“Voiceless it cries,
Wingless flutters,
Toothless bites,
Mouthless mutters.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien
I think I’ve photographed this tree about a dozen times. Sometimes, it’s still and brightened by a golden sunset, other times, it’s filled with birds, darting to and fro. But on this occasion, the strong winds of a hot summer day tossed it’s branches from side to side.
I took the opportunity to capture this motion through a long exposure and the results are quite pleasing. As I look at the photo, I can almost feel the ht sun on my back and feel gusts of wind blowing past me into the outstretched branches.
The slight motion blur makes the image look a bit like a painting.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 200mm
1/4 sec, f/32.0, ISO 200
For more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“Those who are resilient can more quickly regain their equilibrium and spring back when they are thrown off kilter by the storms of life.”
― Mary Buchan
Yes, another flower. I’m simply enjoying this too much and am looking forward to going afield on my vacation time to capture more wildflowers, as opposed to plants from my gardens. But, they are handy and I like the results.
I deliberately chose a less than perfect specimen for this image. It’s showing some wear and tear from the past few days of heavy rain and some insect damage too. But despite all that has happened to it, its still beautiful to look at. There is something about the delicate nature of cosmos that I like. They seem almost to be made of tissue paper, yet they survive the elements and keep blooming.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 200mm
1/10 sec, f/8, ISO 200
For more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“There are times to stay put, and what you want will come to you, and there are times to go out into the world and find such a thing for yourself.”
― Lemony Snicket
This image was made last weekend in a small town in Central Ontario called Fort Stewart. It’s a small community in the high hills of the North Hastings Highlands that if it wasn’t for the ancient stands of pine and maple and dark rivers you would think you were in West Virginia. It’s a rugged part of Ontario and one would not think productive farms could exist, yet they do. Through ingenuity and sheer determination, the early settlers were able to produce scant crops among the rocks. Enough so to warrant the building of towns with schools and churches, which remain to this day.
Through it’s unique geology, a small area or arable land formed here. Most of the farms are used as pasture land or to grow hay, but I have seen a few decent corn fields as well.
This hay field caught my attention and is directly across the road from the colt image I shared yesterday and about a mile from the deer I posted the day before that. I suppose it’s the anomaly of a hay field in this northern community that resonated with me. It seems almost out of place and would seem better suited to ore southern climes.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 200mm
1/160 sec, f/6.3 ISO 200
For more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“A garden should make you feel you’ve entered privileged space — a place not just set apart but reverberant — and it seems to me that, to achieve this, the gardener must put some kind of twist on the existing landscape, turn its prose into something nearer poetry.”
― Michael Pollan
I thought I would try this technique on leafy plants and expand from my blossom photos. We have several varieties of coleus in our gardens, but this one has weathered the drought better than the rest.
The wonder of coleus is that you can take a little sprig of it, place it in water for a few weeks to root and grow a whole new plant. For me, that’s great, as they winter over well and offer nice colour all summer long.
I did cheat a bit on this image. Because the plant was quite dry and flat, I misted it with water before making the photo.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 200 mm
1/5 sec, f/11.0, ISO 200
High 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.
Another of many images made during my tour of the University of Toronto campus.
The door above belongs to the University of Toronto Art Museum. I did not know that the U of T had an art museum. Shortly after making this image, I went to the Art Gallery of Ontario for an exhibit of paintings by Lawren Harris and, sure enough, one of the paintings in the exhibit was on loan for the U of T Art Museum. Isn’t it strange how, shortly after discovering something new, you come across it in your life?
This door attracted my attention primarily because if the detailed carving above it, and it’s a wonderful dark oak door with lots of interest in the glass panels. The doors stops seem to have had better days and have not been gently used.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 70 mm
1/200 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200
For more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.”
― Guillaume Apollinaire
We came across this little filly in a farm field near Fort Stewart. We had stopped to enjoy the grand view this little town offers and beside our stop was this little gal who wandered over to greet us.
It was amazing how much joy seeing her, petting her velvety nose, and feeding her lush clumps of grass, gave to all of us. It’s that simple happiness in unexpected places that seems so rare nowadays. The view of the Little Mississippi Valley was still there, but the focus was on this small single horse who was equally happy to receive all our attention, for a few moments.
