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“The recently closed buds now look like fireworks as warmer days trigger the trees to leaf out and spring comes on in full force.” – Ed Lehming I’ve always been fascinated with just how quickly the forest transforms from its winter phase to full leaf. The tight buds expand quickly and within days fully formed green leaves abound. As I look closely at the new growth, I can almost see the new… Read More
“At the centre of the pine grove it stood, massive, ancient, and humbling. A massive maple, the likes I have not seen; the King of the Forest had my undivided attention” – Ed Lehming I have seen this tree from a distance for year, set deep in a recess of plantation pine. I could see hints of it through the tall trunks but had no idea of its sheer size and majesty;… Read More
“As winter approaches, remnants and reminders of autumn persist, adding colour to the gradual toning down to winter whites.” – Ed Lehming This image was a fortunate combination of two factors: convenient compositional angle and a very wide aperture on my new Iphone 12 Pro. The compositional angle is due to me trying to get the cluster of leaves lined up to my satisfaction, which put all the stems behind the leaves… Read More
“Within the swamps of Prince Edward County, layers of green draw me deeper and deeper as the light shimmers with summer’s heat. Despite days of endless heat and sunshine, the forest remains lush.” – Ed Lehming As I spend time exploring the landscapes of my second home, it’s the swamps that fascinate me. The swamps are not deep oozing bogs; they are filled with wonderful swamp maples which thrive in this unique… Read More
“You can feel it in the air and in memories of the past. Despite the snow and wind, a hint of spring and the coming spring rite of maple syrup whispers at our thoughts.” – Ed Lehming On a recent trip to Ontario’s Prince Edward County, I was drawn to this peaceful scene of a sugar shack nestled in the woods that I spotted across a farm field and knew I had… Read More
“Preparations are underway, chlorophyll fills the cells, rust turns to green, and leaves mature, ready to feed hungry trees, and produce oxygen.” – Ed Lehming Spring is truly underway when the slight yellow and rusty new growth turns deep green. As the leaves develop, the emergent colours fade, ever so slowly, except to those who are with them regularly. The cycle continues, largely unnoticed by most these days, but when you spend… 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. “Abandoned” This image is a far departure from my usual images of stately, ornate doors, yet they are still doors and I found them quite intriguing. As I was out hiking earlier this year, I came across an abandoned maple sap… Read More
“Time leaches the colors from the best of visions. The world becomes grayer. Entropy beats us down. Everything fades. Everything goes. Everything dies.” ― Robert Silverberg Back outdoors again, in the midst of a January thaw, too much of a thaw, actually. As I set out on the trails, expecting ice, which I was prepared for, I was faced with deep, slushy, wet snow, tough to walk in and impossible to grip,… Read More
“We don’t realize that, somewhere within us all, there does exist a supreme self who is eternally at peace.” ― Elizabeth Gilbert This is one of my images made the last week of December. Conditions were ideal to be out on the trails, light was soft and warm, and the temperatures were comfortable. As I was on a few week’s vacation, I spent a lot of time on the trails, enjoying the wonderful sights… Read More
“And just because you turn out differently than everyone’s imagined you would doesn’t mean that you’ve failed in some way. A person who goes to med school because his entire family is full of doctors might find out that what he really wants to be is an artist instead.” ― Jodi Picoult Here’s another image from yesterday’s hike. I’m always impressed at how some plants hang on to their leaves when neighbouring… Read More
“The yellow glistens. It glistens with various yellows, Citrons, oranges and greens Flowering over the skin.” ― Wallace Stevens Good bye, for the season, yellow. Now that December has arrived, there are simply no more traces of bright, sunshine yellow. In autumn, the leaves progressed from crimson, to pinks, oranges and browns, and through it all, there was always a trace of yellow. Be it from birch, maple, or tamarack, there was… Read More
“And that afternoon, as the sun slanted low through the changing autumn leaves, I remembered to savor the moment, soak in the beauty, breathe deeply and feel the immensity of God.” ― Cindee Snider Re The next component to nature’s fall palette around here is orange. Interestingly, when I got closer to this branch for a bright orange maple tree, I found a surprising amount of green and yellow, with patches of… Read More
