Photo of the Week 2015-12-28

I can't recall if I have featured images by another photographer here on my blog, perhaps one by my father or maybe one that I found inspirational. I really should go back through all of the posts from the over six years I have been blogging (that's over 300 blog posts) to review where this photographic journey has trod.

This week I am going to feature a photograph made by someone else. Not someone standing with me, using my camera, or helping me make an image of myself in some far, or not so far away location but someone who may not be "into" photography the way I am. As far as I know, they may only take "snapshots" to record family events like birthdays and vacations ...

On Christmas morning past, as I sat waiting to open gifts while Lynn took Murphy out for his walk and Jordan slept upstairs, I sat down with my iPad to check my Facebook page and post a Merry Christmas message to all my friends. In doing so I noticed I "had mail" and checked my inbox to see a message from Holland. I smiled and thought how nice to receive a Christmas message from the family that hosted my parents when they visited in 1995. The Zandvoorts, Jan & Ina, have kept in touch over the years, and have been very generous in providing any information available regarding my grandfather who is buried in Holten Canadian War Cemetery, not far from where they live.

Recently, on Facebook, I had seen photos and short videos posted of the annual Christmas Eve candle lighting ceremony at Holten. I find it moving that the Dutch continue to honour those who lost their lives liberating Holland in the last stages of WWII. The images of the cemetery at Holten touch me deeply. I have plans to visit Holten in the next couple of years and make my own images but as beautiful and moving as it is, my visit will not be on Christmas Eve, there are other dates of significance that I must capture ... so I was overwhelmed with emotion when I opened the photos attached in the email from Holland showing my Grandfather's grave (front corner) during this year's candle ceremony. 

I posted the originals to FB on Dec 25 as they were ... here, I've taken some artistic liberties ... 

Holten Christmas Eve Candles 2015

EJGE B67380 -  Holten Cemetery 1-A-1

DJE

Merry Christmas ! (Photo of the Week 2015-12-21)

Just a few more days until Christmas !

I want to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from me to all of you, and if you don't celebrate Christmas as I do, please do not take offence. I warmly welcome your respective holiday wishes and I thank you in advance.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-12-14

... actually a photo series this week

Having surrendered the cottage to one of our sons, I was looking closer to home for a trail to explore this past weekend and had noticed a comment from fellow blogger, the Furry Gnome on one of my recent posts. He mentioned the Hanlon Creek trails he used to roam and that gave me an idea to revisit the area, but those plans were short lived.

During the week I reached out to friend and regular photo companion Alan, thinking we would be able to get out for a photo walkabout while I was in town, but he had other plans. Then late in the week I started thinking of how to fit in a facility visit for work during an already packed schedule next week ... and came up with the idea of taking care of it on Saturday knowing I could find some trails near Celadon to explore instead of the Hanlon area. I pocked Forks of the Credit Provincial Park. It had been years since I had been out there and it was time for some hiking and photography.

kettle lake shore

With another tip of the hat to the Furry Gnome, when selecting this location, I had envisioned making a series of photographs along the trail much as he does periodically for his blog, Seasons in the Valley . 

Shortly in to my hike, I came across this kettle lake less than a kilometer from the car. Drawn to the lines of the trees across the lake, reflecting on the water in the still hazy air of the morning, I stopped and started to assess the scene before me.There was a section of shoreline that my eye kept returning to, from a clump of birch trunks to an old broken snag by the shore. I got lost in the process, formulating my approach, moving a few steps right, forward, over there and then back. Almost in a trance, oblivious to anything else around me, I worked the scene, framing it up in trial compositions, exploring several of the details. Then I was done, having made several images I was back and aware of other things, I could hear the voice of a child coming closer as he rode on his father's back enjoying the trails. The came down the trail and as they approached ... "see anything interesting", the mother asked.

... "always, there's always something interesting to see", I replied.

More ...

kettle lake shore II

kettle lake shore III

kettle lake shore IV

I hiked the area for aout 2 hours making additional images along the way, but it was the first scene and those first images that stuck out when I returned home and uploaded to by image library.
 
