Monday morning at the bog. Since I am now a retired (semi) guy, I have three day weekends with Mondays being the new Sunday. I saw a photograph of a White-fringed Orchid on Facebook by a friend Sunday evening and decided I would use my morning to visit the bog and see them for myself.
It’s an hour drive from home to Hawley Bog and I did not think I’d get there for sunrise, but because of the tree line, I managed to be on the boardwalk just as the sun was rising into the tree tops.
I’ll get up a few minutes earlier next time. Then maybe the sun’s rays will be going up into the sky over the rising mist.
Although I was there for the orchids, I also was hoping for a nice Pitcher Plant shot and this one stole the show.
I loved the warm morning light on the flower and used a small handheld reflector to help spread the glow underneath the bloom. A polarizer helped control the glare on the left side.
And to complete the story, I mentioned I was there for the orchids. They weren’t quite as open as I would have liked, but maybe this weekend a return trip will find them more fully blooming. By this time the light was kind of in between the sweet magic hour warmth and the later strong sunlight, but still not too bad.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the bog light. Next post might find us some bugs in the spotlight.
Stephen Gingold Nature Photography Blog 
That was probably a peaceful and serene place. I like the crepuscular rays.
We were out this morning for a walk by 5:30. Venus and the Moon were checking each other out. Nice earthshine on the Moon. I didn’t have a camera with me. Tomorrow they will be quite close. I hope it is clear.
Thanks for the nice photos of the bog residents.
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From outings crepuscular
Come images muscular
Of beings corpuscular.
In letters majuscular,
Surely not minuscular,
We’ll write our praise.
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🙂
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Nice…although a few words did challenge my vocabulary. 🙂
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Thanks, Jim. In addition to the fact that I just plain wake early, I enjoy getting out this early for the peace you mention…and the solitude. Locally, at those early times I almost never run into others which adds to the pleasure of the experience.
I hope you do get the chance to capture a photograph of the two together.
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It was a lovely sight this morning.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/HA-ytKmBPn-O-MItisP_pcgxIjZy-2gfYOdYNPPA-pc?feat=directlink
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Lovely indeed, Jim.
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Wow. I love your shot of the sun bursting from the tree tops. What an amazing location! The “bog light” is fabulous. I really hope you get back again (and earlier!). I’m excited to see what you discover.
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Thanks!.. I’ll do my best to get there a little earlier and, combined with the sun rising just a bit later with the passing week, maybe something colorful will happen. I am glad you enjoyed the images.
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From these three pictures it’s clear you didn’t get bogged down.
With the second picture I would have been tempted to crop off the forms at the bottom for fear they’d distract from the flower at the top. Any thoughts?
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I thought about a crop, Steve. But I decided that they “ground” the image and give a bit more environment to the shot. I often wrestle with the concept of distraction and have decided that I am not going to worry about things that make sense in the image. A leaf sticking in from the side/top or bright non-specular highlights are another thing entirely.
I guess if I were entering it in a juried event I might feel differently.
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I must sheepishly thank you for taking us out into the bog at dawn… I’m not a morning person so this isn’t a sight I’m likely to see, left to my own devices! Your shot is beautiful.
Aren’t the blooms on Pitcher Plant fabulous? They are fun to paint.
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I am glad you can enjoy the sunrises vicariously through my, and I am sure many others’, efforts, Melissa. At the other end of the day, I am often in bed before a summer sunset. 🙂
I also enjoy both the flower and the pitcher quite a bit.
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Luscious light Steve. Dawn offers wonderful gifts for those of us who can shake a leg early enough. The pitcher wins it for me.
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Dawn is my favorite part of the day, Andrew. It’s a little harder to get a good shake on, but it’s always worth it.
I sure did get lucky with the pitcher.
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Yes, and you are the light master. These are really good, and my favorite the bog.
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Thank you, Bente. That is very kind of you.
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Gorgeous light (an subjects), for sure, Steve!
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Thank you very much, Karen.
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Every time I wander off what I know to be true and my photos drop a few notches, I get reminded again that it’s all about the light. You never seem to forget and played it so well with these images.
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Good light and a good subject make it a little easier to come up with a good image for sure, Lyle. Thanks!
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Cor blimey – in England if you say that you are ‘going to the bog’ it means that you are going to have a pee or whatever…Your take on going to the bog is so much more enchanting!
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If I did that I would be banned from this and all Nature Conservancy sites, I think, Lottie. 🙂
As far as the bog goes, I stay on the boardwalk because I am always worried about becoming the next bog man. I wonder what someone centuries hence would make of the possessions I held when discovered. 🙂
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“Bog” is a word I don’t usually hear, except around Thanksgiving when the cranberry people have their advertisements all around. I wasn’t sure what a bog actually is, so I read a bit about your Hawley Bog. What a de-light – ful place, in every respect. I was astonished to read about a floating mat of peat thirty feet thick. What variety there is in the world.
The photos are lovely. To be frank, I enjoyed the first photo the most, because it hints at the complexity of this strange, boggy world I know nothing about.
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Thanks, Linda. The best part of the first image was that it was totally unanticipated. I thought I was arriving too late and was just figuring on the flowers.
The folks who manage the bog (The Nature Conservancy )are very specific about staying on the boardwalk so as to not damage the plants or mat. I stay on it so I don’t sink in and become this guy. 🙂
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tollund_Man
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A what a beautiful mirning! Love the rising sun. But the pitcher plant is my favourite. The lighting really us perfect
I’m glad you didn’t crop out the lower elements. I think it would have ruined the proportions. And I always like a little context.
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I am most pleased with the Pitcher Plant flower also, Rod. It’s the most fun when something you didn’t anticipate turns into the highlight of your day.
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The pitcher photo in the bog is one of the best I’ve seen on your blog. The special golden early morning light is truly the golden hour.
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Thanks, Yvonne. It is my favorite time of day.
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Beautiful light on that Pitcher Plant Steve! Really nice.
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Thanks, Mark!
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