“Most of the things that give life its depth, meaning, and value are impervious to science.”
― Rachel Naomi Remen
I know, this gets done a lot, but I could not resist giving it a try with a couple of my tulips, which are now past their prime. It does give a nice view on the structures inside the blossom and was fairly simple to light, which is really what I was after; trying to capture some of the soft reflection within the petals.
I also wanted to keep depth of field adjusted to show just the centre structures clearly and have the background fade slightly. This was a bit more challenging, given how close the lens was, and I did not want to use advanced techniques like focus stacking to get it all sharp.
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1.6sec, f/40.0, ISO 200
High Resolution Image on 500px
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“Pale Remnants”
“Love may wither; It may wrinkle; It may fade; In the end; It will bloom again”
― S. O’Sade
Here is my entry for Del Monte Y Mar’s Tuesdays of Texture Challenge Week 13 of 2017.
Oh, what a difference a few months under the snow can make. I recall autumn walks, with forests radiant in tones of gold and copper, bright splashes of red and orange warming my spirit. Here’s the forest floor now, emerging as a flattened mat of dry, dull leaves, muted tones of orange and yellow.
Despite the washed out colours, I still found the texture fascinating and if you look closely, some faint vestiges of the former brightness still shines through. It was tempting to push the saturation up, but that simply changed the feel of the image, and the ‘feel’ is so important to me when I make my photographs.
One final observation: because the snow buried and compressed the leaves so tightly, I can see very little mould or mildew, but I expect a few days of rain and warmer temperatures will soon get that natural process under way and the new growth, now warming under this organic blanket, will soon burst forth leaving this scene as a distant memory.
iPhone 7 back camera @ 4.0mm
1/950 sec; f/1.8; ISO 20
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I can still recall when I first started my blog. A friend had suggested a photo-blog years ago and I resisted and delayed. After all , who would be interested in my photos, the process, or anything else about my photos?
I finally set about finding a forum. WordPress seemed simple and was quite popular. I had to consider a theme that reflected my style and made it simple to post a photo and talk about it, and so it started, ever so slowly. I’d post a photo and a few words about it, get a few views, and that was it.
I started connecting with other bloggers, primarily those focused on photography as well, that and a handful of artists, poets, and writers. From that, I got my first few likes and two follows. I discovered, through interaction, what motivated people, what inspired people, what interested them and started thinking of my photos in those terms. Not just what was important for me, but what resonated with those who took the time out of their days to look at my photos and read my commentary. I still had days with a few views and no likes but continued to connect.
Within a few months I hit my first milestone of 200 follows. I could not believe how the blog had grown. This only served to connect with more people, encouraging them through what I had learned, especially those just starting out, changing themes and content every few weeks, in hopes of being relevant.
Then, last August, I got the message saying my blog has 500 follows. My content had matured and I tried to keep the same feel in my writings, continually developing my technique as a photographer, but also, I hope, growing as a writer, all the while, connecting with others in this inspiring community.
Today has left me dumbfounded. At 1,000 follows, I have to look back to the journey, and look forward to what may yet come to be.
Mostly, I am humbled and thankful. As I said before, the thought that 1,000 people have chosen to follow my art and my writing is beyond my imagination and for that I thank every one of you who has chosen to spend some small part of their time with me, enjoying the world through my eyes and words. I hope that what I create remains relevant to you and I encourage you to seek out other bloggers trying to make some small mark on this world, view their content and encourage them too. What an awesome community we have here.
Thank You
Ed
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1.0sec, f/40.0, ISO 200
Hi Resolution image on 500px
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“Mist to mist, drops to drops. For water thou art, and unto water shalt thou return.”
― Kamand Kojouri
While the snow is gone in all but the deepest woodland areas near home, that’s not the case a few hours drive north of here.
Yesterday, I drove north to switch out some artwork in a co-op gallery I am associated with in Bancroft, Ontario and had the opportunity to drive around and make some photos. We also have a camper in the area, which we walked to, since the roads were still partially snow covered and the clear parts were soft, soupy much, as the frost was coming out of the ground. Interesting times many living in cities with paved roads never consider, but it’s a fact of life in the near north.
Marble Lake, the small spring fed lake that our camper is on was still frozen, but beginning to thaw on the surface, sort of. The mild days, with sunshine and above freezing temperatures, melt the surface, which re-freezes overnight. This freezing and thawing makes for some interesting effects.
