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“It seems that most tasks are easier and more enjoyable when we have companions to accompany us.” – Ed Lehming This photo was caused by a bit of fortunate timing and my desire to recreate an image I made several years ago. Fortunate timing in that this spring has been quite unpredictable and the regular cycles that I follow are off by a few weeks. My trigger for visiting this local creek… Read More
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” ― Marcel Proust I found this interesting plant last year, growing in an isolated patch. There are no other instances of this plant in the area, so I’m wondering if it hitchhiked to its current location. It’s a beautiful but strange-looking plant. Like the common yellow coltsfoot which grows in the same area, it blooms before… Read More
“Life is a first impression. You get one shot at it. Make it everlasting.” ― J.R. Rim Another ‘first’ flower. This one was completely unexpected, which makes it all the more special. I had set out to make some more photos of the newly emerged bloodroot, which went quite well, despite wind gusts that interfered in my making the exposures as long as I prefer. As I finished photographing a nice cluster of bloodroot,… Read More
“Under the Fall” Here is my entry for Del Monte Y Mar’s Tuesdays of Texture Challenge Week 16 of 2017. The ‘texture’ of water. The rolling structure and varying colour is what caused me to make this photo of teh churning water below a local dam. I wasn’t sure if i’d use it for a Tuesday Texture submission, by the more I looked at it the more I was compelled to do so. Nikon D800… Read More
“When you know that something’s going to happen, you’ll start trying to see signs of its approach in just about everything. Always try to remember that most of the things that happen in this world aren’t signs. They happen because they happen, and their only real significance lies in normal cause and effect. You’ll drive yourself crazy if you start trying to pry the meaning out of every gust of wind or… Read More
“Spring Thaw on Duffins Creek” – Whitevale “Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. Water is not a solid wall, it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it.” ― Margaret Atwood I have a love for water, especially moving water, and there is plenty of… Read More
“Do stuff. Be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager.” ― Susan Sontag Likely Heath Asters, but I did not send a lot of time trying to differentiate between the multitude of white asters. This is another image made outdoors with my portable setup. In… Read More
“No living thing is ugly in this world. Even a tarantula considers itself beautiful” ― Munia Khan Yes, I know, very original title, but I could not get it out of my head. I was out for a few hours with my son last weekend, playing with a new Nikon 60mm macro lens, making photos of wildflowers with my portable setup, shown a few days ago. As we were hiking back out,… Read More
I think I like wildflowers best,” I explain. “They just grow wherever they want. No one has to plant them. And then their seeds blow in the wind and they find a new place to grow.” – Rebecca Donovan This image was made a few days ago with my portable background. A few have asked what that setup looks like. Here’s a typical shot, using the sow thistle above as an example:… Read More
“Love should not cause suffocation and death if it is truly love. Don’t bundle someone into an uncomfortable cage just because you want to ensure their safety in your life. The bird knows where it belongs, and will never fly to a wrong nest.” ― Michael Bassey Johnson As I stood at the base of the Whitevale Dam, watching the trout spawn, I noticed this little bird, perched atop a broken tree… Read More
“The most fulfilling adventures happen when you start your journey without knowing where you’re going, because only then are you free to experience the unexpected detours you’re meant to take.” ― A.J. Darkholme Ah, yes, the unexpected, one of my greatest delights. I set out to make photos of fish spawning in a local creek and come across a large, beautiful cluster of spring flowers I have never encountered before. They looked a… 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
“This life is yours. Take the power to choose what you want to do and do it well. Take the power to love what you want in life and love it honestly. Take the power to walk in the forest and be a part of nature. Take the power to control your own life. No one else can do it for you. Take the power to make your life happy.” ― Susan… Read More
“When you do or think or feel something, do it with passion. Let it come from the heart. Put your heart and soul in it. And when you do, you will feel a river flowing sweetly through you and especially through your entire life. Life has much more meaning that way. ” ― Angie Karan A painterly image I made yesterday, based on a photo of two trout swimming upstream at the Whitevale… Read More
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” ― John Lubbock When time allows, I like to visit Duffins creek and stroll the riverbank, especially at this time of year. The narrow wooded trail follows the shoreline, through grand cedar… Read More
