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“Summer winds down and the landscape switches palettes once more” – Ed Lehming It’s hard to believe that we are now past mid-August, but the signs are everywhere; the days have gotten noticeably shorter, the evenings a bit cooler and damper, and the wildflowers that were blooming just a few weeks ago are gone, replaced by the late summer sunflowers and black-eyed Susans. There is also a very noticeable change in the… Read More
“Wind shapes our world” – Ed Lehming I’ve become far more aware of wind lately. I first started paying attention a few years ago when I moved to Prince Edward County. The “county,” as it’s referred to locally, is an island on the northeast shore of Lake Ontario. Winds tend to blow in from the west, across the open water, and there really isn’t much in the way to calm them. So,… Read More
“Winding down the day, at waters edge, the breeze in my face, there is not much better to end the day in peace.” – Ed Lehming As a continuation from yesterday’s “Standing in Awe” post, here’s the same vantage point but looking to my right. I had nearly forgotten that we were just emerging from a few days of wildfire smoke from northern Ontario, which can be seen lingering on the horizon,… Read More
“There are times when a composition is just automatic. Often the simplest things align to create beauty without effort” – Ed Lehming I’m jumping ahead just a few days from the “Pink Sunsets” series that I just posted. I was looking for something a bit different than the open farmland I’d recently photographed, and I have a spectacular waterfront/beach view only a 20-minute drive from home. The sky was starting to show… Read More
“There is not much more soothing that looking across beautiful vistas and remebering that this is home” – Ed Lehming This is the final image from my early July sunset series. This image was made on the same day as Pink Wave and Candy-Floss Skies. I simply traveled north a bit further up the road. By then, the bright pink billows had subsided and a more typical sunset took their place. Once… Read More
“We look to the sky for wonders” – Ed Lehming This will be my second to final entry from the early July post-storm series. It’s been fun looking back at these recent memories and reflecting on the wonderful, almost surreal skies. The image, aptly named “Pink Wave,” shows a local farm field and a stunning pink cloud formation. This image was made only a short distance from my prior images. It’s a… Read More
“Sometimes there is promise, a hopeful potential, the ‘almost’ hangs just out of reach” – Ed Lehming After a few days of stunning sunsets, this day was a bit of a letdown, and my thoughts were that this was “almost” as nice as the prior days. So I titled it the “Almost Sky.” Yet I look at it now, a few weeks later, and wonder how I could have been disappointed in… Read More
“The storms of life come and go and remind us to enjoy the beauty of good times” – Ed Lehming I need to remind myself constantly that bad times, the “storms” of our lives, are temporary. Time moves on, and better times often follow. This applies to a lot of things, including my creative work. As I noted in my earlier post “After the Storms”, I had gone through yet another creative… Read More
“Summer rolls on, like the constant waves break on the shore, in a rhythm older than time” – Ed Lehming It was early July; the skies had begun to offer some variety, displaying a blend of soft pastels and deeper hues as the day transitioned into evening. So, I headed to one of my favorite spots to see what the late afternoon had to offer. The image above was made just as… Read More
“The everyday, mundane paths can lead to new wonders, if we chose to take them” – Ed Lehming There are many times when I simply look around for things of interest. Sometimes I have no idea what, specifically, I am looking for, but a scene will catch my eye. At the time, nothing particular jumps out, but subconsciously, I know that there is some element worth pursuing. On this instance, I was… Read More
“Water craft of all sizes float on the bay on a hazy summer afternoon” – Ed Lehming The photo above was made while travelling across Picton Bay on the Glenora Ferry. The ferry transports vehicles and people from a dock at the eastern end of Prince Edward County to the mainland to the north. It’s a very short trip of about five minutes but saves a long trip around the bay itself…. Read More
“Late August sunshine nourishes maturing plants. Fruiting vines, like grapes, hang heavy with their bounty.” – Ed Lehming I’ve been spending more and more time at our home in Prince Edward County (PEC). One of the “county’s” claims to fame, and a major draw for urban tourists, are the numerous established and emerging wineries. It’s a wonderful experience to visit the wineries and see all the ripening grapes in the fields, including… Read More
“A common sight in the right light suddenly becomes beautiful.” – Ed Lehming I’ve passed this shed countless times and it barely registers. It’s just an old shed along the road near my home. It’s commonplace and a bit weather-worn. A few evenings ago, as we walked to a local restaurant for diner with friends the early evening light changed the entire appearance of the shed. It glowed in the soft evening… Read More
“In the heat of mid-Autumn, grapes hang thick and ripening in the sunshine. Harvest is not so far off now.” – Ed Lehming Yesterday, we had the opportunity to visit few of the local wineries in Prince Edward County. Many are now offering food as an option. COVID-19 has made wine tastings ‘interesting’ and we experienced many variations on what was once a fairly standard practice. Depending on the winery, its size,… Read More
