Photo of the Week 2016-12-26

... and for the last post of 2016, I almost missed it. With Matt home for Christmas and winding down on Boxing Day, preparing to leave for the cottage tomorrow, I didn't realize it was Monday until near dinner time ... and Mondays are Photo of the Week blog post days !

Since I've been preoccupied with thoughts of the cottage, the Bruce and Tobermory, it's appropriate to post the type of scene that frequently plays through my mind as I dream ... 

soft heavy sky

... along with my new signature photo logo thanks to PHOToLOGO. Watch for the new logo in the coming days as I prepare images to launch a new portfolio site on 500px to better showcase a selection of images available as fine art prints.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2016-12-19

A solo jaunt up north this weekend settled my separation anxiety and provided some much needed time to decompress. Yes, I need to get up north regularly lest I become restless and fixated on getting to my 'happy place'. It seems the more I'm there, the more I want (and maybe need) to be there.

With "the whole" weekend to myself, I had plans to take advantage of the many photo options available and to get a handful of items completed to be sure things were ready for our annual winter getaway between Christmas and the New Year. Oh where did the time go .....

On the photo front I decided to take a drive down some side roads I hadn't travelled in a while to see how winter's early snow had transformed the scenery ... but first I stopped at the Park Visitor Centre. I've had moderate success with multi-image stitched panoramas so I decided to climb the observation tower and capture the angry skies out over the islands and Huron.

Tobermory Skies 2017-12-17

Oddly enough, it was very calm while I was up there. Perhaps the calm before another squall came through because I could even hear bird life in the treetops. At one point I heard an eagle's cry but failed to put my eye or lens on it.

I stood at the top of this tower in  howling winds at -25* with the windchill for a photo on New Years morning a few years back ... maybe a panorama this New Years for "First Light". Hmmmmm .....

... and then it was off for a drive.

Photo of the Week 2016-12-12

Clark Christmas Gathering 2016

At each annual Christmas Gathering, there is now a family photo session. Oh they mumble and they grumble and they laugh and ask how long this is going to take and someone tells me to hurry up. They won't cooperate easily, or stop chatting and fidgeting to look at the camera all at the same time. But I always pull off a Masterpiece !

;-)

one serious ...

and one having a little fun ...

I hope everyone has an opportunity to share some time with family over the coming holidays.

DJE
 

Photo of the Week 2016-12-05

Experimenting with white balance (the setting that adjusts for the wavelength of light under different conditions) can produce some interesting effects. For the most part, I try to leave my camera on daylight white balance as a standard setting when I put it away. 

early blue hour

When I went  to check out sunset form the shore a while ago, there was little, if any, trace of warm sunset light. The clouds had moved in and covered the horizon and the already blue hue of the light was enhanced further with the selection of a daylight white balance setting ... and I kind of liked it.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2016-11-28

I've been wanting to hike to Overhanging Point for some time and finally made the trek this weekend with Jordan and Lynn. We took the Marr Lake Trail to Georgian Bay for something different and what a pretty little trail it is. Our 'little' hike provided some unexpected wonder when we decided to take a route along the shore rather than the Bruce Trail that climbs up the escarpment to Overhanging Point. We scrambled through a couple of cave openings and around several large fallen limestone boulders to find wondrous views and formations.
 

wondrous view

Jordan was our leader and thanks to him pushing (pulling actually) Lynn and I along, we were able to pass under the overhang and scramble up the escarpment to connect with the Bruce Trail and take it back. Along the way we were treated to nature's fresh, moist smells, forest floors cushioned with cedar duff, natural limestone steps along with the gorgeous lookouts.

I'm glad I took my phone with me as I had forgotten the backup battery to the camera I was using and .... yes, the battery died, just as we arrived at the most picturesque spot. The image above ws made with my iPhone and pushed hard in Adobe Lightroom.



DJE

Photo of the Week 2016-11-21

It was time to update the PKK photos with "new" band members since the last time I shot these guys. So ... I donned my "official photographer hat" at Saturday night's performance for friends and family in Ajax, ON

Here are a few of my final selects that will be provided to the band for promo materials.

