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“The vibrant greens and rust of new foliage competed with the pure white of the forest floor, carpeted in Trilliums” – Ed Lehming Over the past few days, which have remained cool and slightly overcast, I’ve taken advantage of my proximity to the local forests to spend my lunches on the trails simply enjoying the beauty of the spring forest. Everywhere new life is appearing and the cool spring is taking it… Read More
“You expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintery light. But you knew there would always be the spring, as you knew the river would flow again after it was frozen” – Ernest Hemingway The theme of my posts, of late, has been leftover or left behind photos. All… Read More
“A large drop of sun lingered on the horizon and then dripped over and was gone, and the sky was brilliant over the spot where it had gone, and a torn cloud, like a bloody rag, hung over the spot of its going. And dusk crept over the sky from the eastern horizon, and darkness crept over the land from the east.” ― John Steinbeck Today’s post will be simple and short, accompanied… Read More
“One day, all your worries will set like the sun does and deserved happiness will come gushing like waves at the beach do. All you need to make sure is that your trips to beach never end.” ― Jasleen Kaur Gumber Another glorious end of day at Sauble Beach. Even the gentlest dusk breezes move the water into waves that endlessly lap at the shore. Some, a bit more aggressively than others. I… Read More
“Sometimes life is hard … so we have to squeeze it, touch it, play with it, and make it soft like a dough! Now it’s soft enough to be shaped in any way we want! Keep moving, touching life, as this will keep it smooth and fun!” ― Karina Fonseca Azevedo This photo as sat in my draft folder for many months. I made it with my iPhone, as I hiked a… Read More
“In times of stress, the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers.” ― Fred Rogers Many times, I find these ‘secondary’ photos. Meaning, photos I had not set out to make. In this case, I had gone out to photograph local wheat fields, see yesterday’s post “Abundance“. As I… Read More
“Beware of those who are bitter, for they will never allow you to enjoy your fruit.” ― Suzy Kassem The gooseberries are not just bitter, but well protected. I imagine birds would do alright with these but I’m trying to picture a squirrel or some other rodent trying to deal with these spiky berries. This native fruit bearing shrub is a new one to me, even though I have hiked past this location… Read More
“The beauty of that June day was almost staggering. After the wet spring, everything that could turn green had outdone itself in greenness and everything that could even dream of blooming or blossoming was in bloom and blossom. The sunlight was a benediction. The breezes were so caressingly soft and intimate on the skin as to be embarrassing.” ― Dan Simmons Here we are, freshly into summer. I have found myself longing to… Read More
“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.” ― Maud Hart Lovelace I noticed, as I wrote this post, that I have not posted an image since May 31st. That’s what happens when you step away from something for too long; the time gets filled with other things. The discipline of posting every day has been a very fulfilling experience for me…. Read More
“With brightness and purity like the snow which so recently trapped it, the trillium remembers winter while signalling spring” – Ed Lehming Though I posted a photo of a newly blossomed trillium a few weeks ago, the trilliums in Eastern Ontario, Bancroft, to be more specific, are a bit delayed. Warm air did not arrive here until recently, and with the warm air, new life and growth. Though there is still frost… Read More
“Gentle spring waves wash high upon the shore, drenching the land with moisture and restoring life, winter is at an end.” – Ed Lehming A few short weeks ago, Marble Lake was still ice covered and winter ruled, refusing to relinquish its hold on the land. A deep freeze and late snowfall meant frost remained locked into the ground, blocking the flow of melt water, channeling it on new courses. The ice… Read More
“Living in the present moment is the recurring baptism of the soul, forever purifying every new day with a new you.” ― Alaric Hutchinson And there it was , white, pure, radiant, and completely unexpected. The first trillium the season completely surprised me. From all my time spend in the forest, the steady rhythms of nature have become my own rhythms, a steady progression through time and season. As I entered the forest… Read More
“Change is the end of something you know and the beginning of something else that you don’t know. Something new that holds opportunities.” ― Kholoud Yasser I believe I enjoy spring almost as much as autumn. While autumn is filled with brilliant colours, it is also a sort of ending, as the colours gradually fade and the world prepares for a winter sleep. Spring, on the other hand, is also filled with colours,… Read More
“It would seem from this fact, that man is naturally a wild animal, and that when taken from the woods, he is never happy in his natural state, ’till he returns to them again.” ― Benjamin Rush I am happy to be returning to the forest, which I’m never really away from for long. However, weather and work, have teamed up to make my brief forays into the local forest quite difficult. So,… Read More
“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” ― Anne Bradstreet As I mentioned in my previous post, the beginning of spring was more like an extended winter. It was the kind of year where you wonder if it will ever warm up, but it eventually does. But, spring proper, has been delayed. As I… Read More
