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“In the forest, old is replaced by new. The old growth shelters the new, yielding just enough light to allow it to thrive, while still protecting it.” – Ed Lehming This image was inspired simply by what I thought was an interesting winter composition. Freshly fallen snow from the day before covered the young spruce trees in a planted grove of red pine. It also caused my to dig a bit more… 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 As I walk the local trails, I’m often quite aware that, at some point, the trailblazers and foresters had… Read More
“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” ― Pat Conroy This image, while slightly darker than some of my prior posts, represents so well my typical experiences on the trail; bright sunshine streams between the branches light above, the canopy has a slight yellow tinge, as the days shorten, there are… Read More
“I think it is far more important to save one square mile of wilderness, anywhere, by any means, than to produce another book on the subject.” ― Edward Abbey In this image, the pines emerge from a thickening undergrowth. You can also see evidence of deliberate ‘thinning’ of this managed forest. Larger trees are selectively removed, the forest managers careful to remove the branches, lest they become fuel for fires. The trunks cut… Read More
“Like all sweet dreams, it will be brief, but brevity makes sweetness, doesn’t it?” ― Stephen King Much of the conservation land surrounding my home, including parks and hiking trails, was, at some not too distant time, farmland. It’s difficult to visualize, as I walk through now forested areas. Every now and then though, evidence of former use makes itself known. On one particular site, many perennial sweet peas can be found… Read More
“The world is a beautiful place, you just don’t see it all the time.” ― Phil Mitchell I generally go to Lynde Shores to photograph birds or make lakeshore images. When I approached the viewing platform, I saw a bunch of ducks taking off and surveyed several trees filled with noisy, smelly, cormorants. As I stood there, movement from the corner of my eye attracted my attention. Here’s what I saw: a yearling fawn,… Read More
Hearkening back to milder days, as I ride the train through snow filled landscapes to Montreal. This image was made back in mid-October 2015, as I hiked the southern trails of the Secord Forest. I have made many photographs in the area, but as with many of the photos, the light is always a bit different and what seems familiar suddenly transforms into something altogether new and wonderful. This image is a… Read More
I’m finding myself going back to some photos from last year, around this same time. The primary reason for this is we are having a very mild December, the leaves have now come down and we’re in a bit of a mild, yet gray, time. The vibrant colours of November are a recent memory and days are dull and short. Last year, in mid to late November, we had a few light… Read More
One of the wonders of photography, that I have noted before, is the fact that I can walk past a scene dozens of times and nothing ‘grabs’ me. In this case, there is a nice stand of poplars along one of my favourite hiking trails. I’ve photographed it many times and the results were “average”. I knew it had potential for a great photo, but conditions and lighting were never quite right… Read More
I find myself going back to my photo abstractions frequently. They bring me great pleasure, in that I never know quite how they will turn out. Don’t get me wrong, these are very deliberate photos, and I have a vision in my mind of the outcome. But, the random elements; light, speed, colours, and focus, all add their own unexpected twist to the final composition. Case in point with the image above, I… Read More
The next in my spring wildflower series. Yesterday I went for a lunchtime stroll to my local nature retreat, namely, the Stouffville Reservoir. This area was created as a water conservation site after Hurricane Hazel roared through the region many years ago, creating floods and taking many lives. So, conservation areas were set up to ‘moderate’ water flow through a series of holding ponds. These areas made wonderful nature preserves and allowed for… Read More
Part two of my November 2014 hike. As I said in yesterday’s post, I was actually hiking to a small grove of trees that I had photographed successfully in the past. The light conditions where not good in that location but it was spectacular on my hike in and out of the forest. The photo above is testament to that. The late afternoon sun was close to setting but bright enough to… Read More
Ed Lehming Photography 
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