This is exhibited in the attached photo. Apparently, the leaf had fallen onto the melted surface on a milder day and sunk to the ice beneath the water, that water froze overnight. Now, the slightly submerged leaf absorbs sunlight the next day, melting the ice around it, just a bit faster than the surrounding ice, creating an indentation, which capture other items blowing across the surface and freezing once more, as the temperatures drop. Bubbles of air rise from below and accumulate, getting bigger over time. I thought it made for an interesting composition and an opportunity to capture a small section of a process happening all over the area.
In a few days, the process will accelerate, the remaining ice will drop beneath the surface and the lake will be fully exposed. A process I would love to document one day, as I’ve only seen portions of it.
iPhone 7 back camera @ 4.0mm
1/2500 sec; f/1.8; ISO 20
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The words to the Beatles, “Here Comes the Sun” echoes through my mind as I consider this image made on the trails yesterday. “It’s been a long cold northern winter”. Indeed, it feels that way.
In reality, this past winter was relatively mild, delayed till late November in its arrival, with a few large bouts of snow, but a lot of cold, windy days. More windy days than I can recall in recent years. The snow, came in large amounts, some melting off, but enough remaining in the forests to compress the leaves on the ground into a dense, solid mat. Something I have not seen for a few years.
The other effect, and I had not noticed this before, though I was not particularly looking for it, was that the beech leaves, which offered splashes of bright orange, well into autumn and early winter, really showed the ravages of the winter. Much of the colour was gone, leaving dull and parched leaves, with ragged edges. In fact, when I first saw them, they looked like ghostly remnants of their former selves. They even look like the skeletons of fish, with their bone-like veins.
The firm, robust, almost leathery, leaves of autumn had become desiccated and diaphanous, Yet diaphanous alludes to some softness, which these were not. The leaves hung to the branches like the brittle wraiths of autumn. Yet, when you look closely, new buds are present, waiting for a few day to coax them back to life, and the cycle continues. Life from death, or rather, a long sleep.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/50 sec, f/16.0, ISO 200
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“It is strange how new and unexpected conditions bring out unguessed ability to meet them.”
― Edgar Rice Burroughs
Many-coloured Polypore, to be more precise.
Finally, after several weeks, waiting for the ice to come off the trails and for some of the muck to dry up, I hit the trails today. My goal was to find some sign of new life. I was let down on that front, much of the forest floor was littered with a solid mat of compressed leaves.
Let me explain that statement. Due to the nature of our snowfalls, here in southern Ontario, the leaves, which, in recent years, have been exposed to the air by mid-March, were completely flattened and compressed, something I have not seen in a few years. Also, many of the taller, stiffer stemmed weeds, like goldenrod, had also been flattened down by the snow load, with only a few singular stems remaining erect.
The landscape reminded me the land has been dormant and is slowly awakening from its long rest. It is taking its time. Yet, through the gray landscape, some surprising finds revealed themselves, such as this fungus, growing on a trailside log. Unlike much of the bleached, winter-worn trees and plants, this polypore showed signs of live and colour, despite pockets of ice within the fungus itself. Look into the ‘cups’ of the fungus, especially just right of centre, and you will see a small pocket of frozen water. The polypore’s ability to weather the winter and look fresh today really surprised me.
The colour is what caught me attention. Everything else was weather-worn and bleached, even the beech trees, which held onto many of their leaves through the winter in bright golds and oranges, had eventually faded to dull, ghostly yellows (more on that in my next post).
So, I was not disappointed, I did find signs of new life, just not in ways I expected.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/50 sec, f/16.0, ISO 200
Hi Resolution image on 500px
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“Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.”
― Henry David Thoreau
The beauty of simplicity. I’ve been having fun with these tulips this past week, watching them slowly opening and shooting them from various angles, enjoying the way the light plays inside them, noticing the fine details and structures in the petals. And, I intend to keep enjoying them, till the next batch arrives and eventually my garden provides its own treasures.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1.0 sec, f/40.0, ISO 200
Hi Resolution image on 500px
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“I KNOW A LITTLE PUSSY”
I know a little pussy
Her coat is silver gray
She lives down in the meadow
Not very far away.
Though she is a pussy
She’ll never be a cat.
She is a pussy willow.
Now what do you think of that”
– Author Unknown
Finally, a taste of spring, though still store bought, it focuses my attention on something other than snow and ice, which I have had about enough of.