DJE 

Photo of the Week 2015-12-07

After some business meetings in Ottawa recently, I was out for a quick dinner and then over to the Parliament Buildings to see the first night of the annual light show for the Christmas Holidays. There were fireworks, a choir singing and the projection of Christmas scenes on the main building facade. We arrived a little late, and I was still able to get a few quick shots of Centre Block lit up in the festive spirit, but it was the smoke clearing from the fireworks display and the crowd pouring off Parliament Hill through the gates and onto Wellington with traffic still flowing that caught me photographer's eye. It looked more like crowds fleeing a fire than families who had come in the Christmas spirit to listen to the choir and see the lights.

Christmas Crowds

Here's what the light show looked like with the smoke clearing off in the night breeze.











DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-11-30

This past weekend, and friend and I decided to revisit a local trial and I pre-visualized an image capturing the regimented pines planted along one particular section. I intended to capture the scene with an ultra-wide angle lens (14mm) to accentuate the lines and pattern of the planting, but when we came to this spot, it was the colouring of the forest floor and the solitary rock that caught me eye.

With morning light coming from the side, the rock just seemed to glow among the line of tree trunks and mess of branches. So I abandoned the 5DIII with the 14mm Rokinon attached and pulled out the 7DII with the Sigma 18-300, knelt down under the branches of the closest tree and set up for the shot.

solitary rock

Sometimes I start out with a particular type of image in mind and end up with something completely different, sometimes I have nothing in mind for a n image and just capture what is there. I did get some interesting images with the ultra-wide but this is my favourite from the outing, so I'm glad I had a second camera and lens along.

... here is an image like the one I had previsualized. I like it too.

fallen comrade

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-11-23

I decided to explore some different trails outside of Guelph near Starkey Hill recently ... the experience of a new trail can provide just what the doctor ordered when I'm in the  photographic doldrums. This was a bit of that, but more about getting out, immersing myself in the forest.

With the colour of fall now deposited on the forest floor, moist, brown and returning nutrients to begin the cycle again, my eye turned to subject, form and pattern as I walked the unfamiliar route. Though I was close enough to hear nearby traffic from time to time, the periods of forest silence were incredible. They gave me cause to stop and simply take it all in, the wind through the limbs, birdsong overhead, squirrels scampering around ... but there was something else. At one point I had the feeling I was being watched ...

Watcher of the Woods

... and maybe I was. 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-11-16

I woke at the cottage to find a dusting of snow on the ground Saturday morning. The first snowfall, or at least the first while we were there, had come overnight.Murphy and I set out for our morning walk while there were still traces of the white stuff and I was hopeful that there would be enough light for photography. 

Along our normal morning route is an entrance to a lovely trail, where I stop every time I pass. Each time the light offers up something different. Time of day and time of year each change the direction of the light in their own way, some subtle, others more dramatic. I always find the scene inviting.

Here is my take on that scene from Saturday morning ...

snow dusted trail

All signs of snow were gone by mid morning and warmer temperatures came Sunday ... along with a stomach flu that had me bedridden the entire day and made for a terrible drive home even as passenger. Whatever bug I picked up, still has a grip on me, hence the short blog post this week.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-11-09

I've been making greeting cards featuring my images for the past several years. It started with a series of cards I made in support of selling my framed fine art prints at the Guelph Studio Tour a few years back. They didn't sell well at the time, likely due to how I priced them in comparison to those available from others at the time ... but that's another discussion.

After the tour, I was left with a number of cards and ended up using them myself, at suitable times. I still have a few of those original cards tucked away. Since that initial batch however, I have continued to make cards, singles for birthdays and special occasions and an annual series each year for the family Christmas Card.
 
I always make a card for Lynn's birthday and this year I wanted to use an image of the boys since they were coming home to celebrate the occasion. I knew she'd appreciate something that included them so I selected something from our walk down to the beach on our recent visit trip to Toronto for Thanksgiving dinner.
 