“Fall colors are funny. They’re so bright and intense and beautiful. It’s like nature is trying to fill you up with color, to saturate you, so you can stockpile it before winter turns everything muted and dreary.” ― Siobhan Vivian Today I started photographing fall colours a bit differently. Rather than the broad sweep of forests in full colour, I decided to look a bit closer at the branches that create this… Read More
“God draws near to the brokenhearted. He leans toward those who are suffering. He knows what it feels like to be wounded and abandoned.” ― John D. Richardson A scene from along the roadside in rural Ontario. When I see stuff like this , I wonder what the story is. How did this old car get to its final resting spot under the canopy of the ancient maple. Did it just die… Read More
“Everything in me feels fluttering and free, like I could take off from the ground at any second. Music, I think, he makes me feel like music.” ― Lauren Oliver I’m finding these wonderful small butterflies everywhere lately. In this case, what I believe to be a mating pair, based on the slight size differences and colouration. It was interesting to watch numerous butterflies floating around in search of a suitable mate…. Read More
“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 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 I absolutely love the William Blake quote above. It goes beyond simply this image. Number 6 in the… Read More
“The magical way the wintertime warms you up is through its frozen beauties!” ― Mehmet Murat Ildan Yesterday, was a spectacular day! Here we are in mid February and the temperatures hit 12° C. The light was glorious and the outdoors beckoned me. So, with camera bag in hand, I set out to enjoy the day and see what it would reveal to me. Since the temperatures last week were around -30°… Read More
“Look at all the things around you, the immediate world around you. If you are alive, it will mean something to you, and if you care enough about photography, and if you know how to use it, you will want to photograph that meaningness.” – Paul Strand I am reminded daily that I live in a living world. That world envelops me, nourishes me, sustains me. My eye picks up on subtle colours,… Read More
Not the most catchy title in the world, but that, essentially, is what this is. A bunch of maple keys, hanging from a tree at the Secord Trailhead. The tree was laying on its side, but I’m not sure exactly what happened to the tree to put it in its current state. What struck me as odd, was that the keys, or seeds, were still attached to the tree at this time… Read More
It’s the end of autumn and winter is making its presence known across the country. This seemed like an appropriate image for the day. On a hike a few weeks ago, I noticed this single maple leaf clinging to a tree. All the other trees in the area had shed their leaves, but this one kept hanging on. I feel that way too. Hanging on to the last moments of fall, knowing… Read More
Generally, titles for my photos come fairly easily. Not so in this case. I looked at the photo over and over and nothing seemed appropriate. It’s also a fairly tall composition, which I have stayed away from, unless absolutely necessary. After a while of looking at the elements, I thought, “This looks like a carnival, with all the bright colours mixing together.” This is a hillside along one of the Secord Conservation… Read More
This has been a beautiful autumn. Generally, by this time of the year, the leaves are down and it’s hinting at the winter to come. It has made photographing fall colors a real pleasure. Bright reds and oranges are everywhere with a nice mix of yellows and some splashes of green, from plants less susceptible to frost. The photo above was made along the 28th Sideline, in North Pickering, Ontario. The old… Read More
As spring continues, more colour and new life emerges, following the cycle of death and re-birth. The delicate structures of new leaves exploding from once tight buds are part of that cycle. A few short days ago, these red maple leaves were just bumps on a branch. Now, you can see the future shape in miniature. The soft morning light created a nice back-lit effect that shows all the structures nicely and… Read More
I think everyone has, or knows of, one of these iconic ‘lone trees’. My friends and family will certainly be familiar with this one, which stands on the top of a hill at Elgin Mills and McCowan Road in Markham, Ontario, across from the Markham Fairgrounds. I have seen many photos of this beautiful maple tree and it’s not so perfect twin. On this particular day in mid-December 2014, a storm was clearing,… Read More
Ed Lehming Photography 
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