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“As winter takes hold, autumn lashes out in fiery shows of golds and orange as if shouting, “My splendour is not yet spent”, her voice fading in the chill of November, another day closer to winter.” – Ed Lehming Such was the scene today as I drove home from a visit to Bancroft, Ontario. I had driven up for the day to drop of recent prints at the Artists Co-op I belong… Read More
“There is peace in the sound of the river’s voice. From low gurgle to roar, the sound of water moving resonates within me.” – Ed Lehming I’ve been quite remiss in my posting frequency. Summer has been filled with activities not necessarily conducive to photography, but I’ve been able to carve out some times to get back to my passion. Sometimes, I’m able to combine them, in the form of hiking and… Read More
“I liked watching more than I liked being part of it and for the first time I realized that it was OK to just be an observer. Some of us were actors and some of us were the audience. Both were important roles.” ― Peter Monn This photograph caused me a lot of conflict. As a photographer, ‘selfies’ really irk me. I’ve stood overlooking beautiful vistas only to be roughly shoved by crowds… Read More
“Even the tiniest of flowers can have the toughest roots.” ― Shannon Mullen Wildflowers constantly amaze me, in their endless forms and the environments they thrive it. The columbine above, is a native to Ontario and this particular plant was growing from a thin crack in the bedrock. I suppose there was just enough organic mater accumulated in that crack to create the rich soil the columbine prefers and a seed from nearby… Read More
“With brightness and purity like the snow which so recently trapped it, the trillium remembers winter while signalling spring” – Ed Lehming Though I posted a photo of a newly blossomed trillium a few weeks ago, the trilliums in Eastern Ontario, Bancroft, to be more specific, are a bit delayed. Warm air did not arrive here until recently, and with the warm air, new life and growth. Though there is still frost… Read More
“Gentle spring waves wash high upon the shore, drenching the land with moisture and restoring life, winter is at an end.” – Ed Lehming A few short weeks ago, Marble Lake was still ice covered and winter ruled, refusing to relinquish its hold on the land. A deep freeze and late snowfall meant frost remained locked into the ground, blocking the flow of melt water, channeling it on new courses. The ice… Read More
“To those devoid of imagination a blank place on the map is a useless waste; to others, the most valuable part.” ― Aldo Leopold This part of the world looks like nothingness on a map. While there is a town close by, it really is a wilderness area. A land of steep, nearly unnavigable hillsides, dense forest, and swampy wetlands. To me, it’s paradise, a place to unwind and just enjoy an unblemished… Read More
“Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed … We simply need that wild country available to us, even if we never do more than drive to its edge and look in.” ― Wallace Stegner Here’s a familiar sight along the “Boreal Trails”, an interspersing of the dominant species of trees, namely: Birch, Beech, and Balsam. All three are seen in this… Read More
“Edge of the Beaver Pond”
“… there’s a silent voice in the wilderness that we hear only when no one else is around. When you go far, far beyond, out across the netherlands of the Known, the din of human static slowly fades away, over and out.” ― Rob Schultheis I titled this ‘Crossing’ because it illustrates my point in a prior post about the lack of straight paths in the Boreal forest. A large tree has fallen… Read More
“We need the tonic of wildness…At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature.” ― Henry David Thoreau At the crest of a hill, the trail drops sharply in front of me. In this region of wilderness, near… Read More
“A cold wind was blowing from the north, and it made the trees rustle like living things.” ― George R.R. Martin Welcome to “Boreal Trails”. I thought I’d start the series off with this image of a clump of birches at the bend in a trail. Figuratively, a turn in the seasons. You will notice, as this series continues, a few splashes of colour against a duller green background. Gone now are the… Read More
“Water is the most perfect traveller because when it travels it becomes the path itself!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan This image is another of High Falls, near Bancroft, Ontario. I really could spend a day photographing various parts of the waterfall, as light shifts and different elements of the flowing water reveal themselves. The ancient rock structures in this area add so much character to the waterfalls through their deep textures and colours…. Read More