She made a nice subject for me to photograph, surrounded by tall clumps of goldenrod that stretched into the distance.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 200mm
1/100 sec, f/5.0, ISO 200
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“Sometimes, staying alive solely depends on keeping your head in place and your senses alert”
― Susana Fortes
Yes, this doe is alert indeed. She was crossing the road as I drove along the road to Fort Stewart this past weekend. I pulled over as she casually walked up the embankment to join her three fawns, who were busy grazing just outside the forest.
She sat an watched , always attentive, twitching at the sounds from the car. It seemed we did not pose much danger to her but she was nervous nonetheless. Then, after a few moments of indecision, she determined it was best to take cover with her youngsters and she made a quick hop into the cover of the trees, her does quickly following her lead.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 200mm
1/80 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200
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Here is my contribution for Tuesdays of Texture for week 34. A while ago I started a series of Studies in Wood. This is just one of the subjects of that series. This particular specimen can be found in Bryant Park, just behind the new York Public Library. If you are interested, here’s my original post from March.
You’ll find lots of other interesting texture posts over at DE Monte Y MAR – do head on over to check them out and perhaps even add your own.
Nikon D300
Tamron 70-200 mm f/2.8 @ 200 mm
1/200 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200
For more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“There is so much to say about a past. It’s a vein of gold through a mountain, leading to an incontrovertible stone heart of truth. But the future is a horizon – a faintly visible line that will promise much, and always remain too far away to touch.”
― Aliya Whiteley
At first, I had no idea what to title this image. It was made at the end of another day of swimming and volleyball on the beach at Sauble. As the sun was setting, I looked at the posts and remembered the great times we had that day. That’s the “two”. On the horizon, barely visible, three boats head back to port, as the sun prepares to set, ending another glorious summer day, spend with friends and family. Today’s experiences are soon to become our past and new ones lie just beyond the horizon, in tomorrow.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 200mm
1/60 sec, f/4.0, ISO 200
For more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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Here is this week’s 52 Week Photo Challenge: Week 1 – Black and White. This is another new challenge that is starting up from The Girl That Dreams Awake. If you don’t know her, you should check out her blog.
This is my second entry and I’ve used an image I posted several months back as one of my daily posts.
Click here if you want to know more about the image.
Nikon D300
Tamron 17-50 mm f/2.8 @ 31mm
1/250 sec, f/8, ISO 400
For more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“After the wet spring, everything that could turn green had outdone itself in greenness and everything that could even dream of blooming or blossoming was in bloom and blossom. The sunlight was a benediction. The breezes were so caressingly soft and intimate on the skin as to be embarrassing.”
― Dan Simmons
This is an image of the same thistle I shared a few days ago. The previous image showed more of the surrounding foliage and associated thorns. I wanted to isolate this single stem more. So, I clipped it back and changed the angle slightly. Care had to be exercised to get the angle right, since I’m working with sunshine and not adjustable studio lights. I had to move around teh plant to get the angle and light right and after a few test shots this was the result.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 200 mm
1/5 sec, f/10.0, ISO 200
High Resolution image on 500px:
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“The single greatest lesson the garden teaches is that our relationship to the planet need not be zero-sum, and that as long as the sun still shines and people still can plan and plant, think and do, we can, if we bother to try, find ways to provide for ourselves without diminishing the world. ”
― Michael Pollan
This specimen came from my flower beds. In fact, this was the first blossom all year, driven by the drought we are experiencing here. I had intended to use my portable outdoor setup, rather than taking a cutting. Since I tend to shoot these at f/10 or higher, the setup also requires a fairly low shutter speed, around 1/10 second. Thus, even a slight movement causes problems in clarity. It’s been a bit breezy here lately and I wanted to capture the blossom before it fades, which happens fairly quickly. Thus I made the decision to cut it and bring it indoors to photograph.
I found the bright red blossoms a challenge in previous attempts to photograph the. Using the studio light ing and paying careful attention to depth of field and contrast, I think I was able to create a nice representation of the blossoms without the red tones bleeding together which was my previous experience.