Those that follow the blog will know that this type of photography is not the norm for me, but as with some of the family photography I do, I always manage to surprise myself and get some decent shots. 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2016-11-14

At the end of a beautiful but breezy mid-November day it didn't look like there would be much of a sunset. Clouds had rolled in and I was inside, nice and comfy sitting in my favourite chair with a new reading light ...

Blustery November Sunset

... but I'm glad I went out and spent some time framing up some images with my eyes watering as I looked into both the sun and a stiff breeze that had been blowing all day.

DJE

We Will Remember Them ...

On the eve of Remembrance Day, Wellington County Museum and Archives holds a tribute where candles are lit an placed at the base of white stakes bearing the names of the fallen from Wellington County.

This year I decided to attend and document the occasion and it was cool and windy when I arrived just as sun was dropping below the tree line. Covering the front lawn there were row after row of tributes to the fallen. I made this image as the last remnants of sunlight kissed the poppy adorned name cards, each placed on it's white stake.

At the going down of the sun ... We will remember them.

I walked along each row, reading the names, the ages, locations of burial and came across the name William A. McLean, not familiar to me but William died the same day as my grandfather and they are both buried in Holten Canadian War Cemetery, Holland.

As darkness fell, I stood off to the side watching people arrive. Some came in groups, some in pairs and others alone. All were given candles and made their way out onto the lawn to place them at the base of a white stake as the moon rose in the sky.

Slowly the rows began to glow with candles. I imagined that some who came were family members, other simply those who cared to remember and pay tribute. It was good to see a variety of ages, some families coming with children. As time passed and darkness blanketed the lawn, the volunteers assisted and began to fill in the each of the rows to complete the tribute.

 

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them. 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2016-11-07

It was a great week for photography. Twice during the work week, I grabbed some time to make a few images while the light was inviting. 
First thing Tuesday morning I had dental surgery and booked the day off work planning to rest and enjoy the painkillers ... but on my way home the light in a local forest grabbed my attention so I stopped and wandered about with my camera, at least until the freezing started to come out ;-)
I've already shared a couple of the images from this outing on my flickr page here and here. Then there was another medical appointment first thing Thursday morning and on the way there crossing the Gordon Street bridge over the Speed River the scene was just too good to pass so I stopped and grabbed this and this before making it the the doctor's office on time.
By the time the weekend arrived you might think that my photo quota had been filled, but I was off to Tobermory to check on some mouse traps set the previous week (an excuse for a solo weekend in paradise). Before heading out for a photo outing on Saturday morning I grabbed this with my iPhone. When I got to my intended location for photography, I strapped on both DSLR's bandoleer style and went about capturing the fall colour on the fen at Singing Sands BPNP which shots like this.
So it's been a tough one trying to pick the Photo of the Week this week and I'm quite pleased that this is the case. There are sometimes when everything seems just right for photography and I'll take that whenever I can get it ! From the first outing on Tuesday (so I don't get too far ahead and forget about it)  ...

fall leaves in morning light

DJE

Photo of the Week 2016-10-31

HAPPY HALLOWEEN !

Halloween Bat

Appropriately, for this time of year, I had an encounter with a bat while on an early evening walk along the cottage road with Murphy. It was still fairly light out and at first I thought it was a small bird, perhaps a chickadee but it's flight was quite erratic. When I got a closer look, I was surprised to find it was a bat. I've only encountered them later in the evening, when the light has almost disappeared, they come out to feed on the flying bugs.

I hurried back to the cottage to drop Murph off, get a camera and telephoto lens, and get back to see if I could get some shots. Well let me tell you, the little guy may not have been that fast but with the flight pattern zigging and zagging all over the place it was one of the most difficult subjects I've yet tried to photograph.

There wasn't much light left for photography, let alone something using a high shutter speed to freeze the motion. I turned up the ISO to 6400 on the 7DII and started trying to track the bat in flight with the 70-300 L I had mounted. While I managed to get a few images nearly in focus, there were far more with a blurry bat or no bat at all. I tried zooming out and getting the bat in frame, locking focus tracking on it, then zooming in as it flew towards me but it was far too erratic. I ended up setting focus to about 3m, setting the zoom to 70mm, ISO 6400, f/4 @ 1/1250 s shutter speed and waiting until the bat came around for another circuit over and around my head. When I thought it was within 3m, I just pointed the lens at it without looking through the viewfinder and sprayed away at 10 frames a second (thank you 7DII) until the buffer was full. I did this several times and managed a couple of images where you could identify the subject as a bat. The lead image is one of the better ones, cropped significantly to approx 20% of the original frame and processed for Halloween. Here is the original ...