I’m still taking a break, and this is part of it. Had to share this beautiful view from the edge of the lake on this frosty Sunday morning near Bancroft, Ontario. No edits, this is exactly what it looked like, or at least, how my phone saw it 🙂
“Life moves very fast. It rushes from Heaven to Hell in a matter of seconds.” ― Paulo Coelho This past weekend, I took a little side drive to High Falls, which is really a former chute, turned to a waterfall by the installation of a dam nearly one hundred years ago. The dam closes off the end of Baptiste Lake, just north of the town of Bancroft, Ontario. Because of the dam, the… Read More
“I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.” ― Sarah Williams I spent Saturday evening with my son, on the dock at the camper near Bancroft, Ontario. Conditions were not ideal, as there was a fine have in the sky and the waxing crescent moon had just set, but we took the opportunity to make a few images despite these conditions. The results, while not quite what I… Read More
A beautiful, cool dawn on Bancroft’s Marble Lake. The mist swirls gently on the water’s surface, as the sun rises behind a low ridge. A pattern repeated throughout the summer, each time, slightly different. In the distance, Blue Jays screech high in the trees and the world awakens as the sunlight reaches further every minute. A new day begins.
“I need the shade of blue that rips your heart out. You don’t see that type of blue around here.” ― Cath Crowley Bancroft is a rural town in north-central Ontario. Known as the Mineral Capital of Canada, it sits atop the rocky Canadian Shield, some of the oldest rock in the world. Towering above the town is a granite monolith known as the “Eagle’s Nest”. During milder winter days and now… Read More
“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… Read More
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,… Read More
“Quiet people always know more than they seem. Although very normal, their inner world is by default fronted mysterious and therefore assumed weird. Never underestimate the social awareness and sense of reality in a quiet person; they are some of the most observant, absorbent persons of all.” ― Criss Jami I sit here tonight after a brief trip back to Bancroft to swap out photos I’m showing at an artists’ co-operative in… Read More
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. After a few weeks of door deprivation I have this submission for your consideration. NO 3 is number 3 Bridge Street in Bancroft, Ontario. I love the elegance of this door to an upscale fashion store in the rural community of Bancroft…. Read More
“November is usually such a disagreeable month…as if the year had suddenly found out that she was growing old and could do nothing but weep and fret over it. This year is growing old gracefully…just like a stately old lady who knows she can be charming even with gray hair and wrinkles. We’ve had lovely days and delicious twilights.” ― L.M. Montgomery It reminded me of a scene from The Hobbit, as Bilbo… Read More
“Veil after veil of thin dusky gauze is lifted, and by degrees the forms and colours of things are restored to them, and we watch the dawn remaking the world in its antique pattern.” ― Oscar Wilde This is the same view I posted yesterday but fourteen hours later. I have now returned home from a four day escape to the wilds of northeastern Ontario. I spent the time walking the trails,… Read More
A beautiful sunset on Fraser Lake last night. As you may have noticed by the brevity of my posts, I’m on a short break in Northeast Ontario, enjoying time in the outdoors and enjoying spectacular November weather.
I found this lovely beaver pond at the end of a trail. Spending a few days in the wild.
“Have you ever seen the dawn? Not a dawn groggy with lack of sleep or hectic with mindless obligations and you about to rush off on an early adventure or business, but full of deep silence and absolute clarity of perception? A dawning which you truly observe, degree by degree. It is the most amazing moment of birth. And more than anything it can spur you to action. Have a burning day.”… Read More
“When peace like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say It is well, it is well, with my soul.” – Horatio Spafford It’s difficult to put into words the multiple feelings I experience when paddling. My canoe is one of my ‘sacred places’. Like being behind a camera, I am in the moment, and experience only this. Through this photo, I’m… Read More
“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… Read More
Ed Lehming Photography 
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