“I love the scent of winter. I love the scent of winter enough to suffer the cold for it.” ― Tiffany Reisz It’s been a while since I posted, it’s also been a while since I’ve had anything to share. The cold snap finally eased up to the point where a reasonable person could venture out for a while. It’s felt odd, being cooped up and not making photos. So, I finally got… Read More
“The beauty of any first time is that it leads to a thousand others…” ― Pico Iyer This was the end of November, the first significant snowfall, enough to dust the ground in white and remain well into the day. It was also the last day of any noticeable foliage. The last leaf had fallen to the ground, adding to the blanket of rusty browns. It’s yet another transition time in the forest,… Read More
“It is an absolute human certainty that no one can know his own beauty or perceive a sense of his own worth until it has been reflected back to him in the mirror of another loving, caring human being.” ― John Joseph Powell Today has been interesting. The week was filled with significant milestones: I posted my 1,00th post and hit my 4 years WordPress anniversary. Then, I took a bit a bit… Read More
“The Sun will rise and set regardless. What we choose to do with the light while it’s here is up to us. Journey wisely.” ― Alexandra Elle This is my final image in the “Spirit of the Spruce” series. One of the primary and surprising elements to this series has been the bold patches of light which show in each image; some more, some less. That, to me was the ‘spirit’ of the… Read More
“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” ― Aristotle After thousands of years, the quote is still so appropriate. The outward appearance of this spruce bog is well, quite bog-like, a bit muted, and a bit depressing. But, outward appearances can be deceiving, can’t they? Even the title of this image is more than it seems. The undergrowth and the fallen are essential… Read More
“You might as well ask an artist to explain his art, or ask a poet to explain his poem. It defeats the purpose. The meaning is only clear thorough the search.” ― Rick Riordan And this search goes on., as I embark on another series of photographic abstracts. Yet, despite the quote, I believe I am able to explain my art. I take great satisfaction in these ‘light paintings’. I find that by… Read More
“To those devoid of imagination a blank place on the map is a useless waste; to others, the most valuable part.” ― Aldo Leopold This part of the world looks like nothingness on a map. While there is a town close by, it really is a wilderness area. A land of steep, nearly unnavigable hillsides, dense forest, and swampy wetlands. To me, it’s paradise, a place to unwind and just enjoy an unblemished… Read More
“Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed … We simply need that wild country available to us, even if we never do more than drive to its edge and look in.” ― Wallace Stegner Here’s a familiar sight along the “Boreal Trails”, an interspersing of the dominant species of trees, namely: Birch, Beech, and Balsam. All three are seen in this… Read More
“Edge of the Beaver Pond”
“… there’s a silent voice in the wilderness that we hear only when no one else is around. When you go far, far beyond, out across the netherlands of the Known, the din of human static slowly fades away, over and out.” ― Rob Schultheis I titled this ‘Crossing’ because it illustrates my point in a prior post about the lack of straight paths in the Boreal forest. A large tree has fallen… Read More
“A cold wind was blowing from the north, and it made the trees rustle like living things.” ― George R.R. Martin Welcome to “Boreal Trails”. I thought I’d start the series off with this image of a clump of birches at the bend in a trail. Figuratively, a turn in the seasons. You will notice, as this series continues, a few splashes of colour against a duller green background. Gone now are the… Read More
“A moment of peace and silence, breathing in and out the frigid air, watching daylight seep into the forest, hearing the first chatter of distant crows, the wind sighing over the snow and through the fir and pine branches and the twittering of chickadees as they flitted in little tribes from tree to tree.” ― Mike Bond The quote above just about sums it up. On a chilly November morning, I stood at… Read More
“Beneath the rust and grime which dulls the shine of our weathered hearts, joy patiently waits to be rediscovered” ― John Mark Green The Grand finale to the “Shift to Shiver” series is the final image made on a hike I took a few weeks ago. The scene felt like a goodby to the golds and yellows that stayed with us so long this year. But, what a goodbye it was. It seems… Read More
“Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.” ― Jim Bishop I enjoyed the variability of this image. The relatively sharp maple tree in the foreground is contrasted by the almost wispy texture of the interwoven beech shrubs beyond it. It’s the beeches that I was most fascinated with, as they gradually transition to their coppery winter tones. There are still a few hints of green, but that will… Read More
“It looked like the world was covered in a cobbler crust of brown sugar and cinnamon.” ― Sarah Addison Allen As autumn progresses, the brightness fades by degrees. To capture the stunning light of the past weeks is proving more of a challenge over a few cloudy days on the trails. It all fits into the theme of this, my “Shift to Shiver” series. By now much of the once golden canopy has… Read More
Ed Lehming Photography 
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