“What will remain is neither you nor me but what we shared among each other.”
― Santosh Kalwar
Every now and then, an unexpected image just ‘happens’. Yesterday, as I went for a lunchtime walk to the meadow north of my house I came across these three hoverflies positioned perfectly on a cinquefoil blossom.
I could not have asked for a more cooperative group of insects, as they sat there, seemingly unbothered by the approach of me and my lense. As I leaned closer and closer to compose this shot, I fully expected one or all of them to fly away, leaving a nice blossom to photograph. It just worked out, all three remained in wonderful symmetry.
Shooting macro without a tripod is still proving an interesting exercise. Not only do I have to make sure I have a high enough shutter speed to negate even the tiniest movements, which can soften the image, but I also have to contend with my own back and forth movement as I work within a fairly narrow depth of field. This one is a bit soft and would have been a sharper image, had I used my tripod, but the moment may have been lost, so I’m content with it.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/200 sec, f/16.0 ISO 200
High Resolution Image on 500px
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“Red Clover Detail”
Here is my entry for Del Monte Y Mar’s Tuesdays of Texture Challenge Week 29 of 2017
It’s been many weeks since I posted a texture image but thought that this close up of a clover blossom was a good candidate. What looks like a single pink-purple flower from a distance is in fact a series of delicate striped flowers. Even the leaves have fine hairs adding another bonus texture.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/250 sec, f/8.0 ISO 200
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“You can ponder perpetual motion,
Fix your mind on a crystal day,
Always time for a good conversation,
There’s an ear for what you say
Come on the risin’ wind,
We’re goin’ up around the bend. “
– Creedence Clearwater Revival
As I considered this image, the words to the Creedance Clearwater Revival song came into my head and I could not shake them and thus, the title came to be.
It was simply chance that I looked over towards the goldenrod plant and noticed the ladybug as it made its way up the bent stem, here pausing at a leaf node, considering the best path to follow. I don’t imagine that it climbed the entire stalk, but rather, landed at some nearby point and began its short trek. Yet, this moment is subject to interpretation, is it not? We don’t know how far it has walked or when it will decide to fly off to the next plant. It remains a single moment to enjoy and ponder.
I had another surprise as I was editing the image. The day I made the image was one of those days of variable sun and cloud and when I look closely at the ladybug’s shell, I can see the sun and cloud reflecting on them. Something I had not noticed before.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/250 sec, f/8.0 ISO 200
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“Not everyone takes action to harvest the experiences of the seasons of life in order to enjoy their bounty.”
― Andrea Goeglein
This image is quite similar to yesterday’s Bee and Thistle image, but the thistle here is white and the pollinator is a hover fly. I made the photo a few minutes after the bee image, and in a different patch of thistle. I was quite surprised to see white Canada Thistle and it’s the first time I have seen this variety in my many years of hiking.
This patch, as with the pale purple ones, was teeming with life, all anxiously drinking in the bounty of nectar. The hover flies seem ore partial to the neighbouring chicory but did not pass on the chance for a meal from the thistles as well.
Out of focus, in the background, the bright orange soldier beetle is only one of thousands partaking in the bounty as well. More to come from this hive of activity.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/320 sec, f/9.0 ISO 200
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“Mindfulness is not the path of chasing. It is the path of beautification. When flowers blossom, the fragrance spreads, and the bees come.”
― Amit Ray
I stood among this patch of Canada Thistle, enjoying the activity of bees, bugs, and beetles, noting just how much activity there was. One could stand for only a few minutes and see the incredible diversity of life drawn to a single species of flower in bloom. As I stood and scanned over the thousands of tiny blossoms, I could not help but be amazed at just how important this colony of thistles really is.
To many, this weed field would be a wild and unkempt eyesore, were it not for the tiny purple flowers. The thistles stand over a meter tall, shaggy and thorn covered, yet they provide sweet, life sustaining nectar to a multitude of insects. It was also nice to see so many species of bees, from honey bees, to carpenters, and bumble bees, each busily gathering nectar and distributing pollen.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/250 sec, f/8.0 ISO 200
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A small black gem,
floating on gossamer wings.
Flitting and fluttering,
till the summer’s end.
– Ed Lehming
A member of the damselfly family, this ebony jewelwing floated from branch to branch around me for several minutes before finally settling on a leaf.
