Mer Bleue Bog

[Doug L]

Visited this local boreal bog again. Was disappointed that the coloured needles on the Larch trees had all fallen off. Still some colour in the ground vegetation, though. Here are a few shots with a 50mm lens.


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Also tried a few 'intentional camera movement' shots. This is my favourite. A birch tree was in the foreground.

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[Marko]

Fun set - my fave is the selective colour and selective focus in shot 2. There is a white bird in the background, I'd probably crop or clone it out if the shot was mine.
Hope that may help.

[Realist]

I think I like number 2 and 3 best. I like the focus in 3 and I also like cattails to that could be another reason.

[Doug L]

Thanks for the comments. The white blob in the background is some type of seed pod - they were fairly numerous. You're right Marko - it should be deleted from the image, especially since it's not obvious what it is. Thanks. Here's a cropped section from another image showing what they look like.

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[Realist]

I think the white blob is milkweed.

[Doug L]

That's the impression I had when I first saw the stuff, but common milkweed grows a lot taller - these were only a foot or two high at most. I've just been doing a bit of investigating and it might be cotton grass.

[Realist]

That's the impression I had when I first saw the stuff, but common milkweed grows a lot taller - these were only a foot or two high at most. I've just been doing a bit of investigating and it might be cotton grass.

Back when I lived in Wisconsin our milkweed only grew a few feet tall. In different areas plants can grow different, for example a dandelion might look very different from a dandelion in another region in the country. So it very well could be milkweed, just not like the stuff you've seen before.


Update: Just looked it up and there's many species that grow at different heights. Here's a link to some info if you are curious like I was.
http://www.birdsandblooms.com/Butterflies/Summer/5-Great-Milkweeds

[Doug L]

Thanks for the interest and info. After checking some specific sites relating to local flora - here's one - CITY OF OTTAWA (http://www.ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/citycouncil/ec/2005/05-24/AppendixA%20-%20OTTAWA%20FLORA%20(APR%2005).htm), it looks like the only milkweed species found at Mer Bleue are 'common' and 'swamp' milkweed - minimum 3 feet high. There are, however, 5 species of cottongrass, some very rare regionally. These have the same type of silky down, but are on very slender grassy stalks. I'm pretty certain that's what I've got in my images. Here's another shot of the plants. :)

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[Realist]

Well then it must be cotton grass then. Never actually heard of it before. Ya learn something new every day.