Archives
“Ah, September! You are the doorway to the season that awakens my soul… but I must confess that I love you only because you are a prelude to my beloved October.” ― Peggy Toney Horton I like this image for its allusion to transition. The image fades from bright yellow, to the brooding darkness of the pine forest behind it. For me, it symbolises the shift from bright, sunny days, to the cool… Read More
“That old September feeling, left over from school days, of summer passing, vacation nearly done, obligations gathering, books and football in the air … Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year’s mistakes had been wiped clean by summer.” ― Wallace Stegner This image makes me grin. The pine trees appear to be awash or dancing in a sea of yellow created… Read More
“There was no sudden, striking, and emotional transition. Like the warming of a room or the coming of daylight. When you first notice them they have already been going on for some time.” ― C.S. Lewis I’m starting a new series of images documenting the transition from late summer to autumn. The series will be titled “In the Blink” and begins with this image of pine trees, stripped bare of much of their… Read More
“Sometimes life is hard … so we have to squeeze it, touch it, play with it, and make it soft like a dough! Now it’s soft enough to be shaped in any way we want! Keep moving, touching life, as this will keep it smooth and fun!” ― Karina Fonseca Azevedo This photo as sat in my draft folder for many months. I made it with my iPhone, as I hiked a… Read More
“Let me bring you songs from the wood: To make you feel much better than you could know Dust you down from tip to toe Show you how the garden grows Hold you steady as you go Join the chorus if you can: It’ll make of you an honest man.” – Jethro Tull Strangely, the Jethro Tull song that I chose for my quote kept going through my head for much of… Read More
“And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair” ― Kahlil Gibran The earth does delight in our bare feet and the trail rises ahead to greet me. I’ve spent the past couple of weekends back on the local trails, enjoying the fresh air and sound of the wind shaking the branches high above me, the air is filled with birdsong … Read More
“It is in the shade that you look up at a tree and appreciate its efforts.” ― Matshona Dhliwayo The versatility and adaptability of nature is endless. Here, a small fern has found a place in the shade that allows it to grow, protected for the heat, and largely isolated from competing plants. I often see theses mini gardens, some filled with ferns, others with small trees or mushrooms. It seems that all… Read More
“Shafts of delicious sunlight struck down onto the forest floor and overhead you could see a blue sky between the tree tops.” ― C.S. Lewis Light does some amazing things. As a photographer, light is everything and my eyes are quite tuned to the unique characteristics of light. Anything out of the ordinary resonates with me and automatically draws me to it. This was the case on a hot and rainy hike this… Read More
“Sometimes you just had to crawl through the dark before you could see the light.” ― E.L. Montes Butterflies can be a challenge to photograph. They are quite shy and their irregular flight makes them tough to track. But, it’s that irregular movement that makes me notice them. This wood nymph first appeared in my peripheral vision and floated around me for some time before finally landing, far away from me and in… Read More
“The beauty of that June day was almost staggering. 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 Here we are, freshly into summer. I have found myself longing to… 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
“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 I believe I enjoy spring almost as much as autumn. While autumn is filled with brilliant colours, it is also a sort of ending, as the colours gradually fade and the world prepares for a winter sleep. Spring, on the other hand, is also filled with colours,… Read More
“The places of quiet are going away, the churches, the woods, the libraries. And it is only in silence we can hear the voice inside of us which gives us true peace.” ― James Rozoff There is peace in the forest, a peace that I dearly need in this busy world. In the forest, I can participate in the natural cycles, I can anticipate the next species of wildflower to bloom, or to… Read More
“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” ― Anne Bradstreet As I mentioned in my previous post, the beginning of spring was more like an extended winter. It was the kind of year where you wonder if it will ever warm up, but it eventually does. But, spring proper, has been delayed. As I… Read More
