WIllows at Madrona Marsh
Madrona Marsh is a 43 acre seasonal wetlands that has been around long before the city of Torrance and all the development that eventually grew up around it. I took a much needed visit there a few weeks ago, a welcome outing from the Stay at Home orders I had been following for the last few months.
An appointment was necessary, as was social distancing and a mask, but the deep breathes of relief I took as I wandered around the open spaces was a reminder of the normalcy we had all sacrificed for so long.
My other visits to the wetlands had always been on sunny days. This day was overcast and I was happy it was. Those sunny days always created a very contrasty and hard to photograph condition in the wooded section of the marsh I wanted to shoot. An overcast day would lessen the Chiaroscuro effect that normally permeates the thick collection of Willows that grow out of the southwest corner of the marsh, and allow me to capture the full effect and feeling of the dark and atmospheric waters.
The abundant bird life normally present was absent, but I was very happy with some of the results I was able to photograph that day. Here are a few examples.