“Come with me into the woods where spring is advancing, as it does, no matter what, not being singular or particular, but one of the forever gifts, and certainly visible.” ― Mary Oliver The inevitable cycle of spring continues with its succession of flowering plants. First to bloom is the Coltsfoot, the next, which just started to bloom yesterday, predictably, about a week after the Coltsfoot, is the Bloodroot – Sanguinaria canadensis. I love this… Read More
“Whenever there is stillness there is the still small voice, God’s speaking from the whirlwind, nature’s old song, and dance…” ― Annie Dillard Chilly water flows beneath icicles formed by the spray of the creek below. I found this to be an odd sight. April in my area has been ‘confusing’. We had beautiful sunshine and mild temperatures, followed by a deep freeze, snow, freezing rain, and strong winds, all within a… Read More
“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity… and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.” ― William Blake I absolutely love the William Blake quote above. It goes beyond simply this image. Number 6 in the… Read More
“No one is without troubles, without personal hardships and genuine challenges. That fact may not be obvious because most people don’t advertise their woes and heartaches. But nobody, not even the purest heart, escapes life without suffering battle scars.” ― Richelle E. Goodrich The dark shape hovers, just below the surface. Defying the rush of the frigid spring waters. Moving neither forward, nor back. Fixed in it’s intent, it’s goal. Progress from… Read More
“Peace is not found by seeking it but in simply letting it be.” ― Janni Styles I’ve enjoyed this small brook that flows from a farm field into Duffins Creek below Whitevale. The sound of the water flowing over the rocks is so calming. I could sit there all day and simply enjoy the peace. I made this photo just before a light, early April snowfall started (not impressed by that feature)…. 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 After what started off as a gorgeous March, with above normal temperatures and bright sunshine, things changed mid-month, and we got into a cycle of cold days, snow flurries, and some freezing rain. This turned the nice dry trails back to a mix… Read More
“I could wade into this river, let my sins drown to the bottom, let the waters carry me someplace far. Someplace with no ghosts, no memories, and no sins.” ― Khaled Hosseini In what has become a springtime ritual for me, since discovering the phenomenon, some 20 years after living here, is walking the shores of Duffins Creek, near the town of Whitevale, and enjoying the annual trout run from Lake Ontario, to… 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
“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
“Every moment and every event of a man’s life on earth plants something in his soul” – Thomas Merton It’s the simple pleasure of walking by a group of dried flower stalks and seeing something wondrous in them. Among the winter kill, these plants, though dead as well, refuse to lay down. Instead, they stand along the shores, nearly six feet tall, enduring the elements like some wild sentinels. Though cold winds blow, snow… Read More
Above is another photo of the winter waters of Duffins Creek, north of Pickering , Ontario. It seems the creek had frozen solid to the bottom recently, as water was flowing over the ice in many places. This scene caught my attention as the sun revealed interesting aqua tones in the ice beneath the surface. The ice had tilted slightly, causing a bit of an ebb, or backflow, and created this wave… Read More
It appeared that the water was escaping from beneath the weight of the ice and dancing across the rocks and another more appropriate title did not come to mind. The early afternoon light filtered through from behind me and lit up some of the rocks, creating a beautiful glow on the rocks under the fast moving water. Once more, I tried to convey the sense of movement and urgency by doing a long… Read More
I have to admit that I have been to these falls many times over the past few years, but never in winter. The falls are the result of a dam being build to keep and introduced species of trout from migrating too far upstream and eating the eggs of the native brown trout. I’ve posted a few photos of this dam in the past. The winter scene is beautiful, especially in the right… Read More
On a particularly nice day in mid-January, I went for a much needed hike along the Seaton Trail, south of Whitevale, Ontario, with my son. The day was an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and make some photos. The creek was partially frozen over and full of wonderful detail in hues of blue and green. Above is a view of the typical scenery showing ice coverage and flow. The plants are all… Read More
To start this out, I’m stealing a wonderful quote from a fellow blogger spanishwoods. “In my opinion, the most ordinary things, the most common and familiar, if we could see them in their true light, would turn out to be the grandest miracles . . . and the most marvelous examples.” —Michel de Montaigne The above statement resonates with me on so many levels. I don’t live in an area with grand vistas,… Read More
Ed Lehming Photography 
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