The included poem is a traditional school poem that my late father-in-law, Maurice used to quote, frequently. He’s embellish it with the closing line of meow, meow, meow, SCAT! It’s a fond memory of him, especially for my kids.
This is another one of those photos that really makes me question just how observant I am. I had no idea that the bases of the cat-toes were yellow. That would make sense, since this is the willow “flower” and thus, should enable pollination. The world of macro photography has a firm grip on me, as I explore the world around me with new vision.
How such a simple thing can be so beautiful brings a smile to my face and has me asking new questions about how the natural systems around me actually work. For example, now that I have noticed the pollen, I wonder how they are pollinated. Is it the wind, birds, bees, or other insects. It bears further investigation.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
0.8sec, f/360, ISO 200
Hi Resolution image on 500px
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“Nobody sees a flower – really – it is so small it takes time – we haven’t time – and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.”
― Georgia O’Keeffe
These tulips are providing me with lots of interesting angles. As I’ve said so many times before, until you really take the time to ‘look’ at something, so much is missed.
We’ve had tulips in our gardens since I was a child. They sat on our kitchen table, as cut flowers, for much of the spring. Of course, we ‘noticed’ them but never observed them in their totality.
That, is one of my greatest joys with photography; being able to capture good images that I can spend time with at a later date. Blogging has made that experience more significant because now I’m able to consider my images further and more deliberately and be able to express those feelings, to the best of my ability, in words, hopefully inspiring others along the way.
I’m often entranced with some of the simpler images, those of mundane things, and the sheer detail that’s often present there, overlooked by the casual eye.
This image, a single shot, was made at a fairly extreme aperture, as I tried to capture the depth of the flower, without the need for focus stacking or other techniques.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1.0 sec, f/45.0, ISO 200
Hi Resolution image on 500px
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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.
“Church of the Redeemer” – Toronto
I have missed this beautiful door on the past few visits, as the church itself was undergoing renovations. The benefit to those renovations is that now we are presented with nicely restored doors.
There is something about the contrast of the rich red-brown doors and the slightly yellow limestone arches. Despite the renovations, there is still a nice patina on the stones of this church, which was founded in September 3, 1871. Old photos I’ve recently found are a sharp contrast to this church, which at the time, sat on farmland on the edge of a growing city. Have look at the Streetview compared to the unattributed 1879 image.
If you look back to last week’s post you will notice that the church is essentially across my right shoulder as I made the image of the museum doors.
iPhone 7 back camera @ 4.0mm
1/60 sec; f/1.8; ISO 25
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“Well, best to remain vigilant. It’s when everything is calm that you need to be most alert.”
― Brandon Sanderson
Above is an image of a pair of Canada Geese, standing guard on a path leading to the shores of Lake Ontario. Those familiar with Canada Geese know that they can be very territorial, especially later in the spring, during nesting season.
I stood and watched them for a bit before approaching them. They had been standing here, barely moving for quite some time and I watched how they reacted as people approached. In the end, they simply stood their ground, the gander letting out a brief hiss of warning if anyone approached a bit too closely.
Having witnessed this, I walked past them and they barely batted an eye. On my return, they still had not moved and were still doing an excellent job at keeping visitors uneasy.
Nikon D800
Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G I AF-S VR Zoom @ 155mm
1/250 sec, f/8.0 ISO 400
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“Ouch!”
“Touch has a memory.”
― John Keats
Here is my entry for Del Monte Y Mar’s Tuesdays of Texture Challenge Week 15 of 2017.
A very brief post for today’s texture and a cliche title. I’m feeling a bit unoriginal right now and really, this cactus had the longest needles, proportionally, that I have ever seen. I would dread bumping into this by accident.
I made the image while on a recent trip to San Jose del Cabo, Mexico and the gardens around the town are filled with cacti. Not surprising, given that this region of Mexico is primarily desert.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/250 sec, f/3.2, ISO 400
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“I love tulips better than any other spring flower; they are the embodiment of alert cheerfulness and tidy grace”
― Elizabeth von Arnim
Spring is still playing hide and seek, but the local grocery store has a nice selection of spring blooms, including these lovely pink tulips.
At first glance they appear to be such simple things until you get up close and notice all the beautiful structure. I also enjoyed the colour variance from the pale yellow at the flower base to the bright pink fringes.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/5sec, f/25.0, ISO 200
Hi Resolution image on 500px
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“All things want to float as light as air through the world witnessing all that is. I am a mote of dust floating freely in the firmament, a person who merely is, and I feel full of joy for all worldly treasures, the immaculate gift of life.”
