Photo of the Week 2013-03-25

I was reminded again this weekend, that good opportunities for landscape photography can be found along my regularly travelled routes. A location that Patrick had suggested in conversation last week proved to be just the ticket for our weekend outing with Alan still recovering from whatever biological agent he had been battling for over a week. 

It was a leisurely daybreak stroll along the concession roads bordering some rolling pasture land just east of town that provided the subject matter and background for imagery on this day.

daybreak

DJE

Earth Hour 2013

What do I decide to do for Earth Hour 2013 ? Well there's a comet, PANSTARRS, that is visiting earth and these types of things are more easily seen when and where light pollution is lower so why not head out and see if I can find and photograph it. One of my photo friends, Vince, had success recently, but he's more experienced at night sky photography. 

Some botched communication led to just Alan and I heading out to Pilkington Outlook in Waterloo Region to lay eyes and lenses on night skies. The text and email banter with the Third Musketeer (Swiss Guard may be more accurate), had us laughing and trading "zingers" back and forth as he sat at home in the warmth enjoying some Mondavi. (Sure Patrick, you meant Sunday night - LOL)

I can't say that the light pollution was any less for earth Hour as the moon was near full and provided lots of light to traipse around the Outlook between 8 and 10 pm. We never did see PANSTARRS because clouds were covering that part of the sky or perhaps because we didn't know exactly where to look.

After misidentifying a number of the astral bodies we came a way with a few images of the night sky, nothing particularly good, 'cause this stuff ain't easy. Mostly neurochromes (memories) and one passable, slightly blurry shot of the Orion Nebula.

Orion Nebula

 
Amateur Astronomers ... pffffffttttt

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2013-03-18

Decisions, decisions ...

... where to go for the weekend photography outing? One of the "regulars" was down with an illness and ideas for places to go were down to a couple of possibilities, one which I had been to but Patrick had not, the other Patrick had been to but I had not. We both were interested in exploring a new location so ...

I left it for him to decide and I was introduced to Section 3 of the Guelph Radial Trail, the portion between 1st and 2nd line, south of Eden Mills, ON. The area of this trail down and around Blue Springs Creek was magical. We didn't cover much distance in the 3 hours we were out shooting, but we covered a lot of ground, not all of it solid.

on thin ice

As the title of this image might suggest, my footing was less than confidence inspiring as I inched out onto the ice along the edge of Blue Springs Creek to get a composition showing the open water in the middle. Recent warmer temperatures had brought some rain in addition to spring thaw. The resulting runoff had flooded the little creek and it had spilled over it's banks into the surrounding forest. As temperatures dropped, a thin layer of ice formed on the surface of the swollen creek and low lying areas along side. Water levels had subsided but there were still pools covered by a thin icy layer masking their location.

I managed to get far enough out on the ice before it gave way and my foot dropped into a shallow pool only a couple of inches deep. Waterproof winter hikers saved me from a cold wet foot. As for my companion and his adventure with the ice, well that's a story best left for him to tell.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2013-03-11

Over time quite a few ideas for photographic projects have crossed my mind. Usually after something I've seen, read or after conversations with other photographers. For several months, I've been wanting to assemble folios containing a collection of five to ten images with a common theme or subject.

I recently did that with a six print set of my images of shoreline rock from Killarney last fall and was very satisfied with the work, so satisfied that I decided to work on another series of images from the fall. This series is of the colourful fall leaves reflected in the evening waters of Charlton Lake as we returned by pontoon boat to the lodge from a full day of shooting.

Our host was good enough to slowly circle around the west end of the lake as several of us shot, capturing the beautiful LaCloche scenery. I already had many images of the shoreline rock and was looking for something different when I noticed the reflections of the fall leaves near waters edge. If I waited until the boat was in just the right position, the reflections on the water created stunning abstract patterns.

This is a set of six images assembled as a 2x3 panel in Photoshop. When complete, the individual images will be printed on 8.5x11 fine art paper with border and title block suitable for framing as shown by the sample below. Final presentation will consist of all six prints packaged as a set in a high quality archival folio cover. This project is not quite done ... but getting very close.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2013-03-04

I am always drawn to the sight of the brown leaves of the beech tree against the background of winter forests. Whether it's the dark green of the hemlock, the stark grey-brown of leafless maples or, as in this image, the bright clean white of the snow covered forest floor, the leaves of the beech in their winter brown provide a splash of colour and interest to the scene.

beginnings of a beech grove

As one of my colleagues on this outing pointed out, I can get "single minded" in my pursuit of an image that captures what I feel when in such surroundings. On this occasion, there were many opportunities for images of yellow birch, hemlock, cedar old and new. But it was this grouping of young beech on the side of a hill that pulled me well of the trail to a vantage point that would eliminate the distraction and foreground clutter of the forest.

DJE