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“Even on the coldest February days, signs of life appear in the forest” – Ed Lehming A walk in the winter forest is something I have always appreciated, but many times it has been in complete silence. There are no sounds of birdsong in the air, missing is the rattle of woodpeckers, and the distant caws of crows high above me. There is no movement and the forest sits silent, seemingly devoid… Read More
“March teased and taunted with hints of spring, but ended with a reminder that nature is in command, not the calendar, as warm rains turned to sleet and snow” – Ed Lehming It has been a very odd March, a very odd March indeed. The month started out as many Marches do in this area: with lengthening days interspersed with snow storms and sunshine as the weather patterns swing towards milder days,… 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’s the nameless who leave a vestige in their wake.” ― Anthony T. Hincks Spring, and as the wildflowers emerge from their winter’s rest, the survivors of the winter elements still cling tenaciously to their branches. The beach leaves, which have provided such wonderful hints of colour throughout the bitter, gray, winter months, are now showing the ravages of the season. Leaves once bright yellow and copper, hang from the slender branches as… Read More
“Home is where you go to find solace from the ever changing chaos, to find love within the confines of a heartless world, and to be reminded that no matter how far you wander, there will always be something waiting when you return.” ― Kendal Rob “The Return” The return of migratory birds and the return of spring. Two things that go together nicely. Here we stand, on the cusp of spring, recent… Read More
“To focus solely on endings is to trade conclusions for the very beginnings that created them. And if this cycle should persist, we will likewise miss the beginning that will follow this ending.” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough This year concludes, as it began, with a simple image of a hemlock cone. This was not intentional on my part, it’s simply how things work sometimes. It’s a different tree, in a different forest, three… Read More
Because forgiveness is like this: a room can be dank because you have closed the windows, you’ve closed the curtains. But the sun is shining outside, and the air is fresh outside. In order to get that fresh air, you have to get up and open the window and draw the curtains apart. – Desmond Tutu After hiking through a fairly dark and dull patch of forest, I was greeted with this ‘gateway’… 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 While on an extended hike yesterday, making photos for my next series, I entered a large meadow, filled with bright yellow… 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
“Mindfulness is about love and loving life. When you cultivate this love, it gives you clarity and compassion for life, and your actions happen in accordance with that. “ – Jon Kabat-Zinn It’s allergy double jeopardy, a bee on ragweed. Strange, I used to have a real aversion to bees and wasps. Now that I am pursuing more macro images, I find myself surrounded by them, as I strain for that next… Read More
“If today is not your day, then be happy for this day shall never return. And if today is your day, then be happy now for this day shall never return.” ― Kamand Kojouri I wanted to revisit this first peony blossom today. The image is made from a slightly different angle. When I shoot in the studio, I almost always set the subject up intuitively and stick with that shot. A… Read More
“In this delicate and unpredictable life, the future is unwritten. Do not take someone for granted today, for once tomorrow dawns upon the indigo night the only remaining trace will be tracks in the sand…” ― Virginia Alison I find myself once more, considering the delicate beauty of the Siberian Squill that grows in my gardens. Since I made the original image of the stunning blue blossoms a few days I keep going back… Read More
“There’s a lesson in every silence.” ― Aniekee Tochukwu Ezekiel The new life is a thing of wonder to me. After months of cold and snow, fresh sprouts emerge from the earth and trees begin to bud. The dull grays and browns are interrupted with bursts of colour. As I walked to a local forest a few days ago, I was really drawn to these intensely coloured leaves. When the sun hit them… Read More
“It is strange how new and unexpected conditions bring out unguessed ability to meet them.” ― Edgar Rice Burroughs Many-coloured Polypore, to be more precise. Finally, after several weeks, waiting for the ice to come off the trails and for some of the muck to dry up, I hit the trails today. My goal was to find some sign of new life. I was let down on that front, much of the forest floor… Read More
“Life isn’t static, and sometimes, we don’t realize the value of knowledge or even of people, until further down the track, when we’re mature enough to truly understand.” ― Nalini Singh Watching this lily mature has been an interesting process for me. Photographically, because I’m trying to keep the image attributes consistent, without leaving my camera set up, as well as from an observation standpoint, as I watch a natural process unfold… Read More
