Apart from the mosquitoes and haze from the wildfires mentioned in my last post, we did get to see lots of lush green forest and multiple stretches of swamp areas, which I always find fascinating. 

You can see some of the lush green forest, and the grey wildfire haze in the image above. This is another one taken in Port Loring. Still water, silence and clear but unmoving reflections of a few boats moored at the water's edge. The few colours they, and the Muskoka chairs in the background have, manage to lift the dullness of it all, just a little bit.

Back to swamps! I’m never quite sure of whether to describe these kinds of areas as swamp, marsh, bog or anything else. My natural default is to refer to wetlands and swamp, with the occasional marsh (covering all my bases here…)  and it looks like I’m not completely off. A quick bit of research confirmed for me that wetlands can incorporate all of the other terms, and swamp fits what I usually think of as swamp - wet, with lots of trees, living and dead. For a bit of clarity, which I doubt I’m providing, here’s one article I came across that may help  

So swamp it is! The challenge I have when taking photographs like these, is the sheer depth and density of green foliage and often dark shadows, especially depending on the time of day. No colourful autumn colours here, which in a way means you have to look more carefully to identify and highlight interesting features. The joy and intrigue are obvious when you’re there but that doesn’t always jump out at you in photographs. 

I love the exploration, the elements of discovery and that edgy feeling of being in an unfamiliar place. And, as you may know, I also like to follow hydro lines, wherever they take me.