Portraits of Wildflowers

Perspectives on Nature Photography

Bulrushes blowing

with 6 comments

Bulrushes blowing; click for greater detail.

It dawned on me in early August that if we’re in a drought I should look for ponds and creeks that still have some water in them, because where there’s water there are plants that are more likely to be doing well. That strategy led me on August 10th to Meadow Lake Park in Round Rock, where I photographed some drying cattails blowing in the wind. The next day I went to a pond between Parmer Lane and Center Ridge Dr. on the prairie in northeast Austin. There I photographed some bulrushes (genus Schoenoplectus) that were likewise being buffeted by the wind. Note several cattails in the background; note also that British English uses bulrush for both of the types of plants that American English distinguishes as bulrushes and cattails.

© 2011 Steven Schwartzman

Written by Steve Schwartzman

August 30, 2011 at 5:56 AM

6 Responses

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  1. They’re pink! Or is it a trick of the light? ~ Lynda

    pixilated2

    August 30, 2011 at 6:48 AM

    • You’re right that they do have a pinkish cast. I went back and looked at the RAW versions of this set of pictures and they all have that pinkish cast, so it’s not an artifact of the way I processed this picture. I remember the tips of the plants being a little browner, but the morning light must have added the trace of pink. Thanks for pointing that out.

      Steve Schwartzman

      August 30, 2011 at 7:03 AM

  2. […] on the prairie in northeast Austin on August 11, I used my 100mm lens as a telephoto to take the picture of bulrushes (genus Schoenoplectus) shown yesterday. While at that location I also used the lens the way I most […]

  3. […] I found this plant growing at the same location as the bulrushes featured in yesterday’s post and the one from the day before. […]

  4. […] Walter E. Long in far east Austin. Around and even touching the vine-covered willow are some of the bulrushes that line the shore of this and many other lakes and ponds in our […]

  5. […] seen pictures in this column of bald cypresses and bulrushes, but not the two together. You’ve also never seen a picture in these pages of the kind of […]


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