Archives
“Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” ― Henry James Goodbye to a most glorious summer and hello to what is predicted to be a long, mild autumn in Ontario. What better image for the summer/fall transition than sunflowers? I see them as a ‘transition’ flower. They bloom mid-summer and continue to grow into the fall. They are frost resistant, though I… 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. Yet another return to the University of Toronto and its doors. Today, I have chosen a peculiar doorway to Trinity College. Though it’s difficult to show the scale on the photo, the doorway is quite short, only about five feet tall. I’m not… Read More
“Do not allow any negativity or ugliness in your surroundings, or anybody at all, destroy your confidence or affect your growth as a blooming flower. It is very normal for one ugly weed to not want to stand alone.” ― Suzy Kassem The bane of all dog owners and hikers. These ‘stick to everything’ seeds of the common burdock are really quite an ingenious way to transport seeds long distances. For those… Read More
“Morning is an important time of day, because how you spend your morning can often tell you what kind of day you are going to have.” ― Lemony Snicket Dawn broke forth bright and very cool this past weekend. That’s the nature of September around here. Glorious, warm days spent basking in the last few weeks of summer, hoping for a mild and extended fall. It’s been a hot and dry summer… Read More
“He told her the flowers in her painting contained exactly the purple substance of the flowers on the desk in front of her […] Let us open the window and see if your painting can entice the butterflies.” ― Sarah Hall Back out on the trails and enjoying the late summer heat. This oddly named plant, native to North America is named on a derivation of an aboriginal name Jopi, who was… Read More
“Long experience has taught me that people who do not like geraniums have something morally unsound about them. Sooner or later you will find them out; you will discover that they drink, or steal books, or speak sharply to cats. Never trust a man or a woman who is not passionately devoted to geraniums.” ― Beverley Nichols I found the quote hilarious. The quote is from Merry Hall, a book about the… Read More
“All in all, it was a never-to-be-forgotten summer — one of those summers which come seldom into any life, but leave a rich heritage of beautiful memories in their going — one of those summers which, in a fortunate combination of delightful weather, delightful friends and delightful doing, come as near to perfection as anything can come in this world.” ― L.M. Montgomery My final memory of an extended weekend away is… Read More
“One passionate heart can brighten the world. From person to person the chain reaction burns through us — setting heart to heart ablaze, and lighting the way for us all!” ― Bryant McGill Here I am at photo four of this expanding project “Ordinary Flower in a Different Light”. Today’s subject is an Annabelle Hydrangea from our front garden. This incredible flowering shrub is quite the sight when fully in bloom. Some… Read More
“If people refuse to look at you in a new light and they can only see you for what you were, only see you for the mistakes you’ve made, if they don’t realize that you are not your mistakes, then they have to go.” ― Steve Maraboli I may just start a series called “Common Flowers in a Different Light”. Since I started experimenting with this studio technique, I’ve found myself… Read More
“We live and breathe words. …. It was books that made me feel that perhaps I was not completely alone. They could be honest with me, and I with them. Reading your words, what you wrote, how you were lonely sometimes and afraid, but always brave; the way you saw the world, its colors and textures and sounds, I felt–I felt the way you thought, hoped, felt, dreamt. I felt I was… Read More
“Writing is something you do alone. Its a profession for introverts who want to tell you a story but don’t want to make eye contact while doing it.” ― John Green This must be the most photographed tree in Markham, a community just south of my home. This oak stands at the top of a convenient mound, nicely isolating the tree from any distracting background. It’s not a true ‘solitaire’ by my… Read More
“When one tunes in into nature’s frequency, life becomes change, change becomes hope!” ― Aniekee Tochukwu Ezekiel This has been a year of change and experimentation for me. It’s all been fairly carefully thought out and exciting. I’ve experimented with new photographic techniques, such as macro photography and new ways of editing, like using some Photoshop plugins to create paintings from my photos. I also experimented with some new varieties of plants in my… 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
Vintage – a repost from awhile back. Here’s the original post “Sir Henry’s Phone” which appeared back in September 2015. Nikon D300 Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 95mm 1/15 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 250 For more images like this, please visit my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/EdLehming or my website (some images available for purchase) http://www.edlehming.com
