D J England Photography: 2016-05

2016-05-30

Photo of the Week 2016-05-30

On a still spring evening with uncharacteristically calm water, we set out in the kayaks onto Hay Bay. What was intended to be a sunset paddle, turned into more of a paddle in movie. We just went out from shore enough to see the sun setting behind the clouds, floated around and watched the show. It was stunning ...

heavenly reflection

I can see this being a regular activity at the cottage when conditions are right :-)

For those interested in some further insight, Lynn and I recently purchased sit-on-top kayaks for the cottage and they were delivered on Monday, the first day of our recent vacation. We chose sit-on-tops because we're not experienced 'kayakers" and with me being a "bit of a phobe" when it comes to boating in water I'm unfamiliar with, this was seen as the prudent choice. You can check out the boats using the following links, Lynn's is a 2016 Wilderness Systems Tarpon 120, mine is also a Wildi, but the Ride 135 model.

Lynn is the adventurous one when it comes to exploring on the water and I need to remind her to slow down and let me take small steps as I work through my 'issues'. I'm committed to pushing my comfort envelope and through desensitization, cracking this nut that holds me back. This past week was a great success as far as I am concerned. We got out a few times, not going very far yet, staying inside Hay Bay, but each time a little further. With scenes like the one above, I may have a little more incentive to pull me through.

Oh, and now I'm looking for a camera solution to use when kayaking. I won't be taking either of my DSLR's out for photographs like this on the water, though they may come with me packed in a dry-bag to come out once we find a location to land and go ashore. My selection for this image was my EOS M3, small and easily packable in a small dry bag I was comfortable taking it out, particularly with the calm water.

DJE

2016-05-23

Photo of the Week 2016-05-23

Spring is a wonderful time to get out in the woods in Southern Ontario ... if you can find spots the mosquitoes haven't
;-)

I'll be starting a week of vacation and looking to scratch the photographic itch while taking advantage of the down time. I have plans to hike a few trails and catch some of the orchids on the Bruce if they are are out yet.

Enjoy your week !

DJE

2016-05-16

Photo of the Week 2016-05-16

It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit. Robert Louis Stevenson
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/forest_2.html

"It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit."

- Robert Louis Stevenson -

'a walk through the trees'

... and a spring walk along a favourite trail, with shafts of morning light penetrating the freshening greens, is the perfect place to take in 'that something'

Along the way, I was treated to the songs from birds returning on their trip north for the summer. I'm not able to identify many of the species from their call yet, but I'm working on it. At one point in my walk, I broke into a broad smile as I recognized the calls of a merlin pair. Two years ago I caught sight of a mating pair in the same area. Then, they were caught up in their aerial courtship atop a tall spruce visible from the road as I passed by along the roadway. This time I first heard only their calls back and forth. One was close, very close, so I stopped and scanned the tops of the trees, catching sight of one.

I'm not good enough with my identification to know if this is the male of female, I need to see them together ... perhaps on my next visit to renew my weary spirit.

DJE

2016-05-09

Photo of the Week 2016-05-09

It's been a year of reflection and much has changed since Mother's Day last year. Approaching the anniversary of my mom's passing, I often find myself deep in thought, reflecting on the journey that has brought me to here and now. There are a number of triggers that send me off again ...

... like when a cousin recently asked if I would go through my family photos to see if there were any of my aunt to use for a slide show at the celebration of life service they had planned. Every time I go back into the albums and envelopes I'm in for an adventure. This time, I found a small B&W photo of my mother holding me in her arms. I couldn't have been taken very long after I came home from the hospital for the first time. Finding this is what moved me to go and visit the Riverdale area of Toronto last week. To the area where mom and dad lived when I was born (last week's Photo of the Week was a result of that trip) ...

... I also knew that with Mother's Day coming up, I had to scan and post the image in memory of her. Once I began cleaning up the file from the scan, I noticed the back of a chair over her right shoulder, there was something familiar about that chair ... I'm not sure how, from such a small section of it, but I recognized it as one I kept when mom moved out of the house ... an idea for an image began to form. I had the thought of incorporating the chair as a link between a photo made now and the original B&W. It was a little more challenging that I had first expected and didn't work out exactly as I had planned, but it sure was an interesting exercise.

Here is the result.

then and now

... the original B&W

DJE

2016-05-02

Photo of the Week 2016-05-02

... wandering along streets in a neighbourhood of which I have no early memories. I was just a year old when my parents moved from this area and the first home I ever had. The house was a 'semi' on Hunter St. in the are of Toronto now known as Riverdale. There are no first hand recollections for me, I was too young. There are only fragments, recalled from stories told and conversations heard over the years ... to which, I now wish I had paid more attention.

A lot of years ago I visited this area with Dad when we were on our way to a downtown camera store. There are some memories of the conversation as we passed through his old neighbourhood ... not enough to satisfy the curiosity that now brews inside. Riverdale Ave., Hunter St. Withrow ... the Park, the school, Labatt Ave ... I'm trying to remember and pull together pieces of family history to go with photos that lay scattered about on my framing table. Whenever I bring out the boxes of albums and envelopes filled with pics in all sizes, of places, people and times gone by, the curiosity is stoked, as it was again recently.

So I set out one morning, in search of the past ... in a place I had little part in, but is very much a part of me ... hoping for for something, a feeling, perhaps a sense of connection and the intent to photograph what spoke to me.

back (to the) alley

I made this image of the lane behind 30 Hunter St., and imagine that my father drove my mother and I home from the hospital, down this lane, as I came home for the first time.

DJE

D J England Photography