.

Thank you for visiting Durham Township!

-- Kathleen

My childhood pal in PA, Don, has a few acres with some sugar maples, so he taps them every year. He's got an old stove in his garage where the enormous vats of sap cook for days and days, all for those few ounces of syrup. In my opinion, it's worth all the effort.

Kathleen,
When you are photographing out in the elements, do you have some protective covering for your camera?

All great photos.

Kathleen,
I have been a fan of your back yard for years, Taking day trips along route 32 and 29 is one of my favorite past times. know one is better in capturing this area's essnece then you ! Your like " Harry Potter" with a Camera

" BEAUTIFUL WIZARDRY "

Awesome photos! You really capture the feeling. Making maple syrup is truly a great tradition.

Dear Harriet Potter, 1. I'm a bit of a tree freak,(the home we currently enjoy was chosen mainly for it's trees) so I'm, struck by the role of wood in the beam framed shelter for maple sugar production firewood...even the rake handle is a tree product. That's 4 for 4! 2. For some unknown reason, I can't stop laughing over the term "sap bucket" (...meaning a habitually gullible individual I suppose?) 3. Even trees need ID's (That rhymes, Jon.) 4. Steve looks like he got caught at something. 5. Ah ha, Steve is into tree abuse. 6. Fortunately, on-shore drilling is still permitted for maple syrup, thanks to powerful lobbying efforts by "Big Syrup." (And a great composition too, Ms Connally!) 7. Still can't get over the term, "Sap Bucket." Now the idea of, "a sap bucket on the wagon" has me rolling on the floor. Isn't that a gullible individual who is trying to act like a cynic? 8. Anybody who can put a "Sap Bucket" to work has my vote!!! 9. All Sap Buckets should be hung on site. 10. I can't see the forest for the "Sap Buckets." Oh stop, please, my sides are hurting... 11. I can't guarantee a bottle return, but can you ask Glen and Cindy if I can get 32oz of Pennsylvania's Finest? (they take PayPal, Visa? ..I'm, serious.) 12. Beautiful, snow-covered distant treeline, the mirror is perfectly composed in foreground, and a running mid-stride Becky is perfectly captured in the center of the mirror, ...dang woman, are you showing off or what? (Go ahead Kathleen, show off anytime. Makes my day! :)

Wood is stacked in the shed, cord upon cord.
Waiting fuel for the fire, to release the heat it has stored.
Choose a Maple then pierce the trunk with a drill;
Hammer in a tap, hang a bucket, soon the sap it will fill.
Now don't forget to cover with a lid the ol' bucket
So it's clean and undiluted when back to the Sugar Shack they truck it.
These are the first of the steps that slowly reduces
The sap of the Maple into the sweet syrup it produces.

Barbara Thorbjörnsson: Sometimes I use an SLR Rainsleeve and sometimes I pop the camera inside my coat between shots, like I did when I took these. I was prepping and hanging buckets and taking shots in between so it would've been impossible to deal with the rain sleeve in that situation.

Thanks for the reply, Kathleen. Greatly appreciated.

What a great way to spend a day off from school! Wonderful photos of the adventure, and thet syrup, yum! Thanks for sharing all the fun.

great shot with all the scene, composition cant get better than anything, but my request, can you do a shot with your Nikon D100 with some standard lens?

shutterimagery: Thanks for the comment. I'm sorry to say that I killed the Nikon D100 in 2005. :)

Hi Kathleen, Just wanted to say hello and tell you that I adore your photos. :)

Robin

These are outstanding photos.

I knew you'd get some great shots! Sorry we couldn't stop by. Can't wait for the next installment.

Oh, yeah. Loved JPH's poem!

kathleen- you are a gifted photographer ! i am so
pleased that i called you in on last minute notice. i will call you this week, and if you wonder where i am, e-me too. thanks again, girl.

The Sugar Shack photo is my favorite ~ stunning work as always, Kathleen!

Beautiful how do you manage to capture the softly
falling snow drops.

Don't know much about photography
But I do know what appeals to me
Your photos show history
'bout the way things used to be.

How do I go about getting a bottle of this syrup?

Kathleen, "sugar shack firewood" is another favorite. You have a knack for seeing something very special where many wouldn't even take a second look. Great shot!

Wonderful photos. I remember years ago collecting maple sugar with my folks. Thanks for bringing back some wonderful memories.

Kathleen!

Fantastic photos !

The photo with the buckets reminds me of a Wyeth painting at Kuerners Farm, Karl Kuerners helmet full of pine cones.

You are a fantastic photographer - and I so enjoy your images. You are a highlight in my crazy day...

Thanks!

Brian: Kathleen grew up right down the road from the Kuerners Farm and passed it up and back on the school bus every day all those years. It must have rubbed off on her somehow. So many of her photos look like Andy Wyeth paintings.

this "impromptu" picture picture as you call it is simply marvelous

I would love to put a print of "Zack with sap buckets" in with prints of Andy's work at The Gallery. It would be interesting to stand back and see who would notice.

Great photo essay. This is so different than anything we experience in Dallas, TX. Great to find this site. My fave is the returned bottles photo.

From time to time I come across a bottle of "American Style" syrup in grocery stores here in the Netherlands. Nothing compares to the real deal. Great series. Love the "Returned bottles" photo in particular.