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“The tremendous pines towering above the dark marshy soil resembled a gathering of severe mute brothers from a forbidden ancient order worshiping forgotten gods no one had ever heard of outside of the world of secret occult visions.” ― Simona Panova As I went for a long hike last Sunday, looking for inspiration for my next photo series, I found myself in a large expanse of cultivated red pines. These trees would have… Read More
“All of us have had the experience of a sudden joy that came when nothing in the world had forewarned us of its coming – a joy so thrilling that if it was born of misery we remembered even the misery with tenderness” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry As I have worked on this latest series of images, it has become clear to me that I must be ‘in’ the forest, a participant in its life…. Read More
“When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself. “ – Tecumseh The inevitability of trees, and all life on earth, is that they eventually fall, through age, disease, or human intervention. The latter is the case in this image…. Read More
“I’ve always believed there are moments in our lives which can be defined as a transition between the before and after, between the cause and the effect.” ― Benjamin X. Wretlind Along the trail, the trees thin in places, a transition from forest to glade. More light enters along this transition zone, creating an ideal environment for new growth. Composting leaves and thin ground cover allow the sun’s light to warm the ground… Read More
“A forest is not a wilderness, but a community of souls who speak to one another on the wind.” – Anthony T. Hincks Nature creates unexpected patterns, those things that are noticeably different than others. Here, a group of three large trees grows together, sharing the same patch of ground. Their neighbours, are spread fairly evenly, each with its patch of ground, its own source of sparse sunlight and nutrients. Yet, these… Read More
“The voice of beauty speaks softly; it creeps only into the most fully awakened souls” ― Friedrich Nietzsche Bright rays of sun reflects off the tree lined hillside within the Durham Forest. Patches of light shine in golds and silvers, lighting up patches of leaf littered ground and pockets of bright green undergrowth. I found some areas of the forest strangely devoid of undergrowth this year, which struck me as odd during… Read More
“You are the light in a dark place. You are the water to my drought. You are everything I never knew existed and everything I wanted all at the same time.” ― Shelly Crane The next image in my “Into the Green Veil” series is of a large maple tree which stood along the trail, roots spreading deeply into the forest floor. Further into the forest, slightly smaller maples catch golden rays of… Read More
“Sometimes all you need in your life is anything strange because strange things can revive your soul just like a cold water freshening your pale face with every splash!” ― Mehmet Murat Ildan I thought I had missed them. A week ago, as I was hiking a local conservation area, I came across a patch of Indian Pipes, a very strange plant and a bit of a rarity around here. Alas, they were… Read More
“Among the tales of sorrow and of ruin that came down to us from the darkness of those days there are yet some in which amid weeping there is joy and under the shadow of death light that endures. ― J.R.R. Tolkien Over the past few days, I’ve been deliberately spending my lunches in the local forests, reconnecting with the wood and getting back to my love of photo-abstractions. Summer posses a unique… Read More
“I wanted to unfurl my toes for a little while. I wanted silence, isolation and an invitation to exhale life’s complications. I heard nature’s melody and I harmonised with every single note. I needed the trees, their colours, and the sounds of wildlife breathing. I inhaled the essence of the forest and smiled as life coursed through my veins” ― Amelia Dashwood After several extremely busy work weeks and weekends filled with… Read More
“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, There is a rapture on the lonely shore, There is society, where none intrudes, By the deep sea, and music in its roar: I love not man the less, but Nature more” ― George Gordon Byron Alone, but not for much longer. Very soon, this Trout Lily will be surrounded by a sea of yellow blossoms. Once more, I came across an isolated blossom… Read More
“It would seem from this fact, that man is naturally a wild animal, and that when taken from the woods, he is never happy in his natural state, ’till he returns to them again.” ― Benjamin Rush A brief post today of a digital painting I recently made of the cedar forest near Whitevale, Ontario. Despite the cold temperatures, warm sunlight glows from within the forest.