― Kilroy J. Oldster
8″ x 10″ acrylic on canvas.
I’m quite enjoying my new found hobby and getting the feel of the brush. This is my 9th painting, since taking it up in February. I have the advantage of having many photographs to base the paintings on, though I take quite a bit of liberty in my interpretation of the final image. I also have the advantage of being able to photograph them and retaining all the true colors.
The basis of this image was a canoe trip into Ontario’s Algonquin park, many years ago. I clearly recall the colours of the clouds on that warm, midsummer day, splashes of pinks amid the pure whites. Fond memories of blissful days on the water in my canoe.
“I can assure you that the life outside the front door is bright and full of life”
― Sunday Adelaja
I could not resist publishing this bright little fellow today. It’s dull,cold, and dreary outside and I’m thinking back to last week, when the sun shone through, briefly. WHile on a short stroll to get a breath of fresh air, I came across this Chickadee, also enjoying the bright sunshine from his perch among the red-osier dogwoods.
While the chickadees do stay around through the winter here, it’s been pleasant to hear them singing once more, yet another harbinger of spring, which seems to be coming in fits and starts this year.
Nikon D800
Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G I AF-S VR Zoom @ 300mm
1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400
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This is perhaps the most photographed staircase in Toronto. The Douglas Fir clad stairs were designed by Frank Gehry as part of a major renovation of the Art Gallery of Ontario, known as the AGO and completed in 2008.
The curves, textures, and play of light are a photographer’s dream. I’ve made several images of the staircase, which extends up 5 stories and has 138 steps, but have never noticed this angle, which is shot from directly below the base. Had it not been for two small children looking up at it, I may have missed this opportunity. Ah, the eyes of children. They really do see things in the most wonderful ways.
iPhone 7 back camera @ 4.0mm
1/30 sec; f/1.8; ISO 40
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8″ x 10″ Acrylic on canvas
“Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.”
― L.M. Montgomery
As I look out my window, to a cold, rainy day, my thoughts go to all the good times spent the past summers in the Bancroft area, in Northeastern Ontario. A place of wilderness, lakes, rivers, trees, and beautiful light.
It’s an area where I do much of my photography, in all seasons. But today, I recalled canoeing from high falls, at the base of Baptiste Lake, up to the main body of water. I’m reminded of rocky shores, dark spruce groves, and wonderful skies, filled with the movement of summer clouds.
That’s what I was trying to capture with this quick painting, one brief moment in a series of moments that make up this summer memory, paddling the channel with my wife, simply enjoying the day together.
“The heart can get really cold if all you’ve known is winter.”
― Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Ah!, spring in southern Ontario is, to say the least, ‘unpredictable’. This past Tuesday you could go out and enjoy the sun in a sweatshirt, the next day, a parka was needed as temperatures varied widely.
So, I reflect on this image from last weekend, made on the still frozen shores of Lake Ontario, near Whitby.
The unusual ice formations remind me of teeth and the ‘bite’ of winter. it is nice to see a few teeth missing and others dissolving as temperatures gradually rise. I’m seriously looking forward to spring and the return of warmth after a long, dark winter. In fact, we had a record set in January, with only a few days of sunlight.
iPhone 7 back camera @ 4.0mm
1/640 sec; f/1.8; ISO 20
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“The common eye sees only the outside of things, and judges by that, but the seeing eye pierces through and reads the heart and the soul.”
― Mark Twain
I had no idea just how interesting something as mundane as melting ice could be.
The image I chose for today is a large slab of lake ice which had begun to melt. The gradual melting process showed some very intricate crystalline structures within the ice, made even more dramatic by the extreme purity of the ice. I keep finding myself staring deep into the clear columns, wishing I had something bright with me that I could have put behind the slab. That, would make it even more beautiful.
iPhone 7 back camera @ 4.0mm
1/60 sec; f/1.8; ISO 20
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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.
“Royal Ontario Museum – Front Doors”
Today, something more local (I’ll return to Mexican doors soon).
The doors above are the old main entrance to the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, known locally as the ROM. I say old doors because these are the original front entrance to the museum. The main entrance has since been moved to the extremely modern ‘Crystal‘, which faces north, and is, in my opinion, ‘boring’. Don’t get me wrong, the architecture is very unique, but the doors do nothing to enhance it.
