Photo of the Week 2026-10-05

 

One benefit of the days getting shorter this time of year, to me as a photographer, is the earlier arrival of sunset, twilight and dark night skies. Autumn not only brings colourful leaf canopies but also crisp, clear night skies at more convenient times.

 

Speaking of convenience, many wanting to try or further develop their skills in this genre of photography must be prepared to get to a 'dark sky' location when the many factors align and suggest conditions will be right. I have location available right outside the door of the cottage in Tobermory and virtually unlimited access. Those in large urban centres could have considerable distance to travel for dark sky and with never a guarantee of success, there can be many failed or missed attempts and time invested to get reasonable results.

 

With access right out the door, then why I haven't done more photography of the night sky? Good question ...

 

' The Way Through The Trees '

  ... and I really don't have a good answer. But a recent presentation on Astro / Night Sky Photography has again stirred my interest and spawned the idea of frequently checking night sky conditions on nights at the cottage just as I frequently check sunset conditions ... at least until it starts to interfere with sleep ;-)

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2025-05-19

 More from the archive ....

 

' May Magnificence '

Almost 3 years ago to the day there was a wonderful sunset over Lake Huron as seen from the shore at our cottage. I captured some wonderful photos and processed and posted one or two. One even made it into the Sunset Edition of my Annual Calendar recently.

 

Last evening, I had no such luck. No colour, heavy overcast skies and a fresh breeze off the water. Hence the dive back into the archive.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2025-02-10

 

Well this feels a little different ...

 

After 4 months of working through images made during a trip to Scotland last September, I came to the end. Interrupted only thrice since returning, my posts to social media have showcased of images from 11 days of the trip. I first paused for a few days to showcase the awesome images captured during the 'once in a lifetime aurora event' 2024-10-10. The second time was to celebrate the return of Snowy Owls to the Bruce Peninsula after an absence of 3 years, the third, to say farewell to 2024 and ring in 2025 with the annual 'Last Light' - 'First Light' images (though these did not make it to all of my social streams).

 

So it feels different not writing about Scotland, my experiences and my time there. It is a truly magnificent place to visit, the people are incredible (even if some in the tourist hordes are not - such seems the case most places these days). Will I go back? I certainly plan to, maybe for a photo specific visit, maybe more of what I did this go round.

 

Now where am I ... oh ya, back at home in Canada. She's certainly a beauty as well. Let me turn to the images I've been making back home in Ontario. How about we start with a pair of bookends ...

 

' 2024-09-28 08:16:34 '

 

' 2024-09-28 19:23:37 '

DJE

Photo of the Week 2024-07-29

Working with captures from the same night time outing used to create last week's image,  I merged 2 (unstacked) frames as a mini pano to get another composition I wanted. This, showing the crazy light pollution glow over Tobermory when everything is closed for the night ...

' Tobermory glowing under the Milky Way '

... it was a significant challenge to bring out some detail of the Milky Way given the amount of light Tobermory was throwing off but I managed to get something that I like and I'm learning along the way.

DJE

 

 

Photo of the Week 2024-07-22

 

' MW Arching Over Hay Bay '

A first go at capturing the Milky Way Arch. Six vertical images, themselves each a stack of 4 exposures, stitched into a panorama. Processed in LR, PS and ON1.

 

There is no shortage of 'nightscape' images on the internet showcasing the Milky Way over dramatic landscapes. There are nearly as many processing styles, with options ranging from subtle single exposure versions to the surreal using stacking and tracking techniques to extract the last photon of light and detail.

Recently I was treated to a clear sky forecast while at the cottage and decided to take advantage of it to try out the new (to me) Irix 15mm f/2.4 for some night sky shots. I spent some time planning with PhotoPills, TPE and other online resources to determine time and position of the Milky Way core. I had not thought to try a stitched panorama capturing the full MW Arch until I was out on the shore near midnight and noticed just how much of it I could see.

The process of image capture was relatively simple, though it was my first time out under the night sky with my R5 and with a hew lens as well. I ended up capturing six sets of four images over a roughly 150* (estimated) field of view. I applied lens profile correction in Lightroom, then exported to TIFF's, then used Sequator to stack each set of 4 exposures, following some online tutorials. The resultant output from Sequator (also in TIFF format) were touched up for light pollution and bright cottage lights in PS, saved back to the TIFF and then stitched in LR using photomerge.

 

Challenges came mostly from the quarter moon shining bright to the SW, blazing lights from cottages across the water, and the ever present glare of Tobermory and the Ferry dock megawatt lights. All the aforementioned challenges were tackled using a combination of Lightroom, Photoshop and ON1 Effects adjustments, dodge, burn, clone, heal and curves techniques and tricks to achieve the result shown above.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2022-02-28

 

Waves and changing water levels push and heave ice on the bay into ridges and displaced slabs

 

' upheaval '

Every year the timing and results are different and change over time. Early ice formations along the edge of open water occur nearer to the shore as ice reaches further and further out. When winds whip up waves the ice can be pushed back towards the shore at the edges of open water. 