All in all, this is my most challenging flower shot yet, using this method and I’m pleased with the outcome.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 200 mm
1/10 sec, f/11.0, ISO 200
High Resolution image on 500px:
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“What we do see depends mainly on what we look for. … In the same field the farmer will notice the crop, the geologists the fossils, botanists the flowers, artists the colouring, sportsmen the cover for the game. Though we may all look at the same things, it does not all follow that we should see them.”
― John Lubbock
It’s strange how some of these fairly common wildflowers grow only in specific areas. Recently I was travelling north and saw immense patches of tansy and recalled that I had seen some closer to home. Travelling the local back roads, I kept looking for a patch, without success. Then, last week I saw two big patches of them, growing in complete isolation. I suppose the soil conditions were just right in only this particular spot.
I find myself noting these unique micro-environments when I’m driving. I may not always have the opportunity to stop, but I do take note, in case the opportunity to return arises. Lately, I’m seeing new and unique wildflowers with more frequency, given the drought-like conditions around here lately, even that is fading quickly, as I’m seeing plants, in leaf, wilting in the sun. Some of my go-to locations are now filled only with hearty grasses and dry stems. It seems only the deep-rooted plants are able to survive the constant heat and dryness.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 200 mm
1/2 sec, f/16.0, ISO 200
High Resolution image on 500px:
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“Once in awhile, you pick the right thing, the exact best thing. Every day, the moment you open your eyes and pull off your blankets, that’s what you hope for. The sunshine on your face,warm enough to make your heart sing.”
― Sarah Ockler
One of my first attempts at this technique involved bringing a daylily cutting into my studio and experimenting with lighting and camera settings. I was so pleased with the results that I have continued using it for many different blossoms and, as those following my blog know, I have created a portable backdrop that I can take with me in the field.
Yesterday, I was experimenting with it in my backyard gardens, when I noticed this stray blossom that had poked through the fence from my neighbour’s yard. Recalling how pleased I was with my first daylily, I set up quickly and made this image. It was made with natural light in one attempt. I’m feeling inspired by the simplicity of it and how stunning the results can be.
When I look at the images a actually have to remind myself that I made them and I smile. It’s so satisfying to the creative in me.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 200mm
1/20 sec, f/10.0, ISO 200
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.
I went for a tour of the University of Toronto campus last weekend, knowing there would be some great doors. Surprisingly, having grown up in the Toronto area, I have never done a deliberate tour of the campus. The variations in architecture are incredible, ranging from Gothic to ultra modern. With those variations, come some spectacular doors.
The light this day was wonderful and really brought out the textures and colour of the various doors well and showing off the variation in stone used to frame them.
The door above is the front entrance to Trinity College. I chose this to be my first in a series of U of T doors because of how unique and interesting it is. Apart for the beautiful gothic main door, there is a curious side door, which is the night entrance. The tag on the main doors directs you to use the night entrance. I suspect the main doors are used only on special occasions. You’ll note it’s also slightly higher than the main door, perhaps to keep snow out in the winter months?
The entire building in beautiful. Just let your eyes float over the scene from the doors themselves, the intricate ironwork hinges, leaded glass in the windows and the historical gargoyles that great you as you approach the door.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 70 mm
1/200 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200
For more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“What I’ve always found interesting in gardens is looking at what people choose to plant there. What they put in. What they leave out. One small choice and then another, and soon there is a mood, an atmosphere, a series of limitations, a world.”
― Helen Humphreys
I’m not getting tired of these flower images yet and I hope my viewers feel the same. This is yet another image made using my portable backdrop in my backyard. The fine details of the spider plant have always stood out to me, though this summer has been a challenge for them as we experience drought-like conditions here in southern Ontario. The blossoms have been smaller and slower to grow. This is one of my healthier plants and the flower head is about half as lush as I would expect.
Once again, this image was made without the use of studio lights, just sunlight and careful camera adjustments to isolate the blossom and leaves.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 200 mm
1/20 sec, f/10.0, ISO 200
High Resolution image on 500px:
For more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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Here is this week’s 52 Week Photo Challenge: Week 1 – Black and White. This is another new challenge that is starting up from The Girl That Dreams Awake. If you don’t know her, you should check out her blog.
