Photo of the Week 2026-05-25

 

' waking from winter '

From a walk in the Arboretum to see what was springing back after a long winter ... 

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2026-04-27

 

 

' April Showers '

It certainly has been a wet April ... and I met a friend for a walk on the Wild Goose Woods Trail in the UofG Arboretum. Shortly after we started, the rain intensity increased to the point where eventually we were driven back to our vehicles and retired to a local cafe for coffee and a chat. But ... not before making an image or two.
 

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2026-03-30

 

Now I know that Spring has just arrived but I've delayed outdoor adventures for a bit while I convalesce after hernia surgery one week ago. Any recent photography activity has been limited to some shots of Sully around the house or working on the computer with images from previous outings.

 

And that's where today's photo caught my eye. Back in November, I mounted up a couple of vintage lenses on modern digital camera bodies and went for a frosty morning walkabout in the Guelph Arboretum. The sun rose magnificently in clear skies bringing it's warmth in colour as well as temperature. Low in the morning sky, it provided exquisite back-light for the remaining fall colours and foliage.

 

' morning smoke '

From a distance, this Smoketree (I did not take note of the specific variety) with it's feathery 'flowers' gave the impression that it was smoking or steaming which drew me closer. I enjoyed some close-up shooting using the back-lighting to bring an ethereal, abstract feel to the images.

I was using two different camera/lens combinations and cannot recall which lens was used for the image above, likely a 35mm or 50mm variant of the vintage Canon FD lenses I have acquired. Unfortunately key-wording was skipped for files from one setup on import to the computer and being a fully manual vintage lens, there is not electronic communication with the camera to have the info recorded in capture metadata.

Note to self ... don't forget to keyword when importing images, particularly those shot with vintage lenses.

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2022-01-10

 

Lynn suggested a trail in the Arboretum for an afternoon outing and as we started along the first boardwalk, I looked back towards the sun, it was white and bright ... at least it was until I remembered to reset my exposure settings on the camera after it's last use, DOH. Still, I liked the high-key look and decided to work with the resulting image.

 

' white and bright '

For this trek, I decided to continue with my desire to utilize ultra-wide angle lenses more, and mounted the fish-eye on one camera. The distortion with this lens, a Rokinon 8mm f/3.5 fish-eye CSII, is extreme to say the least and as expected, lines at the edges of the frame were severely curved. Earlier in the week I had been watching instructional videos on photography with wide and ultra-wide lenses and recalled one about "de-fishing" an image in Photoshop. This looked like a decent test candidate for the technique so I decided to see if I could achieve a more natural look (aside from the overexposure).

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2019-05-20

afternoon trillium patch

Every spring the trillium of Victoria Woods bloom in a magnificent patch extending on either side of the trail. There are Red Trillium sprinkled amongst the mostly white Provincial flower of Ontario.

This is a favoured location to enjoy and celebrate the true arrival of spring.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-01-26

On a Saturday morning outing to a series of trails in the Halton Regional Forest Complex, I was challenged to make an image that captured the essence of the location. With a couple of friends, we hiked sections of the Mahon, Turner and Robertson Tracts. Over the course of a few kilometres, we enjoyed conversation and friendly banter as we made our way through the changing forest landscape. The atmosphere was very calming (save for the constant background hiss of static from 401 highway traffic, a constant reminder of hustle and bustle not far away) and each of us remarked on it with an individual take on what we sensed.

For my couple of hours of tranquility, I came away with a quieted mind and 29 exposures. Upon review back home, the images I had made did nothing to capture the essence of what I experienced. As I scanned again through my images, frustration set in. I was uncertain why I had been unable to create images that reflected what I had experienced. Perhaps I had been too caught up in the conversation, the banter, or maybe it was just one of those times. But the feeling that I had failed set in and somehow stayed with me ...

Sunday, with Lynn laid up because of her back, I decided I needed to get "back in the saddle". It would be a mid morning outing with the sun well up and clear blue skies overhead so I grabbed my IR converted P&S and my EOS M for backup and headed out. I wanted to just take a walk and work through the frustration.

Having attended a presentation by the Arboretum director at a recent photo club meeting I was reminded of familiar trails and the range of photo opportunities, I also learned about some areas on the grounds that I had not yet explored. In one of those new areas, I found a stand of birch and set up to visualize how I would I would process the image to translate the RAW capture into the essence of what I was seeing and sensing. 

Here, I've used a strong white vignette to remove the visual distraction at the edges of the frame and direct the viewer to the central portion of the image, simulating the selective nature of our sight. Much the way human vision captures detail in the central field of view and ignores edge detail to a great extent, the vignette manipulates this image.

"brrrrrrrrr ch"

... feeling less frustrated ... it's a step in the right direction.
 
DJE

Photo of the Week 2014-02-03

Here in Ontario we are in the middle of a "good old fashion Canadian winter". Memories of winters with lot's of snow are being stirred, fond memories of my youth, playing outside in the snow until I was wet and cold through to the bone. Winter really is better if you embrace it and find something to do outdoors when the scenery is blanketed in white.

... of course there are many who would disagree. In fact I think they are all bitc... errrr, complaining over on Facebook. It' has become something of a chore for me to check in on FB and wade through the moaning a groaning on my feed to get to the little bit there that's worth reading. Ahhh ... the burden of having a social media presence, but I digress.

This past weekend, I enjoyed time outside on local trails because we have been unable to get to our cottage. The main and only highway to Tobermory has been closed due to weather conditions. Relentless snow squalls and blowing snow for more than a week, have made road conditions poor enough that the route was completely closed. Although I'm quite keen to get up there to check on our place and capture the winter landscape.

Sooooo ... close to home, there was the Arboretum at University of Guelph. A fresh blanket of undisturbed snow made for some great winter scenes.

window onto winter

DJE

Photo of the Week 2013-05-27

Daylight comes early this time of year and allows me the opportunity to trade the treadmill for an outdoor trail with my camera on some morning walks. Early morning is a calm time, the pace of life is still relaxed, the calm before the storm.

One morning last week, I chose to walk the trails of the Guelph Arboretum in the soft light early morning with an added bonus of a slight mist wafting over the grounds. Wandering along moist forest trails and across open fields of grass laden with dew, I decided to chance the trails of Victoria Woods and the waiting hordes ...

reflection under spring maple

... with just enough deet applied to keep them at bay. I can certainly confirm that mosquito season has arrived in Southern Ontario. Arm yourself with your choice of deet laden repellent or run for cover.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2012-05-21

battered but bloomin'

When I head out to shoot trilliums in the spring, I always look for an example of the purple variety, trillium erectum. This year, my favourite location for shooting Ontario's provincial flower did not yield many purple specimens in good health. All that were there seemed distressed, I assume it was due to the unusual spring weather we had experienced.

After a while of searching around the UofG Arboretum, bending over and crawling around, I noticed one flower in particular with a dew drop forming on one of the sepals. Shooting with a shallow depth of field, the forest floor in the background blurred very nicely to provide a complimentary setting for this image.

Although distressed and battered, this purple beauty was still bloomin'