The old doors, facing east, are beautiful; embellished with wonderful stonework and carvings, the windows above inset with stained glass. I did not have my Nikon with me but was able to get a nice image of the doors and surrounding architecture with my iPhone. The light that morning was quite subdued but balanced. This image would be difficult to make mid day, all the features would be washed out, as you can see in the linked Streetview image.
When I made the image, this past Monday, I was very deliberate to take the time to really look at the door and its details. Despite that, I still missed many things, like the unique columns above the door and the wonderful scrollwork at the very top. So much so, that I cropped it as I made the photo. Though, it is quite grand and hard to fit in the frame. I did, however, notice the bright blue banners to either side, which looked like the sky and framed the facade, isolating it beautifully and giving it the appearance of standing alone.
In considering the image further, I realized that these doors are no longer used, except as an emergency exit, which is a bit sad.
iPhone 7 back camera @ 4.0mm
1/120 sec; f/1.8; ISO 32
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“The Return”
Nikon D800
Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G I AF-S VR Zoom @ 240mm
1/500 sec, f/10.0, ISO 400
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“Frozen Movement”
“Dream delivers us to dream, and there is no end to illusion. Life is like a train of moods like a string of beads, and, as we pass through them, they prove to be many-colored lenses which paint the world their own hue. . . . ”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Here is my entry for Del Monte Y Mar’s Tuesdays of Texture Challenge Week 14 of 2017.
Please excuse the contradictory title of this image, but that is how I saw it. The frozen surface of the Lynde Shores Marsh, its protective coating of snow, blown away, looked just like waves, frozen in time.
Though the surface is quite smooth, patches of melted and refrozen snow, add bright highlights, small cracks and imperfections are slightly darker or lighter, depending on their nature. When viewed in isolation, without context, this could be gently rolling waves on a tropical sea, but is in reality, far from it.
Nikon D800
Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G I AF-S VR Zoom @ 210mm
1/250sec, f/9.0, ISO 200
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“Change is the end of something you know and the beginning of something else that you don’t know. Something new that holds opportunities.”
― Kholoud Yasser
A multitude of bubbles pours over the shore, strewn with age polished stones, worn smooth by the constant churn of Lake Ontario.
It’s almost spring, but the air is still cold and the water even colder. Yet, there is a fresh feeling to the air, and the migratory birds are returning. The grime of winter washes away, and the world is made fresh and clear. Soon, very soon.
Nikon D800
Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G I AF-S VR Zoom @ 220mm
1/100 sec, f/10.0, ISO 200
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“Painful experiences are like scars in our minds. Some have healed and been forgotten. Others are there as a reminder of what we have been through…”
― James A. Murphy,
“Final Traces”
As winter gives way to spring ‘final traces’ can be seen, reminding us of the winter that was. Not always fond reminders, but reminders, of what was, and is no more. We can chose to reflect on them, deliberately, curiously, or just leave the experience behind us, anticipating warmer days.
Pictured above is a branch sticking out of the water on the shores of Lake Ontario, with a big clump of ice still sticking to it, evidencing colder and stormy times, not so long ago.
I made the image because I envisioned it as a mono photo, the dark wood in contrast to the white of the ice. The water was multiple tones of blue and green, which translated nicely to mid-tones in the final image. There was also that element of isolation, the branch, sticking out of the water with nothing else near it. It seemed a bit unsettling, almost as if it’s reaching for the surface, trying to escape from the depths it’s currently locked into.
Nikon D800
Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G I AF-S VR Zoom @ 116 mm
1/320 sec, f/10.0, ISO 200
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“I am so grateful to be here on this awesome planet with its 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
While photographing the Lake Ontario shore line recently, one of the thousands of Canada Geese floating offshore decided to give me a closer look. Most of the geese tend to be fairly tame, being in close proximity with humans in this area.
People and geese tend to occupy the same spaces, along the shore, in parks, and open fields. It becomes a bit of a problem when the geese get dependant on humans, who provide them food and the opportunity for food. In some parks, the geese don’t even migrate south anymore, since they have all they need. That becomes an even bigger problem when the temperatures drop, which has been fairly infrequent her in the past few years. But, deep drops in temperature can freeze even large bodies of water like Lake Ontario. We’ve had some mild winters, but extended cold spells are a game changer, sometimes leaving the geese without the open water they need.