“The world is exploding in emerald, sage, and lusty chartreuse – neon green with so much yellow in it. It is an explosive green that, if one could watch it moment by moment throughout the day, would grow in every dimension.” ― Amy Seidl Another image from this past weekend. The trees are a yellow-green with fresh leaves bursting from buds and pollen laden flowers. It’s not the best time of years… Read More
“The whole tree when in flower looks as if covered with snow. In the spring when the streams are in flood it is the whitest of trees. In Indian summer the leaves become bright crimson, making a still grander show than the flowers.” – John Muir Recent reports from Yosemite are informing me, in my absence, that the Sierra Dogwoods have begun to bloom. A clear indication that spring is here and… Read More
“Breathe light into your body – breathe light into your Heart – Breathe light into your mind – Breathe and OPEN! Breathe and remember that you are all LIGHT – Infinite LIGHT -Blessed LIGHT- open your heart and SHINE ON!” ― Angie Karan When the elements align, I recognise just how fortunate I am. I’ve also become prepared for many lighting situations which would have challenged me a few years ago. The… 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 With spring just around the corner, this is the time of year where I go looking for signs of life re-emerging. The light is soft and indirect and casts wonderful… Read More
“Given the right lighting, all the colors in the world can be seen in a white object.” – Michele Cooper This time of year tends to be fairly challenging as far as finding interesting things to photograph. The ground tends to be muddy and accessing some areas is tough. There’s also the prevalence of browns and grays with very few bright colours. Yet, if I look around, I can still find some… Read More
“A river seems a magic thing. A magic, moving, living part of the very earth itself.” ― Laura Gilpin A few mere weeks ago, this entire scene was filled with ice and snow. A handful of mild days, and it’s all a memory, preserved and recalled in thoughts and photos. Since I don’t live in an area with high mountains and grand vistas, I take great pleasure in long hikes along the local… Read More
“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.” ― Norman Maclean The above, is one of my favourite quotes. it simply resonates with me… Read More
“Everything in New York is a photograph. All the things that are supposed to be dirty or rough or unrefined are the most beautiful things. Garbage cans at the ends of alleyways look like they’ve been up all night talking with each other. Doorways with peeling paint look like the wise lines around an old feller’s eyes.” ― Ann-Marie MacDonald Yes, it’s my second photo this week of this awesome building, but a… Read More
“I get a little romantic about the old Empire State. Just looking at it makes me want to play some Frank Sinatra tunes and sway a little. I have a crush on a building. I’d been in there several times but never to work. I always knew there were offices in there but the face never penetrated, really. You don’t work in the Empire State Building. You propose in the Empire State… Read More
“Even in its darkest passages, the heart is unconquerable. It is important that the body survives, but it is more meaningful that the human spirit prevails.” ― Dave Pelzer Situated on the north-west corner of the World Trade Centre Plaza, I’m sure this building has some stories to tell, as it sustained some damage during the 9-11 attacks and has a clear view of the Plaza itself. I did not think of the… Read More
“I can’t stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action.” – Tennessee Williams I noticed these awesome light bulbs while waiting for our play, Chicago, outside the Ambassador theatre on West 49th Street in New York. The coffee shop is Caffe Benne, part of the Crowne Plaza Hotel. MAP What really attracted me to them was the variations in bulb type and colour temperature…. Read More
“Sense how Even the smooth stones ache With stories of their own In the shuddering light of day.” ― Scott Hastie Emerging from their icy bondage, two stones, or is it three, rest upon their captor, as ice water flows over them. What’s the story of these stones? They sit alone, apart from others. Where did they come from? The pure ice they rest in fills a narrow but deep, steep walled,… Read More
Elegant in it’s simplicity? Apparently, someone had been throwing rocks onto the ice, hoping for a breakthrough? I returned a few days later to find dozens of rocks littering the ice surface. It turns out that the frost pushed them from an adjacent cliff and the rolled across the ice, coming to rest some distance from their source. Things are not always as they seem. Perhaps this situation is a combination of… Read More
“Let your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes.” – Walt Whitman Like stars in a dark sky, these maple keys glowed against a shadowy forest. Lit by a late afternoon sun that seemed to spark some inner light, more than just the sunlight itself, these dried Manitoba Maple keys mesmerized me. I stood for a while, just enjoying this scene and considering ways to photograph it in a way… Read More
“I will not be just a tourist in the world of images, just watching images passing by which I cannot live in, make love to, possess as permanent sources of joy and ecstasy” – Anais Nin It is a joy to experience, at the deeper level, some of the scenes I come across in my journey through life. Places my feet have travelled many times, at once become magical with the addition… Read More
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