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“A return to memory, the chance to relive and reimagine an experience does not happen often in real life, but there is a joy in revisiting memories through photos that has a firm hold on me” – Ed Lehming Since I was a child, I have enjoyed looking back through family photo albums. I am fortunate that I have a family that has been able to document so many events through images…. Read More
“Returning to a memorable place is so refreshing, but we should not dwell there. Life has so many new memories for us to make.” – Ed Lehming I did want to revisit this place and moment one last time. As I mentioned in a previous post, this is one of those opportunities we need to take whenever possible. It was a peripheral image that I made time to experience and I continue… Read More
“On revisiting places and memories, we are reminded of what was. We should not dwell on these things, but recall fondly the place these things had in forming the present” – Ed Lehming I have shared images of these dead pine trees a few times in the past. I came across them several years ago and they stood out to me because they are such a stark contrast to the living forest… Read More
“What do we perceive when faced with something we don’t expect” – Ed Lehming This image, made very spontaneously over dinner a few nights ago, has held my attention since I made it. It’s the result of evening sun shining through a tulip blossom and deliberate focus on one of the anthers within the flower. It’s one of those joyous ‘accidents’ that all photographers get at some point. It’s also the joy… Read More
“The cycle continues, winter leads to spring and the ground drinks in the warmth of the brightening sunshine. Traces of winter remain as distant memories” – Ed Lehming Nowadays I’m even more appreciative of the beautiful outdoor spaces so close to home. It also helps that the snow and ice is gradually receding. Not gone,as there were some quite treacherous stretches that made me happy to have my ‘icers’ on. But, there… Read More
“The ghosts of winter cling stubbornly to thin branches, fluttering as bright reminders of days gone by.” – Ed Lehming As the days warm, the ghostly and diaphanous leaves of the beech begin to fade. Throughout the winter their brightness was a welcome respite from the cold, gray, and seemingly lifeless forest. They have survived the winter winds, snow, and ice, though the season has clearly taken its toll. The leaves, once… Read More
“Memory serves to remind us of the cycles we live in. Nothing is permanent, ever repeating; familiar, yet never quite the same.” – Ed Lehming As spring slowly takes hold, traces of winter still linger in the shadows and low places of the forest, a reminder of the days gone by. Yet, the warming air brings forth the promise of a new season, in yellows, browns, and greens, as the sun touches… Read More
“Winter’s parting left us traces of its touch; a bit of snow, a hint of frost, and cool breezes, as if someone had left a door open.” – Ed Lehming I wanted to revisit my beloved beech trees one last time before they wither into spring. Here, a closer look at the beautiful structure of the leaves, dusted in snow, from this past weekend’s unexpected dumping. The brightness of the pure white… Read More
“Ice, deep, blue and tortured ice; The vault of time, and memory, long past.” – Ed Lehming Words can barely describe the feeling of standing side by side with a glacier. Ice, formed tens of thousand of years ago. Ice, that has travelled for kilometers from high mountain peaks to slowly melt into oblivion, in a muddy glacial pool. The photo hardly does it justice; layers of ice and dust, reminders of… Read More
“I miss your fragrance, sometimes I miss it this much that I can clearly smell you in the air.” ― Qaisar Iqbal Janjua Just in time for the last day of May. This has been a very delayed year for many of our spring flowers, here in Ontario. These just started blooming last week and I was happy to see a few remained for me to photograph. The fragrance of lily of the… Read More
“I drag myself over to the honeysuckle bush and pluck a flower. I gently pull the stamen through the blossom and set the drop of nectar on my tongue. The sweetness spreads through my mouth, down my throat, warming my veins with memories of summer.” – Suzanne Collins I don’t believe there are many fragrances that compare with honeysuckle on a warm summer evening. As I walked the narrow roadways and access points at… Read More
“When nothing else subsists from the past, after the people are dead, after the things are broken and scattered…the smell and taste of things remain poised a long time, like souls…bearing resiliently, on tiny and almost impalpable drops of their essence, the immense edifice of memory” ― Marcel Proust Peony, for me the queen of fragrance and memory. As I stepped outside today, following a brief rain shower, the perfume of this… Read More
8″ x 10″ Acrylic on canvas “Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.” ― L.M. Montgomery As I look out my window, to a cold, rainy day, my thoughts go to all the good times spent the past summers in the Bancroft area, in Northeastern Ontario. A place of wilderness, lakes, rivers, trees, and beautiful light. It’s an area where I do much of my photography,… Read More
“You’ve changed me forever. And I’ll never forget you.” ― Kiera Cass This is, I believe, my final image for my Humpback Whale series. It’s been enjoyable and educational for me to share these images and my feelings about them. It seems an appropriate image to close off on, as the whale emerges from the water, she appears to be waving or preparing for a bow. From this point, she twists to… Read More
Es ist ein Ros entsprungen, aus einer Wurzel zart, wie uns die Alten sungen, von Jesse war die Art Und hat ein Blümlein bracht mitten im kalten Winter, wohl zu der halben Nacht. – author Unknown Today, a break from the birds and an image of a rose from a recently purchased bouquet. The image got one of my favourite Christmas carols rolling through my head. Growing up in a German household,… Read More
“I have been finding treasures in places I did not want to search. I have been hearing wisdom from tongues I did not want to listen. I have been finding beauty where I did not want to look. And I have learned so much from journeys I did not want to take. Forgive me, O Gracious One; for I have been closing my ears and eyes for too long. I have learned… Read More
“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
“Of all the flowers, the rose speaks to me, especially, of love. The delicate petals, layer by delicate layer, draw me to the heart, while the fragrance entrances me with its subtle sweetness. Promising future passions, while echoing back to tender memories” – Ed Lehming I had not, till now, deeply explored my thoughts and feelings on roses. Those feelings are complex and tied together by many threads of memory. My father… 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
“We must begin thinking like a river if we are to leave a legacy of beauty and life for future generations.” ― David Brower Amidst the exciting rainbow trout run at Duffins Creek, other species of native fish are also in the spawn, including the White Suckers, pictured above, which are mixed among the trout as they work their way upstream. As I was walking the shore, enjoying and photographing the trout, I came… Read More
“Beneath your burdensome regrets and who you think you are through the lens of past mistakes, there is someone beautiful who wants to emerge.” ― Bryant McGill Spring has arrived! Though, somebody needs to inform the weather. In stark contrast to last week, this one has been quite chilly. Despite the sun shining brightly and turning open trails to mush, the forest floor remained locked in a shallow frost. At least enough to create… 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
A final (possibly) view to the autumn of 2015, though there are so many more memories to share. The image above was made on one of the many wide trails that criss-cross through the Durham Forest. I like the feel of this scene. The wide trail meanders through the forest, following the general contours of the land. There is something about a meandering trail that I like. Perhaps it’s that there is… Read More
I titled this photo as I did for a few reasons. This is the last photo I ever took of my father before he passed away in 1979. He was determined to take a few last casts before he got in the car after a great family vacation on Moore Lake. He asked if I would come with him and take a picture. I complained about the mosquitoes and not wanting to… Read More
Near my home is a large tract of land (7,530 hectares) which was expropriated by the federal government in the early 70’s as the site of a future airport. After several decades, the airport is no closer to happening, communities have disappeared and, other than a few residences and farms, most buildings have fallen into such disrepair that they have had to be demolished. For a few years it was even a… Read More
Ed Lehming Photography 
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