“We must leave this terrifying place to-morrow and go searching for sunshine.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald Though the forest image above is far from terrifying, at least for me, it can be a dark, foreboding place to many people, especially when you look deeper into the forest, as the tree trunks weave ever tighter and form a dark wall. Yet, even this wall has a gap and the sunshine pours through it, streaming… Read More
“It is growing cold. Winter is putting footsteps in the meadow. What whiteness boasts that sun that comes into this wood! One would say milk-colored maidens are dancing on the petals of orchids. How coldly burns our sun! One would say its rays of light are shards of snow, one imagines the sun lives upon a snow crested peak on this day. One would say she is a woman who wears a… Read More
“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, “Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.” ― Lewis Carroll The first real snow has dusted the trails, changing the landscape and light. The temperatures have dropped and I expect this dusting will be the start of several snowy days…. Read More
“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” ― Aristotle After thousands of years, the quote is still so appropriate. The outward appearance of this spruce bog is well, quite bog-like, a bit muted, and a bit depressing. But, outward appearances can be deceiving, can’t they? Even the title of this image is more than it seems. The undergrowth and the fallen are essential… Read More
“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost.” ― Martha Graham Welcome to the spruce bog. Though it may not sound exotic, the light and imagery that I experienced on this… Read More
“You might as well ask an artist to explain his art, or ask a poet to explain his poem. It defeats the purpose. The meaning is only clear thorough the search.” ― Rick Riordan And this search goes on., as I embark on another series of photographic abstracts. Yet, despite the quote, I believe I am able to explain my art. I take great satisfaction in these ‘light paintings’. I find that by… 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 moment of peace and silence, breathing in and out the frigid air, watching daylight seep into the forest, hearing the first chatter of distant crows, the wind sighing over the snow and through the fir and pine branches and the twittering of chickadees as they flitted in little tribes from tree to tree.” ― Mike Bond The quote above just about sums it up. On a chilly November morning, I stood at… Read More
“Beneath the rust and grime which dulls the shine of our weathered hearts, joy patiently waits to be rediscovered” ― John Mark Green The Grand finale to the “Shift to Shiver” series is the final image made on a hike I took a few weeks ago. The scene felt like a goodby to the golds and yellows that stayed with us so long this year. But, what a goodbye it was. It seems… Read More
“But give thanks, at least, that you still have Frost’s poems; and when you feel the need of solitude, retreat to the companionship of moon, water, hills and trees. Retreat, he reminds us, should not be confused with escape. And take these poems along for good luck!” ― Robert Graves Atop a shallow slop, a tight cluster of trees rises straight and tall, a competition for sunlight and the nourishment it brings. Some… Read More
“If you are a dreamer come in If you are a dreamer a wisher a liar A hoper a pray-er a magic-bean-buyer If you’re a pretender com sit by my fire For we have some flax golden tales to spin Come in! Come in!” ― Shel Silverstein The title for this image came fairly readily. I was out making photos with my son and he was on a hillside on the path ahead… Read More
“The difference between darkness and brightness is how you thrive on those moments and how you use such circumstances with goodwill in your spirit.” ― Angelica Hopes Here we are nearing the end of September, and the end of summer. I was surprised to see just how much colour change is already occurring not too far north of my home. As my family and I drove through the North hastings region of Ontario… 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
“Nothing is static; things always change. The best you can do is change along with them and work with what you have.” ― Cate Tiernan I really struggled with the title on this one, but the sweeping, slightly giggled movement of the camera reminded me of a dance. The greens and browns blend together in a waltz of light. The movement is a bit more rigid than I prefer, yet created an interesting… Read More
“Nature is a haunted house–but Art–is a house that tries to be haunted.” ― Emily Dickinson Every now and then the gently winding path leads along or within patches of dark pine forest. These mighty trees rise from the ground and weave their branches into a tight canopy, blocking out most of the light. The space below is an eternal twilight filled with dead branches and a thick carpet of pine needles. Despite… Read More
Ed Lehming Photography 
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