It required a slow and cautious approach to get within shooting range and I only managed a few shots before it took to the sky once more.
I really enjoy the way jewelwings float and flit, unlike dragonflies and their deliberate and rapid flight. The wings seem to be so pliable and ineffective but the random flight protects them from predators.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/100 sec, f/5.0 ISO 200
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“Tired, tired with nothing, tired with everything, tired with the world’s weight he had never chosen to bear.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald
This one just struck me as funny. So often I see birds landing on plants that can barely hold them, but I would not have expected it from a fly. After all, fly weight is an expression for very light, is it not?
After running short of material, I went for a quick walk with my son today, to the reservoir just north of me. On the way there we encountered lots of wildflowers and insects, including this fly balanced on a grass seed, which is bending under the fly’s weight.
A simple composition, but satisfying, nonetheless.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/250 sec, f/8.0 ISO 200
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“There are patterns which emerge in one’s life, circling and returning anew, an endless variation of a theme”
― Jacqueline Carey
As humans, we are programmed to see patterns, and nature provides us much to see. This coleus, has been growing in my office since late October of last year. I see it every day, as I come to my desk or look out the window. The plant is quite large now, large enough that the weight of the leaves is enough to make it unbalanced in the small pot it was planted in and many of the leaves are very, very large.
So, yesterday, I considered what to do with the plant, which has been ever present these past few months. As I was considering this, I became keenly aware of the repeating pattern of it leaves, especially the bright, fresh leaves of new growth. Of course, I could not resist making a photo of it, so I could appreciate it even more. I did take it into my studio, as the light from the office window was not ideal.
Now, as I look more carefully at the leaves, and their patterns, I’m fascinated by not just the repeating pattern of the layered leaves but also the great texture and colour patterns. You don’t have to go very far to find interesting things to photograph, you just have to be aware of them, even if they have been in front of you for months.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1.3 sec, f/32.0 ISO 200
High Resolution image on 500px
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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This week’s submission to Norm 2.0‘s Thursday Doors.
Thursday Doors is a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favourite door photos from around the world.
“Private Parking – Bath Ontario”
This door caught my attention, as do the many unusual doors I pass on a daily basis. This one struck me as funny. The door is the entrance to what looks to have been a small residence or business at one point. It’s now a storage shed, completely full of junk.
I am often left wondering at the stories doors can tell. At some point in time, somebody took the time to make a fairly unique door, or they purchased a unique door and made it fit the door frame. What made me grin is the fact that this ‘junk shed’ is posted as “Private Parking”. Though the building is along the Main Street of Bath, Ontario, a small town of some two thousand residents in south-east Ontario, it is unlikely that parking will be at a premium or that anybody in the near future will be parking there.
The reason I ended up in Bath, a town with Loyalist roots dating back to the late seventeen hundreds, and was the recent Tall Ships Regatta (see my previous posts few if you like old sailing vessels). The town was, at one point, a major port and trading centre, till roads and railways bypassed the town, taking commerce with them. It now has a small dock and sheltered harbour, making it the ideal venue for the sailing ships to anchor.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 200 mm
1/200 sec, f/7.1 ISO 200
High Resolution image on 500px
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“Scars are not signs of weakness, they are signs of survival and endurance.”
― Rodney A. Winters
As a continuation to yesterday’s post “Beginnings“, here’s a mature coneflower blossom. I struggled for a title for this and fell back to just the name of the plant. The intent was to come up with a name for the image that reflected the character of the plant.
As those who follow my blog regularly would know, we have had a series of strong storms in the area over the past few weeks, including strong winds and pea-sized hail. The coneflowers have withstood them all. Though a bit weather-worn, the blossoms are still quite nice, though I had to bypass a few which showed considerable damage before settling on this one.
In creating the image, I decided to show the entire plant, not just the blossom, as there is an abundance of close-up coneflower photos out there right now. I wanted to do something a bit different.
The next two days are threatening rain and thunderstorms so I am hoping to collect a few garden specimens to photograph before they too are damaged.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1.3 sec, f/32.0 ISO 200
High Resolution image on 500px
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“Maybe I don’t have enough beginnings in my life because I fought against the endings that were about to birth those beginnings.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough
As I surveyed my gardens this morning, I noticed that several of my purple cone flowers were already in full bloom, a nice change from last year when heat and drought caused them to put out very small, underdeveloped flowers, just big enough to produce some scant seed.