DJE

Photo of the Week 2016-10-24

I enjoy all of the seasons but fall is my favourite time of year for hikes and photography outdoors. After a spring and summer of fresh lush greens, there is a slow warming of colour while the greens take on a yellow hue. As temperatures drop the pace quickens, the colours rush through variations of gold, orange and red. Having only weekends with time available for photography, the change seems to happen so fast that I'm only able to capture a fraction of it through my lens.

This past weekend I went out for a drive in search of colour. Overcast skies, flat light and spits of rain here and there were not the inspiration that I had hoped for. Looking for something a bit different, I ended up in the quaint town of Elora. It's always an interesting place to photograph and this time of year I expected that there might be some colour splashed about to make for some interesting images. While I didn't find the vibrant colours in many of the areas I chose to explore, a shaft of sunlight fell on a patch of red down one alley as I walked by, and of course I had to go check it out.

Fall Creeper on Wall

Red Creeper

Soon, as fall matures and gives way to winter, this red and other warm colours will be gone. Winter will arrive with it's cool palette of tones.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2016-10-17

Recently, I was again reminded of how easy it is to get lazy with photography and let yourself rush through an outing, either because you are with someone who is not also photographing, or if you are being distracted by something else. If you let yourself get lazy and resort to just clicking and rushing onto the next thing, the resulting images can be good but  ... they could be better if you spend time working a location to find a compelling subject, capture that certain angle of view or wait for the light to be just right.

Such was the case while out for a short hike a few days ago with Lynn and Murphy. Both  these companions are normally very patient with me when I bring a camera along (... and I always bring a camera). After trekking out to Mermaid Cove, a picturesque little spot just outside the village of Tobermory, I had rather quickly grabbed a number of images showing the view out over the water. Being photographically lazy, I might have then said "let's go" so as not to press the patience of my companions. Instead I sat down to take in the scenery and peaceful sounds of wind and lapping water.

Lynn joined me on the bench and after a while, pointed me to a section shoreline commenting how she liked the moss and the natural path created by the rock ledge. The same area had caught my attention so I got up and spent some time working this little area along the shoreline. The sun was to the south, behind the trees, bathing this area in shade and a soft cool light that made the greens and yellows fresh and vibrant. 

I selected this composition from the the dozen or so I had made, as the best of the set.

yellow, green and rock XI

  DJE

Photo of the Week 2016-10-10

On a rainy fall day, Jordan and I decided to hike the Burnt Point Trail, BPNP/FFNMP, Tobermory in search of mushrooms and were overwhelmed. There were more types and sizes all along the trail ... so many in fact that I had to stop making photos and finish our hike or I would still be there ...

lil' puffers

... and here's a collage showing many of those I managed to photograph.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2016-10-03

I recently started working with a new client, 'piper & oak' distinctively different home decor and furniture in Paris, ON. They have a selection of my framed fine art prints to compliment their furniture and home decor offerings, one of which has already sold.

I had promised the owner, Sarah, that I would come back and re-shoot an image made just over 5 years ago during a visit to Paris. The original image had captured the back of the main street shops facing the Grand River and as luck would have it, I had excluded the building that is now home to 'piper & oak'. So on a gloomy Oct 1 morning with heavy grey skies and intermittent rain, I returned for another walkabout and to see if I might be able to capture this time.

Shops along the Grand 2016

Somehow a sepia treatment, as with the original image, just seemed to suit a scene that without certain keys to modern time, looks as though it could have been made decades ago.

I wandered some streets and areas along the river making images for a couple of hours, working to stir the creativity. In the end,  I think the best shot from the outing was of the Library facade where I had to stand on the sidewalk right in front of the building to get something without parked cars or people distractions. Looking straight up with an ultra-wide angle gave an interesting composition.

