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This year’s final post is a reflection on a winter past. As I noted throughout the fall, it has been a particularly mild year and we had no significant snow or cold weather till a few days ago, and even that was fairly insignificant. Two years ago, we got hammered with an ice storm that buried us in a combination of wet snow and ice. This mixture quickly froze into solid ice and… Read More
As my fingers froze inside my gloves, I still took the time to look at the wind driven waves in awe. With 50 km/h winds pushing the waters toward the beach, long ribbons of water rolled over themselves, pulling sand from the shallow waters below them. Such is the case here. A long wave, about a meter high, rolls in and carries strange forms within it, as the darker sand is lifted from the lakebed and… Read More
As noted in a recent post, there is an area along Highway 7, in Eastern Ontario, with a very unique topography, made up of long bands of granite and close packed, narrow, and parallel valleys and ponds. Unlike regions like the Adirondacks, with its beautiful rolling mountains, this is like a miniature, compressed version. From the highway, the ridges don’t seem to be for than a few meters high and are populated… Read More
This photo was made in early November and autumn had settled in comfortably, for an extended stay. The days had already shortened enough to bring out amazing, bright colours, but the air was warm and comfortable. Best of all, the bugs were gone; even the dopey fall wasps. Along a minor path of the south-east corner of the East Duffins Creek Headwaters trail is this beautiful grove of maples, interspersed with beech trees. The maples… Read More
There is an interesting stretch of highway in eastern Ontario, where the road follows the unusual topography, consisting of many long ponds between low strips of granite. When viewed from above, it’s like a large series of wrinkles in the earth’s crust. The bare rock and water filled valleys are so different from anything else along that road that it made me pay attention to it. Among those rocks and ponds are numerous… Read More
There was something about this stand of poplars that made me pull over on a drive back from Ottawa last week and make this image. At the time, I couldn’t quite put my finger on what, exactly, it was that made this scene so interesting. As I worked with the image I looked at several aspects and edited it various ways, looking for what it was that first drew my eye to the… 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
This photo seems appropriate for today. The weather here is dull and overcast, once more. It reminded me of this time last November, as I walked through a farm field at Fraser Lake Camp. It was also a gloomy day, and much cooler than this mild December. This was around 10:00am and the clouds, which had been just a flat sheet of gray, transformed themselves into this wonderful wave pattern, for about… Read More
A look back to last month, when I spent a few rain soaked days in the Fraser Lake area. This photo, made from the boat launch at the north end of the lake, encompasses a lot of what those days were like. It was still quite mild for mid-November, but a slow moving low pressure system had set up and filled three solid days with off and on rain, mist, and variable winds…. 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
Every now and then, a splash of colour catches you, unexpectedly. That was the case a few days back when I was hiking the Seaton Trail, near Whitevale. Let’s keep in mind that was the first week of December. Last year we had already experienced a few substantial snowfalls and cold temperatures, well below freezing. This year, we are still well above freezing but everything has had a good frosting. So, with… Read More
I can’t help but reflect on this verse when I seen this scene on Duffins Creek, just south of Whitevale, Ontario. “They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” The image of this tree, rooted firmly… Read More
Time for some brightness in this dull December. After numerous drab, but mild days, the sun finally shone though, albeit for only a few hours. As I looked out my office window at the beautiful warm glow, I decided my lunchtime would be spent on a trail. So, I packed my gear and headed off to the woods. It’s such a wonderful benefit having all these woodlands so close by that I can… 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
It’s a very rare occasion where you can return to the location where you made a good photo and try to make it better, especially a landscape photo. A few years ago I made a photo of a horse grazing in this same spot. That photo has been very popular and was featured in the North Hastings “Destinations” guide. A local tourist publication. I even sold a few larger prints of it…. 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
Wow, I wonder who came up with this brilliant name? I came across this rather bright fungus during a recent hunting trip. Well, it was more like walking through the woods with a gun, and a camera. It was certainly not an ideal hunting day, but the subdued light and wet conditions (it had rained for 3 days straight) were ideal for photography. I had my 70-200 f/2.8 with me to make… Read More
Sometimes, with the right light, a simple scene along a roadside or a hiking trail can be a thing of tremendous beauty. It’s something I come across all the time. I tell my friends that this is how my eyes work, and I can’t turn it off, nor, would I want to. Take as an example, the photo above. It’s just two oak leaves which have fallen and come to rest on… 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
Did I mention I love the light in the fall? During one of my hikes this fall, I was covered with a glowing canopy of golden beech leaves, brightly lit by the sun. All the light around me was this beautiful, warm yellow/orange and the entire forest just glowed. Amid all this warmth, it was difficult to isolate a single image that showed the source of this wonderful light. This image is… Read More
This photo is pretty much a summary of how autumn has played out for me. We have had an extended season, with mild weather, sunny skies, and leaves that seemed to cling to the trees for weeks, despite frosty nights, rain, and wind. Unlike a typical fall, where I’m looking out the window, anxious to get out and make photos before the conditions fade, this year yielded day after glorious day of… Read More
The final installment of my raindrops in fall series, for this year. This photo was made a few seconds before my “Unexpected Beauty” image. The difference is really the background. This one is a bit darker and lacking the blue background of the forest. It does show more of the raindrops, which is what initially drew my attention. I did not want to open close the aperture too much because I wanted… Read More
I’ll admit to it. I’m often looking for images to use as wallpapers for my desktop. I guess I have a bit of desktop ADD. I don’t like looking at the same images over and over and am always looking for something new and close to me. There are many times where I see a suitable subject and photograph it, with the sole intention of creating a desktop wallpaper for myself. This… Read More
One of the wonders of photography, that I have noted before, is the fact that I can walk past a scene dozens of times and nothing ‘grabs’ me. In this case, there is a nice stand of poplars along one of my favourite hiking trails. I’ve photographed it many times and the results were “average”. I knew it had potential for a great photo, but conditions and lighting were never quite right… Read More
It’s fall. Time for me to get out into the woods and just enjoy being there. It’s been a late fall here and the temperature is still mild, considering the time of year. We’ve been visited by a few flurries and light frosts till last night. The colours are spectacular and trees slow to shed their leaves. Essentially, ideal fall conditions for photography and just enjoying nature, in all its glory. I… Read More
I find myself going back to my photo abstractions frequently. They bring me great pleasure, in that I never know quite how they will turn out. Don’t get me wrong, these are very deliberate photos, and I have a vision in my mind of the outcome. But, the random elements; light, speed, colours, and focus, all add their own unexpected twist to the final composition. Case in point with the image above, I… Read More
A revisit to what started as a beautiful mid August day at Sauble Beach this past August. We had heard forecasts of rain all day, but the day started out sunny and windy. Since it was too windy for a good game of volleyball, we all headed to town for a bit to shop. Shortly thereafter, the clouds, which had been hanging far out on the lake started to roll in and… Read More
This is a VERY recent photo I made this past weekend during a family event near Ancaster, Ontario. As usual, I had my camera along to capture those family moments, but I found my kids had that pretty much covered off. Yes, my children like photography too. I had visited this location many times before and had photographed it many times, and so, was having a hard time figuring out what I… Read More
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of spending the weekend with family and friends at Ontario’s Sauble Beach, on Lake Huron. It began as a wonderful hot summer day splashing in the surf and playing hours of volleyball. The forecast was for thunderstorms late in the day. We watched across the water as the sky gradually darkened. The storm approached over the lake like a black wall, slowly creeping our… Read More
Ed Lehming Photography 
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