 

Footing can be tenuous along these edges and I usually wait until after the ice forms well out from the shore or to completely cover the bay before I venture out too far. Once I deem conditions safe enough, out I go with camera to capture some of the wonder of winter ...

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2022-01-17

WoW!

Are we really halfway through January already?

I've been waiting for the winter weather to arrive. The 'real' winter weather. You know the kind that everyone seems to bitch and moan about on social media. Cold, snowy, blowy winter weather is what I'm talkin' about! 

 

And I got what I wanted and it's time to put those fashionable "Canada Goose" coats that you started wearing in September to use for what they were really intended for you fragile fashionistas ... ROFL

With the temperature hovering around -20*C and wind gusts around 50kph out of the east, I knew it was time for a trip to to the 'other side' of the peninsula for some real winter photography ...

 

Yup -20*C

... so I broke out some of my winter kit. Let's talk about being properly prepared for being out in this weather for a couple of hours or more. You need the right gear. For this outing, mine consisted of a merino base layer and Columbia Omni-Heat winter pants along with my Columbia full-length insulated coat with Omni-Heat zip-in liner (It's not time for the Fjallraven parka ... I save that for 30 below LOL). I also had a CTR Howler winter beanie and large fleece neck-warmer. For my hands in weather like this when I need dexterity to operate camera controls, nothing and I do mean NOTHING beats my Heat 3 Mitt/Gloves (expensive, maybe, but I like them so much I bought a second pair with the removable/replaceable glove liners in case I wore out my first pair .... and I have not, not even close). Oh ya, and some polarized Oakleys.

 

Here I am kitted up ... after about an hour along the shore.

Here is what all the fuss was about ...

' winter shore '

' winter shore II '

' cozy bench '

These scenes are pure magic to encounter. They can be challenging to capture, but with proper gear and preparation you can stay warm and comfortable in real Canadian winter weather.

Added bonus ... I came back feeling fresh and truly alive!

 

DJE
 

Photo of the Week 2020-10-05

There are times when there is nothing recent that I'm moved to process and post. During such times I look to the catalogue and the collection of images I have accumulated for something to share. I have some candidates flagged for processing, some have already been processed and some flagged and ready for posting.

There are also times like the past couple of weeks, where I've captured a number of images I'm eager to review, process and share, and ... there is a bit of a backlog. I've been here before. I'm able to post new content frequently to my social media accounts. The number may dwindle over the coming days as the emotion attached to seeing, responding, capturing fades and the internal editor asserts himself. We'll see which make the cut and what hits the cutting room floor ...

 

At the moment, there are several sunset images in the queue, all from Hay Bay, Tobermory. So for this week, I'll share back to back sunsets from Sept 20 & 21 as summer 2020 slipped into history ...

Cloudless September Sunset

amethyst adieu

I'm contemplating a sunset calendar project ... thoughts?

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2020-07-20

Saturday night after dinner, the winds got up, the trees started to buffet around, the skies started to darken, there was thunder and then this passed overhead ...

evening stormfront

The rain started before I could get back inside and it came down, boy did it come down. Then in the morning, the skies were grey and heavy and it started to thunder and rain heavy again.

This image is a panorama stitched together in LR Classic from 6 vertical orientation frames, providing a wider view of the scene than I could capture in a single frame at 18mm on the M5 crop sensor.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2020-07-13

Sometimes it's the right place at the right time ... fully prepared or not !

After stopping on an evening walk to use our friend's new dock as a different vantage point for some sunset photos I was underwhelmed with the show. Chilled from the dropping temperature and wind of Lake Huron I headed back to the cottage for the night ...

They call it Devil Island
(... and now I think I know why)

... but I had to head back out looking for the lens cap I had dropped somewhere along the route I had taken. I checked all of the places I stopped, including the deck and when I got to the end of the road I got distracted by the sky ablaze through the trees. Investigating a little further, I made my way a short few meters through the bush to what used to be shoreline, but the water level is up and now into the trees leaving no room for dry footing and a clear view out over the water.

Suffice to say I got my shoes and pants soaking wet ... but I got the shot !

DJE

Photo of the Week 2020-02-17

A cold clear night provided great views of the night sky on the Northern Bruce Peninsula ... so it was time to suit up, gear up and get out for some night sky photos.

Venus and The Milky Way

 

The Heavens Above

Front Row Seats

 

Village Glow

 It was calm, crisp and quiet at -20*C... and there was home made hot cocoa to warm up with afterwards.


DJE

Photo of the Week 2020-01-20

Finally, some snow to inspire my shooting up on the Bruce Peninsula ...