The flowers and even the stems this year are quite large, though some of the larger flowers are showing some hail damage from a few weeks back. There are, however, several large blossoms beginning to form into flowers. They are quite pretty in their underdeveloped state and catch the light nicely.
I’ve left this one in its natural state, including the many spider threads between the petals. It seems every flower has its resident spider, but this one seems to have temporarily vacated the premises. I like this ‘natural’ look, including the webs as it documents all the detail we often miss from a distance or first glance, a recurring theme for me lately.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1.3 sec, f/32.0 ISO 200
High Resolution image on 500px
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“What’s in a life without Camaraderie? For setting sail on a ship with a band of merry brothers by your side is much more gratifying than drifting aimlessly on a boat lost alone at sea.”
― Saim .A. Cheeda
This is not my typical photograph, but I could not help but be amazed by the young crew members of the Black Jack as they stood high above the deck and tied down the sails for the day.
The ship had already come to port and the deck was bustling with activity, each crew member performing their duty as part of a well trained team. Most of the crew members are quite young and participating in sailing camp and team building work. With the young women in the rigging, being guided by what I assume is a senior crew member, I thought the image of the team working together with the Canadian flag so prominent, was a great testimony to what has made our 150 year old nation so wonderful. It’s a lot of people, from different backgrounds, working together to a common goal.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 200 mm
1/320 sec, f/9.0, ISO 200
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“It had occurred to her many times that on board it didn’t matter where you were coming from or where you were heading. Each voyage had its own charisma. Like writing a book – word by word – or crossing a country – step by step – each minute had to be lived moment by moment.”
― Sara Sheridan
This will likely be my last Tall Ships post. The ship pictured is the Empire Sandy and at 61.8 meters, is the largest ship in the regatta. Launched in 1945 and registered in Canada, it is a spectacular vessel to behold, with its white hull and bright sails, it makes most of the other tall ships look small.
By the time this vessel came into the waters off Amherst Island, the sky had brightened up considerably and the ship offered a beautiful side view, with most of the sails open. It also reflected nicely on the water, creating a very nice image.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 200 mm
1/320 sec, f/9.0, ISO 200
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“We clear the harbor and the wind catches her sails and my beautiful ship leans over ever so gracefully, and her elegant bow cuts cleanly into the increasing chop of the waves. I take a deep breath and my chest expands and my heart starts thumping so strongly I fear the others might see it beat through the cloth of my jacket. I face the wind and my lips peel back from my teeth in a grin of pure joy.”
― L.A. Meyer
Above is yet another of the tall ships that made a stop at Bath, Ontario this past weekend. The ships came in all shapes and sizes, Some larger than others. The St. Lawrence II is a 21.8 meter Brigantine, registered out of Canada. It was built in 1953 and seems to be holding up nicely, I think primarily due to the fact that it’s hull is made of steel, rather than wood, though to see it on the water, that is not apparent.
As I stated in a previous post, this venue for viewing and appreciating these beautiful sailing vessels could not have been better. The ships came in, one by one as the crowds gathered on shore waited in anticipation. My vantage point was on a shaded patch of shoreline behind the beautifully preserved Fairfield-Gutzeit House.
The house, the oldest of three properties, and was built in 1793 and is open to the public for a small admission fee. It also houses the Lafarge War of 1812 Discovery Centre, which tells the story of Earnesttown (present-day Bath), the attack on the village and the flight of the HMS Royal George.
The house was a central location for the Tall Ship events and featured a beer garden and live entertainment for the entire weekend. For me, it was a quiet place to photograph from, away from crowds. It also made the arrival of the ships, one by one a thrilling experience, as they emerged, sails billowing, from behind a clump of trees. A grand sight indeed.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 200 mm
1/250 sec, f/8.0, ISO 200
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“…this beginning motion, this first time when a sail truly filled and the boat took life and knifed across the lake under perfect control, this was so beautiful it stopped my breath…”
― Gary Paulsen
This image was made this past Friday, as the tall ships entered the waters between the town of Bath, Ontario and Amherst Island, on Lake Ontario. As some of the ships neared shore, they put on a show of mock cannon fire for the spectators gathered on shore.
