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| monuments |
I've long admired an interpretation of this particular scene as captured by photographer and friend Alan Norsworthy.
Having passed by these remnants of a quarrying operation countless times while walking the trails at what is now Fletcher Creek Nature Reserve, I've never quite been content with my own versions. Alan seemed to have captured something different, something more that was missing in my images. I thought perhaps because of my years working in the industry, familiarity with such structures prevented me from seeing these as objects in an artistic context and I just dismissed them as "ho hum". I think that may be part of it. Often, with things unfamiliar, I'll spend some time and investigate their potential as photographic subjects, exploring different points of view, their form, their interplay with light and shadow. In this case I also think that there was a desire not to duplicate what Alan had captured, to avoid a "me too"
I marked the images I made back in 2013 for another look sometime down the road and have stumbled on them a number of times since but here I am down the road and it's time ...
... coming back to them with a new approach using some gritty post processing techniques and applying a texture, I have found something of my own.
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| monuments II |
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| monuments III |
DJE
"Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean. " - John Muir
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| nature's heart |
I find the more I "break away" the more I desire to "break away". A weekend on 'the Bruce', a hike on local trails, vacation at the cottage or in this case a morning walk through Fletcher Creek Environmental Preserve, all serve to cleanse my spirit, each in a different way.
This weekend was set aside to take care of some overdue chores around the house so the invitation of a friend to join him on a walk through the trails at Fletcher Creek was welcome and certainly provided the necessary "break away".
I stopped along the way to let scenes like this wash over me, and administer their cleansing.
DJE
This weekend, my photography outing on Saturday morning took me to Fletcher Creek Ecological Preserve, a Hamilton Conservation Authority property.
I was introduced to this place several months ago by Patrick and have since taken advantage of the fact that it is close to home. On this occasion, I arrived about an hour after sunrise and was fortunate that there was still moisture from a light dew hanging around.
Patrick and Alan, two of the other photographers that I get out with regularly, both are able to identify far more of the plant and tree species than I can, a fact that is a regular source of entertainment (at my expense). Nevertheless, I have set a goal for myself of slowly learning to identify more of the plant species in Ontario.
Along the east pathway leading into Fletcher Creek, I stopped to capture Silene Vulgaris, the Bladder Campion. No longer a "weed" to me, this wildflower is abundant to say the least, and proved to be a worthy subject adorned with morning dew droplets.
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| Bladder Campion |
In addition, I saw St. John's Wort, Nodding Onion, Chicory, and a few others who's names I have forgotten for the moment ... a few at a time and I'll get there ... enduring the snickering along the way ;-)
DJE
Sunday morning began just like most other Sundays, I was up at 5:00 am, made coffee, sat and read in the living room for a bit before heading downstairs to the PC to work on some images. After a while, I heard Lynn up and she came down and asked when I wanted to go for our hike. I'd been away at an out of town hockey tournament Friday and Saturday and had promised her we would go for a hike when I was back. Obviously she was not going to let me forget ;-)
Since Murphy needed his morning walk, we decided to go as soon as we could be ready. Driving south of Guelph, we could see a hoar frost covering everything and backlit with the morning sun. I was hopeful we could reach the location I had in mind before the sun would rise too high. Lynn had no idea where we going until I pulled up to park on the road beside the sign at the entrance to Fletcher Creek.
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| cold blue dawn |
As we entered the preserve, I was immediately struck by the magical feel with the sun backlighting all the branches and grasses. I began looking for a spot were the sun was streaming over the cedars to illuminate an area otherwise surrounded by dark and found this ... mission accomplished.
DJE
New locations stimulate my photographic vision. There is nothing like something fresh, something new to explore, to spark creative energies.
Recent conversations with another photographer in our group led to a discussion about Fletcher Creek Ecological Preserve and after an initial reconnaissance last weekend, I returned on Saturday morning with a couple of companions. Here, a leisurely walk of more than 2 kilometers each way on the main trail leads you through Savannah-like open areas, swamps, cedar and hardwood forests adjacent to a rehabilitated limestone quarry.
Roughly half way along the trail from the parking area, a small stream, cold and crystal clear exits from a wetland fed by springs just a short distance north. As my companions explored the other side of the trail, I was drawn to the sound of fresh running water and the cool glow of the jewel like ice formations in the shade at the edge of the forest.
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| the beginning |
From quiet beginnings this stream forms the headwaters of Spencer Creek which flows south to join Cootes Paradise and eventually Lake Ontario. There will be more visits to Fletcher Creek, may the "newness" fade slowly ... very slowly.
DJE
