Photo of the Week 2022-12-26

 

Over the last couple of weeks before the holidays I started working to bring an idea for a series of images to life. I'm enthusiastic about my initial progress, so much so in fact that I neglected to select / prepare / process / publish a Photo of the Week yesterday ... though I doubt it was noticed. The main benefit of the blog has been to help me remain active in photography, to act as an outlet for whatever I create and to document my journey.

Since this will be my last regular post of 2022, I'd like to extend my very best wishes to anyone who visits here. As we soon embark on yet another trip around the sun, be well, keep healthy, stay safe, wherever your journey may lead ...

' what lies ahead '

 

Oh, the idea for the new series ... you'll have to keep following to find out.

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2022-12-19

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS !

 

As we come to the last week before Christmas 2022, I want to wish everyone the very best for a safe and enjoyable holiday season. Included here is my annual Christmas e-card, featuring a photo of the decorations in our living room beside the tree ...

 

 

Be Well Everyone !

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2022-12-12

 

A corruption to my Lightroom catalogue file had me scratching my head trying to figure out what had happened and during the recovery process I found some unfinished work from early October of this year ...

 

' Tranquility Base is right here ... '

 

A three frame stitched panorama depicting the end to a fall sunset on Hay Bay, Lake Huron, Northern Bruce Peninsula ON, my 'Tranquility Base'

Oh ... the corruption issue, it's fixed. Thankfully I know my way around a computer well enough to fix most things like this. My backup process came in handy again, though now that it's fixed, I think I could likely have got by without one. However, having multiple backups sure helps me to stay level headed and focus on the fix rather than what I've lost.

Again I'm reminded to go back through my catalogue of images to see what I've overlooked or forgotten about as I continue to add more and more and more ...

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2022-12-05

 

Late last week I received a message from a photo buddy asking if I'd like to ride shotgun while he went train spotting in an attempt to catch his friend during conductor training. The odds of success were questionable but I was happy to play sidekick on a sunny, if cold and breezy afternoon. In the end, we managed to hear some of the chatter from the train on a handheld scanner, but never did manage to see the actual train, or any train at all for that matter :-/

 

' H K F C L '

The H. Krug Furniture Co. Limited factory in Kitchener ON provided some shadow and pattern subject matter so we didn't come home empty handed :-)

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2022-11-28

 

Fall colours have all but left 'the Bruce' now that leaves are mostly down ...

 

' lingering yellow '

 

... but oh what a wonderful smell those poplar leaves make when they lay think and wet carpeting the ground. Different than the smell of spruce so familiar on so many walks through and near the forests at the cottage, the smell of wet poplar leaves signal the end of fall. Musty and pungent they are my kind of aroma therapy.

' nature's doubloons '

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2022-11-21

 

It's almost time for me to place my print order for 2023 calendars ... I do a limited run mostly for family and friends who have expressed interest over the years or those who I gift them to for Christmas / New Year.

 

I had a difficult time selecting the images this year, for whatever reason. But it's done now and this week's image is a tych-collage of the pages as I have them prepared to upload to the printing service.

 

 

All of the images this year were made on the Bruce Peninsula during 2021. As is my custom, each image was made during the month* that it represents in the calendar ( * with perhaps some minor exceptions).

 

I've not found it worth while to take orders and deal with the logistics of payment and delivery but I will order a handful of "extras" should anyone be insistent that they purchase one. Contact me via email (address in 'About Me') and I will quote price and delivery if practical.

 

Here's to another year of imagery from my 'Photographic Journey'

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2022-11-14

 

Leaves may have mostly turned and fallen to the ground, but I still have plenty of fall colour images from 2022 in the library and waiting to be shared.  Knowing that late fall and winter bring a time of tones, I'll linger a while longer on images from what was a wonderful fall for photography.

' Autumn Wetland Pano '

' Autumn Wetland Section 1 '

' Autumn Wetland Section 2 '

' Autumn Wetland Section 3 '

I marvel at the variety of colours in autumn roadside scenes - these from somewhere along a Puslinch backroad.

 

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2022-11-07

 

October has come and gone. With it, the vibrant colours of Fall in Southern Ontario have faded, all but gone for another year. Yet they live on, in my memory and images ...