Library, Paris, ON

While out shooting, I was reminded of the enjoyment I get from wandering around town with a camera, picking out details, broad scenes or just simple vignettes from everyday surroundings. Choosing different locations has always kept the interest level up, whether it is different trails, or different towns and cities. On this outing I managed to get in a couple hours of mindful photo wandering despite the rain that did make me cut things a bit short. 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2016-09-26

I've been looking for something a little different to do with my photography recently, not in place of what I have been doing but in addition to ... 

Sunsets are a favourite and as always there have been some beautiful ones over Lake Huron lately. That's one drawing card to the area we chose for our cottage location, but this time I decided to turn my lens to the other end of the day, sunrise.  Mornings hold their own magic, it just seems easier for most people to stay up for sunset rather than get up early for sunrise. I'm usually up early, 5 am early, and yesterday that meant the stars were still out and from the deck I could see the constellation Orion clearly in the southern sky. I almost went out to capture some stary sky shots be settled in to have coffee and plunk around on the computer. Then with morning light arriving and with mist rolling out of Ragged Bight, I knew there would be a shot out there ... 

Morning Hues 2016-09-25 - Pano

When I reached the shore, not only was the mist beautifully ethereal, but the sky was aglow with orange, pink mauve and blue. The biggest decision was what portion of the scene to capture ... and then I recalled reading a recent article about stitching vertical images together for a panorama. So 13 frames make up this image (overlapping ~30% for each frame) which represents approximately 180* around the spot where I stood.

No tripod, no fiddling to find the nodal point, just pivot and shoot. Sure there are some issues with doing it this way but I'm no going to argue with the result. Besides, If I had gone back inside for my tripod and taken time to set up, I likely would have missed the magic.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2016-09-19

There are some photographers that say you should live with an image for a while before making the final decision on it. The thought being that for a period of time right after the image is made, the emotion that caused you to make the image in the first place is still with you and it can be difficult to be fully objective about the result.

Living with an image can mean a number of things but I think that finishing the initial processing and printing it so it can be viewed regularly is the best way to see if how I feel about it changes over time. 

A few weeks ago, I made a series of images at sunset from the water on Hay Bay near the tip of the Bruce Peninsula. One from that set has been processed, printed and set aside to live with. It has been printed in various sizes and scrutinized quite a few times in that period of time and I'm convinced that it's one of the better images I've made. That's my opinion, your mileage may vary ...

afterglow

I'm now considering new options for presenting the image. I'm inclined to use it for launching a 'Signature Series' of select images printed on premium fine art media, signed and embossed, possibly in an edition of limited numbers. Whatever I decide, one will certainly one will hang in my own collection and a second will anchor my gallery display at Upper Deck in Tobermory.

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2016-09-12

"waves of blue' ... a new series

waves of blue X

 Halfway Log Dump, mid day, clear sky, direct sunlight ... no time for photography, or is it?

For the second time, a mid-day trek to Halfway Log Dump has proven rewarding. Productive beyond expectation in terms of my photography and as always some time spent admiring the blue waters of Georgian Bay along the escarpment washes away all that matters not.

On an earlier visit, waters were calm and I managed a number of images that made the cut, and from those I crafted the series 'hues of blue". One from that series has sold multiple times as a fine art print and was licensed to Parks Canada for use in one of their displays. Waters this time were more agitated and with the sun just a bright, images were bore abundant with more making the cut for a follow up series 'waves of blue'. Following are a few more from the still growing collection.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2016-09-05

The most difficult aspect to photographing the night sky, stars and the Milky Way is staying up late enough these days ;-)

With another summer coming to an end, daylight hours are becoming shorter, darkness comes earlier, and so too does the time when stars and the Milky Way come out for night photography. It's a gradual change, but at some point it grabs your attention and you realize that at this time not so long ago it was still light out and perhaps the sun had not yet set.

With a clear night sky a week ago, it was only 10:00 pm when the stars were out in all their glory with the Milky Way easily visible to the naked eye ... oh how I love the view when light pollution from the major populations centres is far away and the magic is revealed.

With a little help from quality gear and some digital enhancement, the images can be breathtaking ...  
 

 

DJE