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“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.” ― Edith Sitwell This image, made on the same day as yesterday’s post, this view of the beech lined trails of one of the East Duffins Headwaters trail system, near Uxbridge, Ontario, is a testament to the beauty that can still be experienced in… Read More
“Spring turns to summer and delicate pinks and whites, give way to bright reds, oranges, and yellows, as nature shifts her palette to match the temperature” – Ed Lehming Today’s photo is another attempt to understand and enjoy the world of macro photography. The bright Orange Hawkweed (Pilosella aurantiaca) is a smallish meadow flower that is common in this area through June and July. It blooms a few weeks later than it’s yellow relative,… Read More
“… the world can give you these glimpses as well as fairy tales can–the smell of rain, the dazzle of sun on white clapboard with the shadows of ferns and wash on the line, the wildness of a winter storm when in the house the flame of a candle doesn’t even flicker.” ― Frederick Buechner Yes, I know, I have lot of photos from Secord Forest, but why not. This little slice… Read More
“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.” ― Alice Walker This diminutive member of the geranium family has been on my mind since I first encountered it a few weeks ago. I’m finding I’ve missed seeing so many of the smaller wildflowers in the past, then, suddenly, they are everywhere and in unexpected places. The first time I… Read More
“Only when we pay attention and notice small moments, do we make the connections that lead to a change in our perspective.” ― Andrea Goeglein It’s pretty amazing what you see over a 5km forest hike, especially in a forest as diverse as Secord Forest. Which, fortunately for me, is only a few kilometers from my home, which makes it a super convenient place to go, without a lot of preparation. Back… Read More
“Oh, the wonder of it! The outrageous beauty! God didn’t have to give us cherry blossoms you know. He didn’t have to make apple trees and peach trees burst into flower and fragrance. But God just loves to splurge. He gives us all this magnificence and then, if that isn’t enough, He provides fruit from such extravagance.” – Lynn Austin I was not expecting to see cherry blossoms this year. All indications were… 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
“Is the spring coming?” he said. “What is it like?”… “It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine…” ― Frances Hodgson Burnett Interestingly enough, despite the cold April we experienced in my neck of the woods, the first white trillium blossom I found, appeared exactly to the date of last year’s. I though for certain that it would be a full week behind, but this beauty,… Read More
“I can still bring into my body the joy I felt at seeing the first trillium of spring, which seemed to be telling me, “Never give up hope, spring will come.” — Jessica Stern The entrance of spring continues. After a day of cutting grass and getting gardens ready, I ventured out to a trail literally in my backyard. My hope was to see a few wildflowers emerging from their winter slumber, especially… Read More
“Solitude is the soil in which genius is planted, creativity grows, and legends bloom; faith in oneself is the rain that cultivates a hero to endure the storm, and bare the genesis of a new world, a new forest.” ― Mike Norton Solitude, sweet solitude, the place where I flourish, dream, recharge. I crave the quiet places, the forest trails, the meadows, and riverbanks. Each experience is such a part of me, and… Read More
“For me, the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity.” ― Henri Cartier-Bresson Spring thaw, though not officially spring, has begun in southern Ontario. The scant snow and ice of this past winter is releasing it’s captives to open air once more. This scene, which I titled “Left Overs” is so typical of some of the trails I hike on. The local conservation authorities have put great effort… Read More
A New Year is upon us and already I am a few days behind my goal of daily blogging. I have numerous excuses but have decided to step into this year excuse free and just look forward rather than dwelling on why I did not do something, by simply doing what is required, to the best of my ability, going forward. The purpose of blogging, for me, has multiple levels: Firstly, it… 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
Back in October, I spent quite a bit of my free time on the local trails, enjoying the mild fall, spectacular colours, and some quiet time to just appreciate the stillness of the forest. At one point on the Secord Forest trail, the path runs through a large group (or stand) of poplars. I’ve tried on a few occasions to photograph them in a way that shows the interesting texture of the… Read More
One of my favourite abstracts from this past autumn. This photo was made while hiking the Secord Conservation Area trails a few weeks ago. As noted on earlier posts, this year produced beautiful gold tones in the beech trees along the trail and the autumn sunlight filtered down to the forest floor, producing a beautiful soft, warm light. I used my vertical pan technique to produce the abstract blur effect which has… 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
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
The next in my spring wildflower series. Yesterday I went for a lunchtime stroll to my local nature retreat, namely, the Stouffville Reservoir. This area was created as a water conservation site after Hurricane Hazel roared through the region many years ago, creating floods and taking many lives. So, conservation areas were set up to ‘moderate’ water flow through a series of holding ponds. These areas made wonderful nature preserves and allowed for… Read More
Yesterday I talked about the cycles of nature and how wildflower blossoms follow a sequence. I posted a series of photos recently, documenting the blooming of several local wildflowers in a bit of a sequence and noted that the white trilliums should soon begin to show. Alas, show they did! I went back to the reservoir trails today, at lunch, to check on a stand of Trout Lilies, also known locally as ‘dog-tooth… Read More
Part two of my November 2014 hike. As I said in yesterday’s post, I was actually hiking to a small grove of trees that I had photographed successfully in the past. The light conditions where not good in that location but it was spectacular on my hike in and out of the forest. The photo above is testament to that. The late afternoon sun was close to setting but bright enough to… Read More
Now that it is finally warming up, I thought I’d take one last look at how this past year’s winter came in. November was fairly mild and offered one light snowfall that quickly melted away in town. The day of the melt, I decided to go out to one of my favourite local trails (East Duffins Headwaters) to get some vertical pans in a grove of trees I have enjoyed on a… Read More
Ed Lehming Photography 
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