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” ― Anaïs Nin I’m revisiting yesterday’s lily, as the second blossom begins to open. I thought it would be an idea to document it over the next few days. The first blossom is still looking lovely, which was a surprise to me. I had expected it to flatten out more,… Read More
“Step back in perspective, open your heart and welcome transition into a new phase of life.” ― Linda Rawson I’ve been meaning to share this photo for a few weeks now. It was made back in December, when I was playing with some saved fall leaves. You see, back in October I came across many of these ‘undecided’ poplar leaves, half green and half yellow. I started referring to them as lemon-lime… Read More
“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something. So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes… Read More
“I am the lover’s gift; I am the wedding wreath; I am the memory of a moment of happiness; I am the last gift of the living to the dead; I am a part of joy and a part of sorrow.” ― Kahlil Gibran In this case, a gift of love. This time of year, as the days shorten and the nights cool, I am reminded of my first date with my… Read More
“There comes a time in your life, when you walk away from all the drama and people who create it. You surround yourself with people who make you laugh. Forget the bad and focus on the good. Love the people who treat you right, pray for the ones who do not. Life is too short to be anything but happy. Falling down is a part of life, getting back up is living.”… Read More
“The whole point of getting engrossed in something that interests you, is that you dissolve into it, the more the intensity…the more you become vapour – you dissolve. In fact, there is no you to judge, to see… only emptiness within, that is the whole purpose of life… at least my life!” ― Ramana Pemmaraju Above, is another photo of “The Gut”, a location mentioned in an earlier post. This time, looking… Read More
“When we tug at a single thing in nature, we find it attached to the rest of the world.” ― John Muir I’ve spent a lot of time of the trails this year, watching the earth grow greener with every passing day. The brown forest floor literally exploded with life, which kept expanding,growing, thriving and eventually blossoming with flowers, providing beauty for me and nectar for bees and butterflies. The forest has… Read More
“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.” ― Maud Hart Lovelace A few days ago, I had the great pleasure of attending my youngest daughter’s High School graduation. It seems another chapter in our lives has drawn to a conclusion and another begins. As a gift for her graduation, her boyfriend gave her a beautiful bouquet of roses, including these… Read More
“Life is not made up of minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years, but of moments. You must experience each one before you can appreciate it.” ― Sarah Ban Breathnach As with its yellow blossoms, many people mistake the coltsfoot seed heads for those of the dandelion. That is, until you take the time to look closer. I’m finding more and more that people are just not taking the time to actively participate… 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
“For the newborn and wise, everything begins small.” ― Suzy Kassem Once more, the unexpected, on a very familiar walk. I’m not sure where this little fellow started out from, but he’s about the size of a quarter and looks to be freshly hatched. He was sitting on a gravel walking path and eventually made it to this grassy section. One thing is for certain, he has a long and perilous journey ahead… Read More
“If you feel you have to open a particular door, open it, otherwise all your life that door will haunt your mind!” ― Mehmet Murat Ildan I could not turn down the opportunity to photograph this bright display on a downtown Montreal street for this week’s Thursday Doors submission. Mind your step 🙂 iPhone 5s back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 1/120sec; f/2.2; ISO 64 For more images like this, please visit my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming or my website (some… Read More
“I am learning my way toward something that will make sense of my life, and I learn by going where I have to go, with whatever companions I am graced.” ― Dean Koontz At the base of a dead beech tree, these companions add brightness and life, among the dead and decomposing elements surrounding them. For some unknown reason, the large beech trees in this local forest all died a few years ago…. Read More
“The strongest oak of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It’s the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun.” ― Napoleon Hill Though I saw no markers, my map showed this to be a cemetery, further investigation, this was actually the Old Lakeshore Road and it was… Read More
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