Mangrove Boardwalk on a hot day.

1/250th sec, f9, 1600ISO, 28-105mm lens @ 30mm, Canon 350D

It has been very hot here today. My temperature gauge at home read 34 degrees Celsius at midday. I wasn't particularly humid though. That changed when I went down to the Wynnum Mangrove Boardwalk. The boardwalk is elevated about four feet above the muddy ground of the mangroves which floods twice a day as the tide goes in and out. I have never done the walk from one end to the other. I think you would need a blood transfusion if you did. The mosquitoes are there in their thousands. The walk through the mangroves is stiflingly humid. There was no breeze today and the tide was out so the heat, the rotting vegetation smell and the mosquitoes made for an interesting mix of unpleasantness coupled with the very interesting views. The mangroves are habitat to fish, crabs, fruit bats, birds, and if you are lucky you might even see a carpet python. The trees themselves are very interesting and well adapted. Most of them secrete salt through their leaves and their root tips protrude above the mud because there is so little oxygen below the surface.

This was a difficult photo to take. From a technical point of view the subject matter doesn't lend itself well to good composition. It is impossible to use the rule of thirds, there is multiple places leading the eye and there isn't really a focal point! Still I found my finished image appealing, at least to me. Even though I shot the image on 1600 ISO I still added yet more grain and spanked the contrast. As a finishing touch I added just a hint of sepia.

The seed of the idea for this photo came from looking at Benek's blip most days since I started the blip myself. I have always enjoyed his mastery of the use of contrast. He seems to have the ability to take his photos past the point where it would normally be over corrected, and yet the finished product is more often than not, interesting and original. Now I don't want to sing his praises too loud here. What I find interesting and what everyone else finds interesting is pretty subjective. If you are interested in the Benek photographic experience, make a coffee and start here. It might help you if you are having one of those days when you are feeling uninspired.

My Blip of the day: Something dreamy from someone new.