This ship, the VS Niagara was one of the larger vessels in the tour, is a two masted brig with a hull length of 37.49 meters and is registered in the USA.
I’m personally fascinated by these marvelous vessels with their complex rigging and billowing sails. It’s like seeing a live history lesson. Last night the ships reenacted the “Battle of the Bay”, a naval battle on Lake Ontario between Upper Canada and America, during the War of 1812. Though the battle was actually between the British and Americans, most of the British forces were tied up in Europe with the Napoleonic wars, so most of the combatants were Canadian Militia.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 200 mm
1/250 sec, f/8.0, ISO 200
Just a quick post today, the start of a short series of tall ships that I experienced yesterday.
As part of Canada’s 150 celebrations this year, a group of tall ships have been making a tour of Canada’s harbourfronts. Larger cities on Lake Ontario like Hamilton and Toronto have hosted this event. Neither venue worked out for our schedule and, quite frankly, I did not want to be caught up in large crowds.
When my wife found they were stopping in Bath, a town with a population of about 2,000, I booked a day off and made plans to drive the two hours to be there, hoping that the weather would cooperate.
This small town, with its Loyalist roots, was perfect. I am the descendant of Loyalists myself and to stand among the historical buildings, imagining myself back in the early 1800’s, watching these magnificent vessels coming into the bay was quite emotional.
I’ll be sharing more over the next few days, a bit of a break from flowers and insects.
iPhone 7
“And I wonder if the caterpillar at the threshold of death ever knew that she would get metamorphosed into a butterfly that she could fly.”
― Chirag Tulsiani
Our camp area was overrun with these caterpillars this past weekend. We’ve been going to the same location for fourteen years and I can’t recall ever seeing so many tent caterpillars, though I did not actually see a colony in any neighbouring trees. On researching this, what I thought was an Eastern Tent Caterpillar, turned out to be a Forest Tent Caterpillar. The colouring is slightly different and the Forest Tent Caterpillar does not congregate inside the tent, rather in ‘clumps’ high in the host trees. The individual caterpillars were everywhere as were completed cocoons. Every nook and cranny had a yellow silk cocoon attached to them. At some point in the next three weeks, the northern forest will be filled with moderately sized, brown moths.
As a child, this was the most common caterpillar and thus, the first exposure we had to the life cycle of moths and butterflies. Because they are covered in hairs, they were more appealing than some of their naked cousins. I think all my friend’s bug jars housed one of these at one point, though we had no idea what they actually ate. Some survived, many perished.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/80 sec, f/22.0 ISO 800
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“Dream high, beyond the sky; no matter wings so small, keep vision bright; just dare to learn, for you are born to fly.”
― Vikrmn
I don’t get tired of these plentiful, colourful butterflies. When trying to figure out the exact species, which I was unable to do, I discovered that there are over 250 species in North America alone and close to 3500 worldwide, each slightly different from the other.
This one posed patiently for me, as I made this single image, before it darted off to its next resting spot. The name ‘skipper’ is so appropriate for this small, brightly coloured wonders.
I’m also enjoying looking at them closely with macro photography and seeing the structure of the antennae and the wooly jacket of its abdomen and thorax, such complexity in something so small. It’s a real wonder to behold, each and every time.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/250 sec, f/9.0 ISO 800
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“Saepe creat molles aspera spina rosas” – “Often the prickly thorn produces tender roses”
― Ovid
This was a mystery plant to me, for a long time. On initial inspection, it looks like a wild rose, but the leaf is not right. It looks like a raspberry, but the flower is too big. So, what is it? Turns out, it’s a bit of both. It’s a flowering raspberry, and a member of the rose family. It’s also one of the larger trailside blossoms, so is easily located. The blossom colour varies considerably from pale purple to magenta, pink to almost white.
It’s also know, in some locations as Thimbleberry and is harvested to make preserves. I’ve tasted the berries, tentatively, thinking they might be raspberries, but found them to be very bitter and not to my liking. Maybe it makes a good jam thought? It would take a lot of berries and they are not overly plentiful.
When I looked back through all my images, I was surprised that I did not have many of this common blossom. So, it was time to make a fresh one and talk a bit about it.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/160 sec, f/9.0 ISO 800
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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This past fall I was greatly honoured to be accepted to the Whitchurch-Stouffville Studio Tour. Since that time, I have entered into a juried exhibit, had private workshops with a professional photographer, and had my first solo exhibit of my photography at our Town Offices.