I also decided to continue my experimentation with post processing applications and techniques on this image to create something different from a rather simple shot. I printed the card and a companion fine art print for Lynn to pin up in her workspace so she can be close to her boys.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-11-02

Sunday morning after Halloween, I decided to get out for a hike along some local trails at the Ignatius Centre, north of Guelph. When I started out, there was a blustery wind pushing the unsettled skies overhead. Now and then a break in the cloud would come and the sun would stream through. Quickly it's warmth would rush over the ground before heading off in the distance. Over and over the sky darkened and I thought I would certainly get caught in a downpour, particularly when I was in the fields far away from where I parked. Each time the wind hurried the heavy dark cloud away.

As I rounded a corner at the edge of a field, along the treeline, the sun burst through to set off the golden glow of several small tamarack at the bottom of a slope. I quickly grabbed a couple of images and then the sunlight was gone.

golden tamarack

For this image I used some different software that I'd been experimenting with (ON1 Photo10 and a plug-in called Smart Photo Editor) to process the RAW file giving the dramatic result above. Fitting around Halloween I think ...

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-10-26

The fall symphony of colour begins with subtle change. The dark greens of summer yield and begin to take on lighter hues as the performance gets started. Soon there is a warm golden glow taking hold. Here and there, anxious maples are unable to retain themselves and they burst out with brilliant reds. But these are the soloists unable hold back, their kin have not yet broken out into the the main chorus.

The main show gets started with the hardwoods, showing brilliant red and orange they command attention and dominate the landscape ...  for a relatively short time. Soon they begin to tire, losing their breath, slowly fading, losing their intensity, drying to a crisp brown. This is the time for the aspen, birch and poplar to chime in with their bright yellows leaves chattering in the breeze.

One moment they are there struggling to hang on, then the blustery fall wind knocks them to the ground. The performance looks to be done, but wait ... there is one remaining faint voice, gaining strength, rising out of the din ... the tamarack burst forth, ablaze in their final golden song ... and this is the moment I have waited for.

Tamarack Finale

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-10-19

Down with a cold that's kept me coughing, wheezing and sniffing since Friday, I couldn't muster the initiative to get out for anything this weekend let alone a hike, which would have been beautiful with the fall colours at their peak. Instead, I treated myself with meds, hot lemon water and as much rest as I could get in between coughing bouts. And during those times when I my head would clear from the cold and the meds, I clicked through my image library looking for something to use for this week's photo.

fall under a maple

A little over a week ago when fall colours were just beginning to arrive close to home, this image was made on my way out the driveway of an office I frequently work at. Some might possibly recognize the location without prompting but I doubt it. Why? Because as a photographer, I know first hand how photographers look at things differently. We see the colour, the depth, the quality of light and it's magical ability to transform scenes both familiar and not.

DJE

mornin' grove

I love fall and the dramatic, colourful changes it brings to out landscape. It's such a great time to capture images of natures fabric in all it's hues and textures.
In contrast to the brilliant reds and oranges in some areas, I'm also moved to photograph the more subtle yellow and paling greens, particularly in wonderful morning light.

mornin' grove

 DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-10-12

Happy Thanksgiving !

Driving north on Friday, it was evident that some of the maples had decided it was time to show their stuff by Thanksgiving weekend. Fall colour had finally arrived on 'the Bruce' in some measure ... while having coffee in the pre-dawn silence early Saturday, I decided it was time for some morning exploration along roads of the North Bruce.

I have my favourite spots, they always reach out, seducing me with their beauty, trying their best to make me stop and visit. This time I would resist and push on to unfamiliar ground, leaving familiarity behind, searching for a new muse ...

golden blush

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-10-05

The trails not far from home have provided inspiration for a significant number of my images over the years. It had been a while since I had been out to walk the familiar paths and take in the sights and smells, so on Bruce Trail Day 2015, I headed out with a couple of faithful companions, no not photo buddies, this time Lynn and Murphy, to introduce them to the trails along Grindstone Creek.

fall fabric

Fall colour is late coming to our area and I fear that the leaves are falling so quickly that they may not reach their peak. Even so, there was lots of muted yellow, green and pinks in the ravine as we made our way along on a cool wet morning.

Murphy didn't seem to mind, I think he was just happy to be back out on those trails ... so was I.











DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-09-28

While vacationing at the cottage last week, we said farewell to Summer 2015 and welcomed Autumn initially with summer like weather but I'm sure that will change quickly. It was a great week weather-wise to be off and enjoying the Bruce.

Rich read and orange fall colour is never widespread on the Bruce with relatively few maple and oak compared to other areas of the province. There was however a discernible golden hue to the forests as the birch, aspen and poplar start to don their fall colours. Here and there the odd maple was showing some measure of colour, but I was hard pressed to find anything suitable to photograph in vibrant red.

While driving up last weekend, I noticed several spots along the highway where the limestone of the escarpment was exposed and thought of an idea for an image. Then on Saturday on the way to Lion's Head for a visit the market, I noticed this little maple perched up on the rock, struggling to be seen amongst the green.

 

... funny how on the drive home Sunday afternoon, I saw more trees in colour than Saturday when I was actively looking, more than the whole prior week for that matter. Maybe I was looking too hard or maybe leaves are just changing that quickly.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-09-21

This week's post features the work of photographer, artist and friend Connie D.

Just about a month ago I received an email from a friend asking if she could use one of my images. Connie is not only wonderfully creative with her camera, she also paints and creates beautiful fibre based works of art. I was flattered that she wanted to create one her fibre pieces based on the image and told her to go right ahead. Since then I've been eager to see her rendition and she was kind enough to send me this photo of the completed work (with permission to use it in this blog post).

I think she's done an absolutely wonderful job capturing the essence of the original scene and conveying texture through her selection of materials. You can see more of Connie's fibre art work here.

Below is my original image for reference.

It's an exciting experience to see another artist's interpretation of your work in a completely different  medium ... all part of my Photographic Journey.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-09-14

I've spent a lot of time in reflection over the past few months and photography has played an important role through that time ... in some ways, it has also taken a back seat.

As I have worked through the loss of my mother and the legal and financial matters of her estate, photography has provided much needed distraction, though the work I have been generating is mostly from just going through the motions. I've found it difficult to find recent images that I want to present in this blog.

While I sat and contemplated this on the deck at the cottage recently, I felt that someone was watching me, encouraging me to "get back enjoying it", and then I looked up ...

 ... and saw inspiration in the clouds. What do you see?

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-09-07

Again, I find an image while browsing through my library looking for something else ...

field of dreams

I made this image about a year ago, during a morning drive along back roads on the  Bruce Peninsula. Two blue chairs in the middle of the field caught my eye as a passed by. I smiled to myself, wondering who would occupy them. I stopped and backed up to get a decent point of view, then used a telephoto zoom to get tight framing and compressed perspective.

Then after downloading to my library catalogue the image just sat on my hard drive waiting to be rediscovered.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-08-31

It was a busy weekend ... 

In addition to spending some time at the cottage tearing down a shed, my younger son Jordan and I finished off with a sightseeing flight over the Bruce Peninsula. We had planned to take the flight on Saturday but weather conditions were bad. They improved on Sunday so we packed up and headed to Owen Sound for a 3:00 take-off.

There was more haze than I would have liked for photography, but the views were breathtaking as we crossed the peninsula to Sauble Beach then made our way up the Huron coast over our cottage on Hay Bay, on past Tobermory and down the Georgian Bay side.

I found photography from the plane quite difficult with window glare, reflections and the atmospheric haze but managed to get a decent image of a section of the north shore of Hay Bay that where our cottage is (lower right).

  
We made several passes over this location and each time we came around into position, we ran into turbulence that made shooting near impossible. I have several better compositions that are far too blurry from camera (plane) shake.

Clouds moving in also cast shadows over some parts of the scene just when we made these passes. Still, I'm quite pleased with the image above and will likely frame one for the cottage wall.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-08-24

After noticing an immature Bald Eagle sitting on the rock at our shoreline early in my latest week of vacation at the cottage, I began keeping watch in the mornings. A couple of days later I was treated t a fly-by from one of the parents, though not as close as I would have liked.

Since these encounters,  I've spent an hour or so each morning around 7:00 am, sitting at the shore with coffee and camera hoping for a chance at an image from a much closer distance. Still, just seeing these magnificent birds in their natural environment is a thrill.