In any case, this one wanted to get a closer look at me. I tend not to photograph the Canada Geese much, primarily because they are so commonplace around here. This one made me look again. As it emerged from the frigid waters, small drops of water glistened on its breast feathers, like small jewels in the late afternoon sun, and it posed so nicely for me, I simply could not resist the opportunity.
There’s also the small pile of melting snow to the left, a reminder that winter is not quite finished with us here.
Nikon D800
Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G I AF-S VR Zoom @ 70mm
1/320 sec, f/10.0, ISO 200
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“Winter teetered on the verge of succumbing to the returning sun, but today the breeze still preferred the touch of snowflakes”
― Rue
Many miles from the tropical shores of the Sea of Cortez, which I have so fondly remembered of late, lies another shoreline. The shore of Lake Ontario. In stark contrast to the warm sands and tropical breezes of Baja, these shores, transitioning from the icy grip of winter to the milder days of spring, still show significant evidence of the extremes in temperatures the region has recently seen and the raw beauty of this magnificent lake, when conditions are right.
Just last week, temperatures plummeted and a severe winter storm passed through. The sub-zero temperatures and high winds, whipped Lake Ontario into a monster not to be trifled with. All that remains as evidence, is the otherworldly landscape along the shores. Bizarre icicles drip from the branches exposed to chilly waters, now beginning to melt as the air slowly loses its chill and the sun gradually warms the frozen shores.
This scene, like a passage into another realm, invokes thoughts of transition, from one world, frozen, yet beautiful, to another, warm and welcoming. Late afternoon light beams through the ice, lighting it, as if from within, causing it to almost glow with its own energy. The waves rolling in, are slightly warmer than the ice and begin to melt it from below.
Spring seemed so willing to move in earlier in the month, but the remainder of winter decided to make its presence known with, what we hope, is one final show. Though it may look nice in the photo, the winds coming off the lake are still cold enough to give us frozen fingers of our own, but hopefully, not for much longer.
iPhone 7 back camera 3.99mm f/1.8
1/640 sec; f/1.8; ISO 20
For more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“In every outthrust headland, in every curving beach, in every grain of sand there is the story of the earth.”
― Rachel Carson
My first real memory from my recent trip to Baja was hearing the Sea of Cortez surf pounding on the beach at San Jose del Cabo. I don’t mean surf ‘rolling’, I mean the surf here literally explodes as sea meets sand, on the steeply inclined shore, which causes the water to quickly recede, leading to strong undertow and rip-tides. It’s not safe for swimming, at least in this section of the beach.
While this image was made seconds after a large wave broke, and the surface seems relatively calm, you can see the explosive spray of waves as they break further along the beach, an area frequented by surf fishermen. I wondered why the surf was so much more intense in this area. While looking at satellite imagery, I noticed that the seabed is a bit shallower at this point, making for higher surf. It also makes it an ideal place for smaller bait fish to collect, attracting the larger sports fish, such as Dorado, Jack Crevalle, Sierra, California Yellowtail, and Wahoo. And that, attracts the surf fishermen, which you can see on the sandy point.
The view here just resonated with me, as I looked across the bay to the distant hillside, the morning sun warmed my face, the sound of surf echoed in my ears, and the tang of the salty air, filled me with joy. It brings a smile to my face and a sense of calm, just recalling the moment.
Nikon D800
Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G I AF-S VR Zoom @ 300mm
1/320 sec, f/9.0, ISO 200
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
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.
“House of the War” – Art District, San Jose del Cabo
Today, I’m returning to yet another interesting door in San Jose del Cabo’s Art District. This one just screamed out “Take a picture of me!” It is such a bold and different door, though I’m not sure how practical it is, since the door panels overlap. It makes me wonder about the intent, both for the door and for the name of the art studio behind them. The bold red and painted flowers certainly got my attention.
Like last week, I checked out the door on Google Streetview and it looks completely different.
One final note on some of these facades, which is really what they are. What, at first glance, looks like concrete, is really, in most cases, styrofoam coated in adobe or plaster and painted to look like stone.
I do have to apologize for the quality of the image, which I usually take great pride in, but I was travelling in unknown parts and had to rely on my iPhone and harsh mid-day light.
iPhone 5s back camera @ 4.2mm
1/1150 sec; f/2.2; ISO 32
For more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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or my website (some images available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com
Ed Lehming Photography 
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