Now I have the opportunity, once again, for a solo exhibit, this time at For the Love of Joe, a local coffee shop which supports local artists, who are members of the Studio Tour, to display their art in a wonderful, relaxing setting. With great coffee, by the way!
Today, I took sixteen of my photographs and the owners did an amazing job at hanging them.
It seems this past year has been a rapid evolution for me, with so many new doors being opened. Though I photograph for my own enjoyment, I’m getting more serious about it as an exhibiting artist.
Being able to share here on WordPress has been a game changer for me. It’s an awesome, supportive community, where I can talk about my art and the experience of making my photos, get positive feedback, and interact with other artists around the world. So, thank you everybody for the part you have played and continue to play in my journey.
This week’s submission to Norm 2.0‘s Thursday Doors.
Thursday Doors is a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favourite door photos from around the world.
“Belanger House Doors – Royal Ontario Museum”
This is yet another museum door. Not a door to a museum, but a door ‘within’ a museum. I shared another one a few weeks ago. The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto has a section devoted to Canada and included in that collection are several doors of historical significance.
This door came from Belanger House and dates back to the early 18th century. The house itself was situated outside the Quebec village of Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. The town itself is now well known for its wood carvers and it would appear that has been the case for several centuries now.
This door highlights the elaborate woodwork that adorned the main room or common room. The museum acquired the entire room around 1931 through ethnologist Marius Barbeau. The museum has two of the four walls on display. In addition to the wall panels they also have three doors, four windows, a fireplace opening, three cupboards, three boxed ceiling beams and three fluted columns.
As I mentioned in my previous post about this display, it shows that doors play an important part in our history and it’s good to see that someone had the foresight to preserve them for all to admire and enjoy.
iPhone 7 back camera @ 4.0mm
1/13sec; f/1.8; ISO 100
“Sometimes people don’t understand the promises they’re making when they make them. But you keep the promise anyway. That’s what love is. Love is keeping the promise anyway.”
― John Green
There are times when I make and image and do a quick review in the camera display, where the title comes to me and sticks. The title of this image, “Promise” was such a moment. As in the word “promise’ itself, there is a pure, innocent, potential. Something to be fulfilled.
This flower, Thimbleweed – Anemone virginiana, not quite fully opened and still delicate, spoke promise to me. I can imagine it as a fully blossomed flower. It still has obstacles to overcome, as does anything in the outdoors. It may be trampled, insects may devour it, a blight may infect it, or some other force of nature may prevent it from achieving its potential. Yet, for now, it’s a promise, something I look forward to being fulfilled, with full confidence, despite adversity.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/400 sec, f/9.0 ISO 800
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“The smaller the creature, the bolder its spirit.”
― Suzy Kassem
This started out as an experimental shot, playing with the depth of field of my macro lense and trying my darndest to get a crisp hand-held image, as the lens has no vibration compensation. At this depth of field, back to front ‘sway’ is critical. As you can see, only a very narrow band (the size of the ladybug) is in focus.
As I made the image of this unusually coloured ladybug, I wondered what it was doing, just sitting on the wooden railing. Perhaps it found some microscopic treat to devour? I don’t know, because even at this close range, I can see nothing. Yet it sat there, in this position for several minutes before moving on.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/80 sec, f/22.0 ISO 800
High Resolution image on 500px
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“Assuming what people want is about as controlled as using fireworks to start a fire.”
― Criss Jami
With all the recent celebrations of Canada’s 150th year of Confederation and the 4th of July in America these past few days, fireworks have been a bit of a theme. Many people have posted images and written about their country’s celebrations. So, when I made this image of a small group of Yellow Hawkweed, with a soft background, it reminded me instantly of fireworks.
It was such a quick and simple composition and I was not thinking fireworks when I made it. I just liked the bright yellow against the green forest background. I still find myself constantly amazed at the structure of so many wildflowers, that I did not notice at first. This is not my first photo of hawkweed, but for the first time I noticed that the petals, rather than being completely flat, start out as tubes and flatten into a scoop-like structure, with five pointed frills (ligules) at the end.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/640 sec, f/9.0 ISO 800
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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A quick image of bell flowers along the road.