 

Inspired by my recent ' Puslinch Autumn Roads ' series, I took a drive along another favoured backroad, this one on the Bruce Peninsula. Although I missed peak colour by perhaps a week, conditions were overcast and wet from an early morning rain, just right for a bit of fall atmosphere.

 

    

Fall colour on 'the Bruce' is mostly shades of green, vibrant yellows and golds. Jack Pine, cedars, spruce, birch and poplar now dominate it's forests.

    

If you get off the main highway and County roads, you can find areas where the underbrush stirs with reds and oranges dabbing colour into the scene.

    

For those willing to go still a bit further, there are hardwoods, maple and oak to be found in full celebration before their seasonal respite.

The scene above, still beautiful nearing saturation fatigue, must have been chromatic overload just a days earlier.

A new series is developed. Follow along on Facebook, Instagram and Flickr for more as I take you along ' A Bruce Autumn Road '

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2022-10-31

 

The Elevated Park is one of a kind, a novel concept, an iconic railway bridge converted into a park. Just the idea intrigued me, and so did some of the photos I'd seen in an online article. So what did I do? I made note of the spot, and when I had occasion to be in St. Thomas, ON a couple of weeks back I paid a visit not really knowing what I might be able to photograph.

As it turned out, access was restricted (boo) where there was a significant amount of construction taking place on the municipal roads running under the bridge. The park itself was open, offering nice views of the Kettle Creek Valley in fall colours.

I walked the length of the bridge, stopping frequently to take in the view. At one spot, a single tree on the valley slope caught my eye. With a white trunk against the yellow, orange and green it stood out, as if posing for me ...

 

' Sycamore Posing 2.0 '

Note: the main image is titled 2.0 because it's a slightly cropped version of the original as it was composed in camera.

Following are a few additional shots documenting my visit to "a park in the sky, some 95 feet over the Kettle Creek valley.

 

 

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2022-10-24

 

I thought it was time to take my followers on a tour of local fall colours before the snow flies with a collection of images from the series ' Puslinch Autumn Roads ' ...

 

' Puslinch Autumn Roads II '

' Puslinch Autumn Roads III '

' Puslinch Autumn Roads IV '

' Puslinch Autumn Roads V '

' Puslinch Autumn Roads VI '

 

Fall wouldn't be the same if I didn't make my annual drive to capture the colours of autumn along the back-roads of Puslinch TWP ... and these were found just a few minutes away from home on Pioneer Trail.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2022-10-17

I've been out shooting since New Brunswick last month, quite a bit actually. But my fall colour and other captures from closer to home will sit for a while longer while I publish the remainder of the images from "out east".

One morning, I spent some time exploring around and under the Salmon River Train Trestle in New Denmark. Billed as "one of Canada's largest train bridges", it's quite an interesting subject, particularly with the fall colours popping.

' Autumn Trestle IV '

' Autumn Trestle III '

' Autumn Trestle II '

' "A" look up '

' overhead '

 

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2022-10-10

Someone I recently ran into said "I thought you were still in New Brunswick"and I had to laugh. They had assumed that because I was still posting images from that area, I had not returned home. In some ways they may be correct, memories of that recent trip, any trip or outing for that matter, occupy my mind for some time ...

The namesake of Grand Falls NB was the subject for photos on the morning of my 4th day in the area. Though I had seen the falls during a brief stop the first day and as we passed by on various outings, this was the first time I had gone with the specific purpose of exploring the trails, viewing platforms and vantage points near the falls and downstream gorge. Following is a selection of images I made during that time.

This spot is on my list of places to revisit for further exploration ...

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2022-10-03

 

A thirteenth year of this blog begins ...

 

Just last week this photographic journey had me near Grand Falls, NB with my full Canon EOS M Series travel kit, no computer, access to the internet only through my phone when I was out and about closer to or in town.

 

That proved a challenge for me to keep the recent flow of postings to my social media accounts. Sure I had my phone camera, but my tool of choice for photography is a digital camera and when it comes to that I have various options in my arsenal. The EOS M3 and M5 I had allowed me to transfer images from the camera to my phone via Wi-Fi for some processing before posting when I had cellular service.