I was saving this image for one of my daily posts but could not resist putting it out for this challenge. I’ll post it again at a later date with the story behind the shot.
“Yellow is a very favorable vibration for mental or intellectual activity, as it promotes a clear state of mind. Yellow heightens your awareness and alleviates depression, sadness, or any kind of despondency.”
― Tae Yun Kim
This bright yellow Gerberia daisy is one of hundreds given out this past weekend at a huge wedding ceremony. Our town mayor got married on Saturday in a very large and public ceremony to which the entire town was invited. It was a hot day and he even thought to have water available for the guests as they stood in the bright sunshine, watching the ceremony.
For me, it became another photo subject. Imagine that!
My wife brought it home after viewing the ceremony and it sat on our kitchen table beckoning me. So, I ‘borrowed’ it for a few minutes, made a few quick images and put it back on the table.
The bright yellow colour is what first drew me to it. Then I noticed all the details in the petals, especially as I processed the image. It’s like a yellow cup, surrounded by petals and almost without blemish. Like the quote says, it’s a happy colour.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 200 mm
1/15 sec, f/10.0, ISO 200
High Resolution image on 500px:
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I saw a post by Norm 2.0 this morning and thought I’d like to play along through this contribution to the ‘Tuesdays of Texture’ stream hosted by Narami at De Monte Y Mar.
Textures are everywhere and I can hardly turn of the desire to document them. The image above appeared in a northern Ontario parking lot after an intense rainstorm. The ‘wash’ had ‘classified’, the sand into distinct layers, based on their size and weight of each grain, creating wonderful patterns, creating an image that looks like an aerial view of rolling desert.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 135mm
1/320 sec, f/9.0, ISO 250
High Resolution image on 500px:
For more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“We were young. Everyone was young in those days. That’s the main complaint you hear from people who are getting old. You stop seeing young people. You begin to wonder if there are any left and whether there were only young people when you were young.”
― Lloyd Jones
I’ve made many photos of old trucks, most of them wrecks and relics. They are interesting to me mostly because of how the light plays off faded paint, rust and chrome. I tend to not be overly interested in restored versions, with bright yellow paint and shiny tires.
So, when I saw this one driving into the parking area at the Keady Farmer’s Market this past week, I could not help but grab a few shots. Interestingly, there was a brand new GMC pickup truck parked right next to this one and I have a photo of them both together, but I prefer this one, where, through careful framing, I was able to show just the vintage truck in all its rusty glory.
Nikon D800
Nikor 24-70mm f/3.5-4.6 @ 70mm
1/250sec, f/5.0, ISO 200
For more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“For millions of years flowers have been producing thorns. For millions of years sheep have been eating them all the same. And it’s not serious, trying to understand why flowers go to such trouble to produce thorns that are good for nothing?” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Here’s a new one, studio style wildflowers. I was able to get my portable background to work and I’m looking forward to being able to capture more wildflowers in a similar fashion
Though I may not have mentioned it in recent posts, we are experiencing a significant drought here in Southern Ontario. After a fairly wet and cool spring, summer arrived and it’s been hot and dry for three months.
Because of that, the plants are starting to look ‘tired’ and stressed. As I walked today, most of the wildflowers had gone to seed early, and the grasses are dry and yellow. I was hoping to find some chicory, which is usually plentiful this time of year, but even that was sparse and lacked good blooms. I’ll have to expand my hike beyond my neighbourhood to find some more variety over the next few days.
Until then, I’m pleased with how this image turned out and will keep developing by technique.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 200 mm
1/5 sec, f/10.0, ISO 200
High Resolution image on 500px:
For more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“Long experience has taught me that people who do not like geraniums have something morally unsound about them. Sooner or later you will find them out; you will discover that they drink, or steal books, or speak sharply to cats. Never trust a man or a woman who is not passionately devoted to geraniums.”
― Beverley Nichols
I found the quote hilarious. The quote is from Merry Hall, a book about the restoration of a home and garden in post-war England. The author is a devout horticulturalist.