“Seemingly out of place, on a wide gravel beach, the frog makes its way over the polished stones to the refreshing waters of the lake.” – Ed Lehming On a recent trip to Ontario’s Prince Edward County, we spent some time on a quiet gravel beach. The beach was made of heavily polished limestone pieces deposited by the churning waters of Lake Ontario. These stones where all flat and smooth and extended… 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
“Long, hot summer days and quiet country roads yield surprises and raise questions, to the curious.” – Ed Lehming There are many times when a drive down a backroad offers interesting sights. Most frequently I see an old abandoned building and wonder how it came to be in the state it’s in. I try to picture it when it was first built, envision a family starting a home. As a new house,… Read More
“Hanging heavy with morning dew, a peony blossom among the leaves beams joyfully from the supporting foliage.” – Ed Lehming I couldn’t have asked for a nicer composition, already framed by the bright green leaves of my spiraea bush, these peony blossoms were a joy to behold. It had just rained and the already large and heavy blossoms would have been on the ground had it not been for the spiraea’s support…. Read More
“Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” ― Henry James Indeed, a bright, warm summer afternoon. Among my favourites, despite the lingering heat, there is a sense of comfort. As the day runs on, even the flowers nod their heads in repose. The image I chose for today’s post was made at my wife’s late cousin’s farm as we dropped by this… Read More
“The wind skimmed the waters of the bay, creating infinite tendrils of foam that stretched as far as the eye could see.” – Ed Lehming For me this was a rare opportunity to photograph a scene which I have seen and enjoyed several times over the past few years. It’s a view from the highway 49 bridge over Telegraph Narrows at the eastern end of the Bay of Quinte. The bridge joins… Read More
“Summer moves forward, like a lazy river.” – Ed Lehming Ah, warm summer days, spent enjoying the northern countryside. Everything seems to slow its pace, just a bit. We spend the days drinking in the sweet warm air, and cool ourselves beside gentle streams. Not a care in the world. Pictured here is one of my favourite summer stops. I came across it quite by accident as I was working on documenting… Read More
“It’s the unusual, the ‘out of place’ that gets our attention and prompts us to ask questions.” – Ed Lehming While driving through Prince Edward County, a large peninsula in south-eastern Ontario, some of the main roads run through a fairly large patch of marshland, rather, swamp, since it is filled with shrubs and trees. What makes this so unique is that the swamps, which seem to be wet all year round… Read More
“Summer walks along the creek, the sun playing among the drifting clouds, and life, in full force all around me.” – Ed Lehming Today I spent a day just being; taking things easy and simply letting the day flow. The day started cool and overcast. The forecast called a mix of sun and cloud, which soon became cool showers. The showers eventually cleared and yielded a wonderful soft light which made for… Read More
“It isn’t enough to pick a path—you must go down it. By doing so, you see things you couldn’t possibly see when you started out; you may not like what you see, some of it may be confusing, but at least you will have, as we like to say, “explored the neighborhood.” The key point here is that even if you decide you’re in the wrong place, there is still time to… Read More
“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” ― Ursula K. Le Guin Scenes like this are one of the reasons I hike. I’ve referred to these dappled pools of light as “God-Light”, to quote C.S. Lewis. These small patches of golden light, like pools of energy seem to appear on all but the most overcast days. They are but one… Read More
“Nothing ever really goes away–it just changes into something else. Something beautiful.” ― Sarah Ockler I was debating the title for this image of a spent cicada pupa. I recall seeing thousands of them in the pine forests just outside Atlanta, Georgia a few years ago. We arrived for an event and the campground we were staying at seemed overrun with emerging cicadas. Every tree was covered in these little alien carapaces. To… Read More
“Never forget that anticipation is an important part of life. Work’s important, family’s important, but without excitement, you have nothing. You’re cheating yourself if you refuse to enjoy what’s coming.” ― Nicholas Sparks Part of the enjoyment I get from hiking is the anticipation, the ‘unknown’ about what’s around the next bend. Though I’ve hiked these trails for years now, there is always something new to discover. On days where I feel uninspired,… Read More
“In this hour, I do not believe that any darkness will endure.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien As my journey through the September forests continued the forest and light varied significantly, this is the nature of forests in this area. This constant change offers many opportunities for photos, or simply to stand still for a few moments, enjoying the light playing through the leaves. In small patches, birch trees brighten up the forest with their… Read More
“As the years pass, I am coming more and more to understand that it is the common, everyday blessings of our common everyday lives for which we should be particularly grateful. They are the things that fill our lives with comfort and our hearts with gladness — just the pure air to breathe and the strength to breath it; just warmth and shelter and home folks; just plain food that gives us… Read More
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