“It’s just some instinct as old as fear: you seek the dark when you hide, you seek the light when the need to hide is gone. All the animals have it too.
― Cornell Woolrich
Here’s a slightly different composition of the bug that photobombed my daisy images a few days ago. This time it’s a bit closer image, with just the back of a single daisy and its resident beetle. I’m not sure what kind of beetle it is. I suppose the more macro photography I do the more I need to learn about the inevitable insects within the photos. I suspect this is some form of weevil, but would value the advice of anyone who knows for certain.
In the end, the composition with the bent flower stalk worked out well, revealing the underside of the daisy clearly as well as the beetle.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
0.8 sec, f/40.0ISO 100
High Resolution image on 500px
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“I must have flowers, always, and always.”
― Claude Monet
I’ve seen these pretty clumps of pink flowers along the roadside before. Many times. I’ve just driven by, last year I saw some and turned the car around to make some photos, but they turned out to be quite disappointing, a bit out of focus, and not showing the characteristics of the flowers well. They are quite pretty and really stand out because of their moderate height and large pink blossoms.
This year I found a few along a local roadside and took the time to gather a few for studio work. It was a hot day, so I carefully clipped them and placed them on the passenger seat floor, in a box to keep them cool, hoping they would not wilt too much. When I got them home, I place them in a vase for a few minutes, though they did not seem to have suffered much from the short journey home.
I made a few images from different angles, but as is usually the case with my compositions, the first, intuitive shot was the best, showing the nature of the flower, with it’s frilly pink petals, a partially emerged blossom and a group of buds, not yet opened below. To this point, I had no idea what type of plant it was, the buds looked a bit like holly-hock. So, as I always do, I went to my wildflower books and found out that it is a musk mallow. I found that a curious name, till I gave it the ‘sniff test’. Yes, musk mallow is indeed a good name for this. So, one more mystery plant identified and documented.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
0.8 sec, f/40.0ISO 100
High Resolution image on 500px
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“Don’t hide yourself from the world and don’t let the world hide himself from you!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan
Photographing anything in or from the wild almost always offers a surprise. In this case, as I was photographing some daisies, a small beetle decided this would be a good time to come from its hiding place and see what all the commotion was about. For a while he was careful to put the stem between him and the camera, so I kept rotating the flower, but the composition was not good. Finally, he tired of the game and stayed put long enough for this image.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
0.8 sec, f/40.0ISO 100
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
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This image is a bit of an oddity for me. I’m usually sharing images of plants, wildlife, landscapes or some of my abstract impressions. Today, I’m sharing a snapshot of a moment in my life. You see, today Canada celebrates 150 years as a nation. A nation I am so proud to call home. A nation where I can travel freely, enjoy incredibly diverse environments. A nation where, quite frankly, I can simply enjoy life, with friends and family. Times where we share our days, our experiences, often over a cool beverage at the end of the day.
This image was an impromptu iPhone composition, made while sharing a beer with my neighbours. The ‘stubby’ beer bottle disappeared from Canadian breweries in the early eighties, in favour of a ‘better’ design. The long necked bottle, yet there is a nostalgia, Canadiana to the stubby.
In celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary, one of the breweries, Molsons, which makes Canadian Lager, brought the stubby back for a brief time. So, it was a great opportunity to capture this memory. The stubby bottle of Canadian, with a muskoka chair and my neighbourhood in the background as an appropriate starting point to the upcoming celebrations. Happy 150 Canada.
“I am so grateful to be here on this awesome planet with it’s diverse life – everything we need to not just survive but to thrive. I am excited to continually learn more about it, and always curious to see what is going to come up next.”
― Jay Woodman
What better image to post for Canada’s 150th Birthday? I have several, but this Canada Thistle seemed quite appropriate. Despite its name, it is not a native plant, much like many of the citizens of this great country.
When doing my research, if found that of the twelve thistles that grow in Ontario, only one is native. I see it as an analogy to Canada’s people as well. We all came from somewhere else, but you’d think we’ve been here forever, a part of the county’s nature. We become part of our communities, creating a diverse and rich culture, a landscape of people, if you will. Though the country has gone through some bumps along the way, it’s a great place to live and I could not think of anywhere else I’d rather live.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
0.8 sec, f/40.0ISO 100
High Resolution image on 500px
for more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming
or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
Ed Lehming Photography 
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