Fortunately, I do like geraniums, so I should be OK on that account.
Back to the studio flowers for a while. Actually, the “studio” is outside on my deck and I used diffused sunlight to make this image against a black background. The effect of the black background allows the flowers and their delicate structure to really reveal themselves. I’m quite enjoying this style and am working on a portable background that I can take with me on my hikes. This way I can use the same technique with wildflowers, without disturbing them.
The geranium pictured here is one of many varieties we have in our garden, most given to us by my mother-in-law as she downsized from her house to a smaller apartment, where she had no space to winter over the geraniums. This beautiful pink and red variety seemed a good subject for a photo.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 200mm
1/13 sec, f/10.0, ISO 200
For more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“Moments never stay, whether or not you ask them, they do not care, no moment cares, and the ones you wish could stretch out like a hammock for you to lie in, well, those moments leave the quickest and take everything good with them, little burglars, those moments, those hours, those days you loved the most.”
― Catherine Lacey
My family and I spend a few relaxing days at Sauble Beach this past long weekend. Seldom does a day go by without a beautiful sunset over Lake Huron. Our weather forecast was for 4 solid days of heat and sunshine. The heat was there but the sunshine was lacking. Except at the end of the day. Each day of our stay, the sky on the horizon would clear up just enough for the sun to show through for a few minutes. I will share a few more images, but this was my favourite.
The sun had just dropped below the cloud deck and was hovering just above the horizon lighting the sky up in crimson, orange, and yellows in the brief moments before sinking out of sight.
Capturing these last few minutes can often pose a challenge as the camera sensor can make the image too bright or too dark. For me it’s that balance of showing the bright sun, yet retaining the structure of the clouds and the dark water surface.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 200mm
1/200sec, f/7.1, ISO 200
For more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“Do you know how there are moments when the world moves so slowly you can feel your bones shifting, your mind tumbling? When you think that no matter what happens to you for the rest of your life, you will remember every last detail of that one minute forever?”
― Jodi Picoult
As another day ends, beach visitors gather along the shore, looking west. We stand there, taking in the final moments of the day as the sun lights up the horizon, setting the sky on fire. We drink in the cool air as a gentle breeze brushes across the water, striking our faces and cooling our skin, like the day’s final breaths. It becomes a sensory experience of sights, sounds, and smells that we tuck away to savour at some later date.
Cameras are always present as the visual memories are saved, couples walk hand in hand along the beach, sharing the experience and children dig the final scoop of sand or touch the water one last time before the beach umbrellas are packed away for the day.
I have my own feelings at this time of day, with or without my camera present, and seeing others transfixed along the shore, makes me wonder if the feeling is the same for others. What part of the panorama are they drawn too, what do they see and how do they see it?
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 200mm
1/25 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200
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.
OK, I’m cheating a bit today. This is a closer view of the door to a church I photographed last week and posted earlier today.
It looks like the doors, and the building, have seen better days and I wish I had spend a bit longer looking around and making some interior shots too. It was not till I started processing the image that I noticed the scuff mark on the door, Indicating the the lock has been removed at some time, allowing the locking bar to swing freely.
It’s pretty amazing what nature can do to unattended buildings. The yellow brick is typical in this area, being made from local clay, it takes on the yellow colour rather than the brick-red many of us are used to. There are many old buildings in the area in excellent condition, but without heat in the winter, the building rapidly declines, as frost gets between the bricks and mortar, splitting them apart. I’ve started looking through the county archives to get a bit of history of this unidentified church.
Nikon D300
Tamron 17-50 mm f/2.8 @ 31 mm
1/320 sec, f/9.0 ISO 200For more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“The problem with churches of all sorts, is that so often they ignore the key teachings of the Sermon on the Mount, like the doctrine of love. So often we ask God to be on our side instead of asking that we be blessed enough to be on His. That said, the wheat and the tares must grow up together, and in the days of harvest they will be separated properly.”
― David Holdsworth
Another view from my Bruce County road trip and just down the road from the beautiful wheatfield that I photographed earlier.
When I drive past these abandoned buildings, I inevitably find myself asking, “What happened here?”