 

What I learned is that I need to update my phone if I intend to do this very often. Why? First, my aging eyes need the benefit of a larger screen than my current phone has, but I'll still want a phone sized phone not a pocket stretching tablet sized monster. Second, while I had very spotty service in some locations, my companion, with a newer phone, always seemed to have 2 bars better signal strength than I did :-(

What I confirmed is, that while a processed image may look OK on the phone, the JPEG transferred from the camera is, as expected, limited to some minimal processing and my efforts using the original RAW files once I returned home are much more acceptable and to my liking. Here are those revised versions ...

' view through a cabin door '

' Early Autumn on the Salmon River '

' Grand Gorge '

' Autumn Trestle '

' cabin on the hill '

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2022-09-26

 

' Afternoon at Halfway Log Dump V '

It's good to have some images in the 'back pocket' for those times when you suddenly remember that you need to prepare a post ahead of time and schedule publication while you will not have full access to your files and the internet. Fortunately I have tagged a number of images "for posting" in just such and event.

 

Almost a year ago, I visited Halfway Log Dump after a considerable absence during COVID lock down and the resulting BPNP closure. While working with the images I made that day, I gave luminosity masks a first try. This image, made late afternoon, had some deep shadow along the forest edge and luminosity masks allowed me to bring more of the actual feel from that day to this rendition.

 

Now that autumn has arrived to 'the Bruce', I really must plan a return visit for some more photography ...

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2022-09-19

I prefer the off-season on 'the Bruce'. It's quieter, peaceful even, with the tourist hordes looking elsewhere for their day-trips. Once September arrives, temperatures are (becoming) more welcoming for my photo outings/hikes, bugs are (mostly) gone too. The further from summer, the more tranquil it gets.

On this last official weekend of summer, Lynn and I encountered two other couples out enjoying the sun and summer warm temperature on our mid-day hike south on the Bruce Trail from Dunks Bay. It was a shortish outing but every step enjoyable with no argument from my ankle sprain that has been bothersome in recent weeks. Sturdy boots, careful treading and moderation are the plan going forward as it continues to heal.

 

' North to Dunks Bay '

Last time we had been on this trail was early spring when I was looking to photograph a Trillium patch I had marked out. Harsh mid-day sun and mostly clear skies made exposure challenging so I decided to bracket and blend later in post. This image above is a Lightroom HDR blending without over doing things (I think). Though not a four-star capture, it makes me smile that I was back out on the escarpment trails with camera again ... bonus points is you can see the face staring back at the viewer in this ;-)

' South along the shore of Georgian Bay '

We met a young couple with their pup who enjoyed the accessible natural pool along the shore at this lovely spot.

 

A busy schedule in the coming weeks has me working hard to find some time I can allocate to more outings like this along the Georgian Bay and Huron shorelines.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2022-09-12

' log 'n stone '

 

Infrared capture using Kolari IRChrome filter on a dual-spectrum converted (visible & infrared) Canon EOS M camera.

 

I recognize that not everyone enjoys the many different looks of infrared imagery, I do though, very much. I enjoy experimenting with the variety of processing options,, learning more as I go along. It offers a change of pace and can help keep the creative juice flowing.

 

For this image, the filter-camera combination produced an 'aerochrome'-like image with red foliage, blue skies and otherwise normal colouring for the rest of the scene. Typically such an image would be processed to emphasize the red and blue. I arrived at a version that does exactly the opposite and decided I like it. Far from the actual lush green of leaves and grasses, there is enough 'reality' in this set against the lifeless brown to intrigue the viewer.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2022-09-05

 

A final image from our trip to Scotland for this Photo of the Week. There will likely be be a couple more on my other social media accounts but I expect this will be the last from this trip I post as P.O.T.W.

As we arrived at Ledard Farm on the last day of our tour, our hosts had arranged a wonderful welcome and photo opportunity.

' Gregor Welcomes us on the Pipes '

Gregor Wood was playing the bagpipes as his father, Fergus, greeted us and beckoned us to come and view from the perfect spot for a photo. With the backdrop of a centuries old barn, it was indeed the perfect spot. "From here" he said, "this is where the photo is. I'd have to agree ...

Easily the best meal we had during the trip and a wonderful, engaging, fun experience led by this father and sun duo (with many unseen in supporting roles I'm sure). It was a perfect last formal activity for our group and certainly made us glad we were able to return for the final day of scheduled activities.

 

DJE