Sunday morning I sat and watched as the juvenile flew across the mouth of the bay and met up with the adult. Much to far off for anything other than a shot like this ...

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-08-17

"... activities focused on repetition tend to increase our awareness of variation. I have also found that repetitive expressions tend to liberate me from the self-imposed pressure to be 'creative' and 'innovative'. As I stick to the task of repetition I discover how the creative process varies itself."

                                                                                            Trust The Process - Shaun McNiff

In creating or selecting an image for this blog each week, I have been faced with the recurring dilemma of creating something new, selecting something different vs. using something similar to a prior post. Allowing repetition, if not focusing on repetition in my creative efforts may help me overcome the mental block imposed by my desire to always "find something new".

Thus far, I have always found more inspiration in the freshness of places and subjects new or unfamiliar as evidenced by my efforts to seek out a new trail or new location to explore. The task of always finding something new is daunting and can dampen the creative spirit.

Readings on the creative process, and particularly quotes like the one opening this blog post, help me to assess my own creative journey and understand how seeking out the new and unfamiliar, revisiting the same subject and experimenting with different media and techniques all play a role in creative development.

For me this week's image is not simply another image of sunset along the shore. It was born of an effort to explore the familiar, to be open to what I may be given, to accept it and just create.

taming waters

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-08-10

This weekend at the cottage, I began reading a book I purchased a couple of years ago, "The Bruce Beckons" By William Sherwood Fox. Written over half a century ago, the book's introduction opens with "AT his first sight of the Bruce Peninsula the visitor cannot but be aware of a land astonishingly unlike any he has seen before."

For me, The Bruce is unlike anything else, anywhere else. I have likely mentioned in a previous post, that growing up in the suburbs, east of Toronto, my northern vacations were usually spent in the Kawartha's, or maybe Muskoka. Then there were no treks west past Owen Sound and north along Highway 6, up the spine of the Bruce Peninsula.

It is now, at this stage of life that I have the good fortune that allows me to experience this unique area regularly through all four seasons. With so much waiting for me to explore, it may seem a bit of a cheat for me to spend so much time close to my home base on Hay Bay near Tobermory, but with sunset scenery like this a regular occurrence, I don't have to go far for a great photograph.

On Saturday evening Lynn asked if I wanted to go down to the shore and watch the sunset. Why not ...

DJE

Photo of the week 2015-08-03

"Shore Songs" 

- a series of images depicting rock and water scenes that sing of northern beauty -

This series of images became a personal favourite instantly as I began making them one fall evening back in 2012. My satisfaction with the entire set (now 14 images) has not waned, actually, I like the set more and more as time goes on.

A print of one image sold a few years back to a local client for display in her home. I personally delivered the finished framed print and will never forget how please she was to see it hung. I love to create my images and prints but it is a special feeling to have someone appreciate them enough to purchase and display them for their own enjoyment. I cannot express how grateful I am to those who appreciate my work enough to have acquired a print for themselves. The creative fire burns and it burns a little longer and a little hotter when stoked.

Prints of images in the series can be seen and are available in the "Shore Songs" gallery on my Fine Art America page or as Signed, Artisan Crafted Giclée Archival Prints by contacting me directly.

DJE
 

Photo of the Week 2015-07-27

The Peace of The North

I used the phrase "The Peace of The North" recently in an email to a friend when referring to an impending departure to the cottage. Thinking about it more, there really is a different feeling to everything when I am up north. I've been fortunate to experience it regularly in the couple of years since we got the cottage.

Even simple morning walks along the cottage road hold a peace that makes them quite a different experience from my walks at home. Everything just seems ... well, different. The sounds, the air, the light ... particularly morning and evening light. And what a great thing that is for photography, when the golden hours hold just a little more magic.

A morning walk with Murphy is always a great start to the day. His eager, bouncy approach to walks can be contagious, no matter what the weather and the location. When it's up north, with sunlight cresting over the trees, I'm eager too. I know that in the fresh morning air and warmth of the sun there more of "The Peace of The North" ...

Morning's Peace

... and I'll take all I can get, though Murphy my prefer that I stopped a little less to make photographs ;-)

DJE