At some point in it’s history, this would have been an active local church. People would have gathered here on Sundays, met as friends and family, sat through a sermon, and worshipped. And then, suddenly, or gradually, attendance dwindled and the doors closed. Was there discord, did the leadership move away, or were other pastures greener? I’m curious why someone would leave a beautiful building like this to simply decay. What went through the mind of the person who turned off the lights and locked the door, for the last time? Did they ever envision this, or was there a hope to return on some future date?
At this point, I’d say, it’s beyond salvaging.
It sits, forlorn, along the roadside, it’s doors locked with a rusty chain and padlock, most of the glass fallen out of the windows, left to return to the elements. There’s no marker even identifying it. All that remains is a shell of what was and testament to what might have been.
Since posting this originally, I came across the history, if you are interested. It was the Williscroft Baptist Church and closed its doors in the 1960s as did the rest of the town.
Nikon D300
Tamron 17-50 mm f/2.8 @ 31 mm
1/320 sec, f/9.0 ISO 200
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“The fields…are white already to harvest” (John 4:35 KJV), or as other versions put it, “ripe for harvest.”…One part of the harvest metaphor we may have missed was the importance of timing-there is a season for both sowing and reaping, and sometimes there is a season of simply waiting and watering.”
― Keri Wyatt Kent
I just got back from a few days in Ontario’s Bruce County. The region offers rolling farmlands, long sandy beaches, and some of the most spectacular sunsets in Canada along the shores of Lake Huron (which, being 183 miles wide, is almost like an inland sea).
As we drove to our destination, the beachfront at Sauble Beach, I had to stop several times to make photos of the spectacular landscapes that spread before me.
This is one of my favourite times of year to photograph Ontario’s rural landscapes. The contrast between the deep blue sky and the golden fields of grain is quite striking. Add to the mix a few wispy clouds and you can almost feel the warm air and hear the sounds of crickets chirping. As I stood by the roadside making this image I could smell the grain in the air and even though the grand scene spread before me, I was still drawn to the wildflowers in the foreground, delicate white Queen Anne’s Lace and the bright purple Ontario Thistle.
Nikon D300
Tamron 17-50 mm f/2.8 @ 31 mm
1/320 sec, f/9.0 ISO 200
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“These rocks are too heavy, can’t carry them any more,
don’t know why I ever picked them up before,
going to have to put them down where they don’t belong,
’cause I can’t get them back to where they came from.
These rocks belong to no one, except history.
Somewhere between the desert and the rolling sea,
or maybe up in the mountains blue and tall,
I picked them but now I’m going to let them fall.”
― Jay Woodman
Today’s image is a bit unusual for me but I could not resist the interesting texture of these bubble sin ancient Canadian Shield basalt. This means that the bubbles are in rock that is billions of years old, some of the oldest rock on earth is found in this area.
I came across them by chance when I walked down to the shores of Bay Lake, looking for a place to swim. Along this shore, the entire rock shelf is filled with these bubbles, most of them several inches across. The rock itself is gray and the pink colour is caused by algae which grows in the bubbles when they fill with rain water.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 200 mm
1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200
For more images like this, please visit my Facebook page:
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“This life is yours. Take the power to choose what you want to do and do it well. Take the power to love what you want in life and love it honestly. Take the power to walk in the forest and be a part of nature. Take the power to control your own life. No one else can do it for you. Take the power to make your life happy.”
― Susan Polis Schutz
This is another recent image I made while stopped at the roadside of Peterson Road, near Maynooth, Ontario. The road itself has a long history, being a primary connector between several of Ontario’s small towns and serving as a southern entrance to Algonquin Park and the start of many a cone trip into the park.
I made this image because it is such a typical scene in central Ontario, with its many lakes and even more numerous marshes. It’s the scene most people speed by on their way to the cottage to ‘enjoy nature’. Yet, they have passed by the very nature they claim to be getting back to. Forgive me if this sounds judgemental, it’s not intended to be. It’s something I have done so many time myself.
So, I offer you here, as small moment, frozen in time, to consider as you pass by it. Look deep into the scene, breath its life, and simply savour the abundance of beauty we all too often take for granted.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 70 mm
1/125 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200
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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