Photo of the Week 2012-01-30

Two weeks ago, Lynn and I took Murphy for a hike on the east section of the Cambridge Mill Run Trail. This Sunday we returned to complete another section of the trail from Beaverdale Rd west to ... where ever about an hour round trip would take us.

We left Guelph mid-afternoon and as we drove over to Cambridge it started to snow.

... and it snowed


... and it snowed, and snowed, and snowed.

It was snowing heavy when we parked and geared up. As we headed west along the trail I was surprised by the amount of snow and that it seemed to be coming almost straight down. It lasted just long enough for our walk.

I love winter walks in the snow ... and winter photography.

DJE

lace 'em up

lace 'em up


OK boys ! It's time for the Wobbly Katz to take to the ice for 2012. The annual event (my 3rd) is this weekend, Ajax ON.

Our Rag-Tag bunch (hard to call us a team) of "good ole" and some younger boys has a blast getting our butts whipped by teams with average ages that could be son's to some of us. You know it has to be a "stellar" performance when I rank near the top for team scoring.

Let's try to win "one" this year ... LOL

DJE

Photo of the Week 2012-01-23

reflective conversation


One of the members of my photo club suggested a mid morning outing in Downtown Guelph this past Saturday. Normally I head out early in the morning to take advantage of the wonderful light available before the sun is higher in the sky and blasting away on it's MAX setting. Oh there are times when the cloud cover is just right, diffusing the sunlight to soften shadows and tone things down a bit. Saturday was not one of those days. The sky was clear, blue and allowing the full strength of the sun to pass.

This was an outing to explore opportunities that would use or manage the harsh light. Shadows and textures are always more dramatic in full sunlight and care must be taken to make an image that works. Glare and reflection too can be difficult to manage, but ...
... sometimes it can be the reflection that makes, not breaks, the image.

As I walked up Douglas St. approaching the Red Brick Cafe near the end of our outing, I saw 2 people sitting inside having a conversation. The window was fogged on the inside and I moved to get a composition I liked but the reflection of the Gummer Bldg reconstruction across the street was quite distracting. I snapped the image anyway and once I saw the result on my monitor at home, I found it appealing.

others from the outing

Stairs to Knox


brick 'n blue


DJE

headin' south

headin' south


I took Murphy for a walk on some trails in the south end this morning hoping to catch a glimpse of maybe a Coyote or a Deer. I went armed with my 1DMk2N with 300 f/4 and my G12 for some scenics. No luck on the Coyote or Deer, but I'll keep trying. I did see a Coyote walk 20 meters in front of my vehicle a few weeks back when I was driving out of one of our work properties ... maybe I'll head back there and set up one morning.

What I did see over and over were various sized formations of Canada Geese flying overhead, honking and making quite a racket as they start "headin' south". Winter seems to be arriving, late for sure, but there's snow on the ground and the ponds are freezing over. The weather forecast is for rising temperatures and some rain in the next few days. "What gives?" It's supposed to be winter and well ... the Farmer's Almanac is calling for a "Very Wet Stormy Cold" Winter.

DJE

elders of the forest

Working on some images of trees lately I realized that I had never posted any from my visit to Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island back in August 2011.

elders


What an experience to stand among these giants ... what they must have experienced in the centuries they have been standing vigil.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2012-01-16

forest sentry


In addition to just getting out and enjoying a walk on a new trail with Lynn and Murphy, it's a bonus when I come across a great scene to photograph.

On Saturday, the mid-afternoon temperature was around -9*C and we were hiking a section of the Cambridge Mill Run Trail west of Guelph Ave. Following the path along the Speed River we could see Murphy's breath in the cold air as he took the point like he always does. There's something about a hike on cold, crisp, bright days ...

DJE

Photo of the Week 2012-01-09

Arboretum Sunrise

Lynn usually walks Murphy in the morning, but she was in TO this weekend so I decided to take him with me to the Arboretum ... along with a camera.

It was a brisk and refreshing walk along a series of connecting paths through the grounds. I was heading for a favourite stand of birches to see if the sun had risen enough to throw some warm morning light on them. I turned to head through the English Garden when I caught the sun just over the horizon.

A couple of dog treats kept Murph busy while I composed and made a few images. I like the limited colour pallet presented by this winter morning scene.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2012-01-02

succumbed


My annual trip up to Tobermory between Christmas and New Years Day started out on the 27th in grey drab conditions that soon turned to rain. I eagerly anticipate some of the first real winter conditions of the season to set the tone on this trip. Needless to say, I was not enthused by rain ... until it turned to sleet, then wet-snow and eventually large fluffy flakes falling near vertically as we turned east back to Hwy 6 from Red Bay.

The road passed by a large wetland marked with barren, near dead trees. The snow was so heavy at this point, it provided a fog like background and some surreal atmosphere for my images. As I walked along the roadside working different compositions, a branch of one fallen tree seemed to be reaching up as it succumbed to the wetlands grasp.

... another very successful photo trip, with (hopefully) more images to come in this blog ... before they succumb to the wasteland of my hard-drive.

DJE

First Light 2012

... again, the challenge, "First Light" of the New year.

First Light 2012


Shot for our annual "First Light Challenge". This year 3 of us went out in Guelph to capture the first light of 2012. It was tough sluggin' since sunrise at 7:54 am was masked by a thick blanket of cloud throwing only cold blue diffused light over everything. After walking away from this bridge to shoot nearby, I noticed a small break in the cloud on the horizon and returned to scurry back down the riverbank to compose this shot with the light under the bridge ... shot at 8:09 am, just after official sunrise.

Thanks to Allan England (no relation that I know of) and his images on flickr for reminding me that Ultra-Wide rocks. I grabbed my EF-S 10-22 to take with me on this mornings outing and used it for this image.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012 !!

DJE