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“The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love color the most.” ― John Ruskin The last week of December, 2016 was simply stunning. A soft, continuous snowfall had blanketed the world around me in pure white. Snow stacked up on objects that, surprisingly, bore its weight. Such was the case with this Staghorn Sumac in the meadow just north of my home. I decided a mid-morning walk with my camera… Read More
“The true optimist not only expects the best to happen, but goes to work to make the best happen. The true optimist not only looks upon the bright side, but trains every force that is in him to produce more and more brightness in his life….” ― Christian D. Larson Despite it being late November there has been a bright, golden theme in my photos recently and I’m pleased with that. I… 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
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. This week, a return to the University of Toronto and it numerous spectacular doors. Today, I have chosen the main doorway to Knox College, another building on the U of T grounds, proudly facing the central campus grounds as they have… Read More
“I’ll admit that my garden now grows hope in lavish profusion, leaving little room for anything else. I suppose it has squeezed out more practical plants like caution and common sense. Still, though, hope does not flourish in every garden, and I feel thankful it has taken root in mine.” ― Sharon Kay Penman A photo of my neighbour’s hydrangea this time. You see, the hydrangeas we have are white Annabelles and… Read More
“Everything made by human hands looks terrible under magnification–crude, rough, and asymmetrical. But in nature every bit of life is lovely. And the more magnification we use, the more details are brought out, perfectly formed, like endless sets of boxes within boxes.” ― Roman Vishniac I dug this from my archive of macro experiments from earlier this year. The clematis looks, to me, like some creature from a sci-fi movie or some… Read More
“I have always been caught by the pull of the unremarkable, by the easily missed, infinitely nourishing beauty of the mundane.” ― Tana French A theme that keeps coming back to me is how much detail and beauty there is in mundane things. Generally, when Queen Anne’s Lace finishes blooming, I hardly notice them, until winter when the basket-like heads get coated in little snow ‘hats’. It was not till I was… Read More
“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… Read More
“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… Read More
“We don’t realize that, somewhere within us all, there does exist a supreme self who is eternally at peace.” ― Elizabeth Gilbert My wife and I discovered this magical place a few years ago on a “fall colours” tour of the area where we spend our summers. I was following the local waterways, looking for a few named waterfalls when I came across this place, who’s location I will not divulge. The… Read More
“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. ― Anne Frank Such a menacing name for such a beautiful, delicate flower. But, the Dogbane… Read More
“Do not let your difficulties fill you with anxiety, after all it is only in the darkest nights that stars shine more brightly.” ― Hazrat Ali Ibn Abu-Talib A.S Hmm, this sounds like the title for a love story involving some damsel and some adversary. This single daisy shone like a beacon in the distance, against the dark forest, as I turned a bend in the trail a few days ago. It… Read More
“Someone was playing piano nearby and the music drifted slowly in and out of my mind like the ebb and flow of ocean surf. I almost recognized the melody, but I could not be sure, it slipped like a cool and silken wind from my grasp.” ― Chaim Potok Today’s image is another foray into the world of macro photography and I’m loving the effects and subtle details the naked eye misses…. Read More
“It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.” — Rainer Maria Rilke A final visit to the magnolias of Edwards Gardens in Toronto, at least for this year. I so enjoyed my day of walking the grounds and enjoying all the wonderful flowering trees. This is a great time of year. There are splashes of pinks, purples, whites, and purple among the new foliage in… Read More
“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 Yet another, early emerger, Blue Cohosh. This beauty emerges from the forest floor looking more purple-blue than this image indicates. However, I wanted to capture the delicate flower and blue fruit. When they first sprout from the ground,… Read More
“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity… and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.” ― William Blake I absolutely love the William Blake quote above. It goes beyond simply this image. Number 6 in the… Read More
“The magical way the wintertime warms you up is through its frozen beauties!” ― Mehmet Murat Ildan Yesterday, was a spectacular day! Here we are in mid February and the temperatures hit 12° C. The light was glorious and the outdoors beckoned me. So, with camera bag in hand, I set out to enjoy the day and see what it would reveal to me. Since the temperatures last week were around -30°… Read More
It’s the end of autumn and winter is making its presence known across the country. This seemed like an appropriate image for the day. On a hike a few weeks ago, I noticed this single maple leaf clinging to a tree. All the other trees in the area had shed their leaves, but this one kept hanging on. I feel that way too. Hanging on to the last moments of fall, knowing… Read More
This has been a beautiful autumn. Generally, by this time of the year, the leaves are down and it’s hinting at the winter to come. It has made photographing fall colors a real pleasure. Bright reds and oranges are everywhere with a nice mix of yellows and some splashes of green, from plants less susceptible to frost. The photo above was made along the 28th Sideline, in North Pickering, Ontario. The old… Read More
It’s fall. Time for me to get out into the woods and just enjoy being there. It’s been a late fall here and the temperature is still mild, considering the time of year. We’ve been visited by a few flurries and light frosts till last night. The colours are spectacular and trees slow to shed their leaves. Essentially, ideal fall conditions for photography and just enjoying nature, in all its glory. I… Read More
As I’ve said earlier, I like fine details and being able to reflect on them at a later date. That stand true for this photo of a sand sculpture at the Canadian National Exhibition. The sculpture take several days to create and are incredibly detailed. How the artists manage to keep them standing fascinates me. The details and emotion in this face are simply beautiful and with the wonderful light, I could not… Read More
Ah, spring! I went for an early morning walk this morning and was greeted by yet another gift of spring – a beautiful crab-apple tree loaded with delicate pink-white blossoms. The sun was just up and provided a wonderful soft light. I tried to keep as much of the flower-head in focus while keeping the background soft. I spent quite a bit of time with this particular subject and will be posting… Read More
A slightly different view of the forest for you to ponder. I spend a lot of time in the forest hiking and making photographs. People ask me where I find the wildflowers that I photograph. My response is, “Along the way”. I see them, because I know what to look for, where to look, and when to look, since I have experienced them in previous walks. Many of the flowers only bloom… Read More
Yes, I know, two posts in one day. 🙂 I had the opportunity today, now that it is starting to at least look more like spring, to go for a hike around our local reservoir. It’s a beautiful little sanctuary, with diverse plants and wildlife. The hiking trail offers me a nice place to unwind, and photograph, even during a busy day, because it is so close. I was not expecting to… Read More
Ed Lehming Photography 
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