Rouge

[Shortsighted]

I visited a portion of the Rouge today, but it would have been better to have tried that excursion in the early morning when the temperature was only sixteen degrees. Unless I'm standing in the heat of the sun a mosquito menace makes itself felt. Any shaded lane must be taken at a fair clip otherwise I'll ear the whine in my ears. Only saw a Gray Catbird on a hydro tower singing away. Nearby was a House wren trying to compete. Neither of these two birds was at a spot worth taking a photo. Very few butterflies about. Just saw one Monarch and one Mourning Cloak. I started noting the wildflowers: Birdsfoot trefoil, Flowering raspberry, Chicory, Foam-flower (I think), Milkweed, and some sort of Rudbeckia (hirta?). I also went down to Rouge Beach Park to check on swallows and possibly Marsh wrens. There were a few swallows but not wrens. I sat down for a while and waited to see if one of the Barn swallows would perch to rest but the constant parade of dog walkers and bicycles put a kibosh on that plan.



Birdsfoot trefoil




Flowering Wild rspberry


Chicory


Possible Foam-flower


Milkweed


Rudbeckia

[Ally]

Thanks for including the names of the flowers. I got some sweetpeas yesterday. Hard to photograph.

[Shortsighted]

Why are peas hard to photograph? Give it a try ... follow the advise of John Lennon and give peas a chance. One of my favourite wild plant photos is, in fact, a Beach pea taken near the waterfront just west of the mouth of Highland Creek. The salmon colour and thin petals allow back light to penetrate creating a very soft effect. You'll need to close down your lens as much as possible to stretch your depth-of-field. Also, under-expose a bit (2/3 stop) and then process with whatever software you are using. Alternatively, you could resist the temptation to close your iris and accept a shallow D of F and concentrate on just a couple of petals, perhaps capturing a fairy-halo effect on the edges. I better not offer any further advise otherwise I might be in danger of believing that I know what I'm doing.

[Ally]

Why are peas hard to photograph? Give it a try ... follow the advise of John Lennon and give peas a chance. One of my favourite wild plant photos is, in fact, a Beach pea taken near the waterfront just west of the mouth of Highland Creek. The salmon colour and thin petals allow back light to penetrate creating a very soft effect. You'll need to close down your lens as much as possible to stretch your depth-of-field. Also, under-expose a bit (2/3 stop) and then process with whatever software you are using. Alternatively, you could resist the temptation to close your iris and accept a shallow D of F and concentrate on just a couple of petals, perhaps capturing a fairy-halo effect on the edges. I better not offer any further advise otherwise I might be in danger of believing that I know what I'm doing.

Haha  thanks for the advice..they were hard because so many were tangled together with other plants. Couldn't create a nice background.

[Ally]

My jasmine