“Birds know themselves not to be at the center of anything, but at the margins of everything. The end of the map. We only live where someone’s horizon sweeps someone else’s. We are only noticed on the edge of things; but on the edge of things, we notice much.” ― Gregory Maguire At first, I thought this was a Downy Woodpecker, the most common species around here, but when I checked my… Read More
Time spent alone, not lonely; Untrodden trails, my footsteps, singular; Unspoiled, for my eyes alone; Newness, freshness; Never seen before, yet fleeting; Nature surrounds me, and astounds me; I am renewed. – Ed Lehming A surprising splash of colour in a predominantly white landscape. I finally had the opportunity to get back on the trails today. We had a few days of unsettled weather, including some freezing rain, a particularly unwelcome visitor for… 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
“I am a forest, and a night of dark trees: but he who is not afraid of my darkness, will find banks full of roses under my cypresses.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche As I was reviewing my photos from the past few weeks, I kept glancing at this one, which at first seemed a bit dark for me. When I opened the thumbnail and looked closer it brought me back to the moment when… 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
“Rather than crying and craving for those who left our path during dark moments of our life, let’s spend some time to thank those who stood and helped us to pass those dark paths.” ― Nehali Lalwani This image was made on a somewhat foggy morning. As the fog dissipated I came across this scene. Amidst a damp low area, filled with spruce and hemlock, stands a small grove of silver birch…. Read More
“But it is a pipe.” “No, it’s not,” I said. “It’s a drawing of a pipe. Get it? All representations of a thing are inherently abstract. It’s very clever.” ― John Green I’ve had a few people comment on the forest abstracts that I create and how I do it. That is something that I have learned through experimentation and though I share my camera settings, the precise method is difficult to describe…. Read More
“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 I mentioned on a previous post, I had the opportunity this past weekend to get back on the trails,… Read More
“You never know what’s around the corner. It could be everything. Or it could be nothing. You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you’ve climbed a mountain.” ― Tom Hiddleston Ah, the weekend again and a nice time to get out and enjoy what autumn has to offer. As I went for a hike with my son we both noted that… 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 At first, this image was in my ‘discard’ pile. The bend and tilt of the trees bothered me… Read More
“If I am brave enough to stand against those who have been groomed by fear, I will recognize that where I get knocked down is all about where life begins, and has nothing to do with where it ends.” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough Although not as bright and sunshiney as my previous images, this one still echoes the spirit of the forest and provides me with thoughts on life and my world. As… Read More
“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” ― Plato This is the fifth and final image from my “God-light” series. On that most wonderful day, where the sun and leaves provided me with a brilliant show of light and colour, I emerged from a darker part of the forest into what was to be… Read More
“Travelling the road will tell you more about the road than Google will tell you about the road.” ― Amit Kalantri My third installation from my autumn walk in the woods. Once more, the image was made in a very brief time frame when the sun shone brightly between the trees, lighting up the forest floor with an unbelievable ‘glow’. C.S Lewis referred to it as a “God-light” and I can’t think… Read More
“I loved sitting on the pile of freshly cut logs, running my hands over the different shapes and smelling their woody fragrance. To this day I think that there is nothing as interesting to look at as a heap of newly cut logs, the delicate colouring of their veined insides telling their life story, while they wait to bring warmth and comfort.” ― Alice Taylor A very simple title for a simple… Read More
“Any patch of sunlight in a wood will show you something about the sun which you could never get from reading books on astronomy. These pure and spontaneous pleasures are ‘patches of Godlight’ in the woods of our experience.” ― C.S. Lewis The light in the forest last week was beautiful and brief. I was able to make a series of these forest ‘abstractions’ while on a short lunchtime walk. All were… Read More
Why we love with close hearts Why we love with souls apart Let the love flow from hearts to souls, Let the world glow” ― Megha Khare For the past few years I have found great pleasure in creating these photo abstractions, all done in camera, no Photoshop blur effects. Several years ago, I was introduced to this technique by a photographer friend who did these for a brief period. She was… 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
Ed Lehming Photography 
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