January Sunset

I'm looking forward to an outing on Monday hoping that the fresh blanket of snow hasn't been disturbed too much and that some snow remains on the trees but I couldn't resist making some images Sunday evening of the sunset over Lake Huron with a little snow in the foreground.


DJE

Happy New Year 2020

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

Photographically, another year begins with the 'First Light Challenge' ... the 12th year I have taken up the camera and trekked out to capture my world at sunrise on the first day of a new year.

This year was a bit different, Lynn and Murphy accompanied me as I got up and out early on New Years Day to head into the village to make this panorama at 8:06 am, official sunrise here in Tobermory. It's been a few years since I've had the company Alan for the tradition he started and I welcomed having someone to share the experience with.

Tobermory Village at First Light of 2020

Wishing you and yours, health and happiness through another year.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2019-07-08

Sometimes you just need to pick up the camera and go for a walk ...

almost there

 ... with a destination and image in mind.

This time of year I knew the sun was setting farther north, around the point from our place. Lake Huron water levels up about a meter since we got our place in 2013 and we can no longer taken the chairs out past the tree line to sit and watch sunset.

Having given some thought to a location that would provide foreground for the backdrop of a beautiful sunset, I gathered up a camera and mounted the lens I'd need for my intended composition. Then I checked the time against the weather app on my phone that gives a precise expectation for the hour & minute of sunset. I grabbed some insect repellent to apply along the way and headed out the door.

Fifteen minutes later I was on location, checked a couple of variations for the final composition and 'click' ... or in this case 'click, click, click' and I had what I came for.
 
DJE

Photo of the Week 2019-06-17

heading home

Sometimes it just takes a little patience and the needed element will make an entrance into the scene ...

DJE

Photo of the Week 2018-10-01

Weather always makes for interesting photography, images and experiences ...


As a recent system pushed through the province, it was severe enough to batter some areas with thunderstorms and a number of reported tornadoes. In Tobermory though, high winds were the main feature.

My objective, as gusts up to 90kph whipped up spray off the whitecaps on Hay Bay, was to make images capturing the feel of the storm. With late day sun providing sidelight from the right, the spray was nicely highlighted and I used a 100-400 zoom to narrow in on a series of small islands and the far shore facing the brunt of the wind off Huron.

windswept waters

2018-09-21

DJE

Photo of the Week 2018-09-10

Always on the lookout for a storm coming in off Lake Huron, I find it somewhat of a challenge given that our cottage is set back into the trees and faces south, south-east. Monitoring the weather forecast and keeping a eye to the west as much as possible and of course being up on the Bruce Peninsula had yet to prove successful.

I'd seen many images of storm fronts coming in across Huron from locations further south on the Bruce, Oliphant, Southampton, Port Elgin and further down to Goderich. I wanted something from further north where I spend a lot of time ... and then Lynn came back from picking up some things in the village saying "you should see the black sky heading this way!"

... I ran for the camera.

Just approaching the tip of the peninsula and about to pass right over us was a dramatic shelf cloud at the storm front. I made a large series of images capturing the various stages of the storm from slightly different points of view around or shoreline. Above is a collage of select images in sequence that shows the passing storm.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2018-08-13

In a post two weeks ago, I wrote about having the patience to stay with it when conditions are changing. Continuing to explore the changing light and mood of a scene to capture more of what it has to offer can result in wonderful images, not imagined at the outset.

silken sunset

Having completed capturing the Chi-Cheemaun ferry arriving and departing Tobermory through a dense fog bank, my reason for venturing into the village one evening, I could have simply packed up and headed back to the cottage. Deciding to stay for whatever developed allowed me to let myself drift into the creative process. Constrained only by how the scene evolved while there was enough light to photograph, I explored compositions cropping in, pulling back wide, and anything between as the sun fell, light dissipated, fog shifted.

Apart from the satisfaction of getting some nice moody images, it was soothing to get into that so often elusive state of creative flow ... to spend more time there *sigh*

DJE

Photo of the Week 2017-08-28

This past weekend was the 3rd annual weekend at the cottage with Lynn's older sister and her family. This year Bill and Cathy stayed with us while Michael, Melissa, Hannah and Thompson stayed at Lands End Campground across the bay. 

Although timing had not been in my favour for night sky shots for a while. We were fortunate enough to have 3 great days of weather and 3 wickedly clear nights where the night sky was dark, full of stars and the Milky Way ... and I was able to fight through the siren call of the sheets as darkness falls ;-)

I managed to make it late enough on 3 consecutive nights to see the night sky complete with Milky Way from the shore in front of the fire pit, this image was made the first night and it didn't get any better than this ... how could it ?

Hay Bay - Milky Way

DJE

Photo of the Week 2017-07-03

HAPPY CANADA DAY !

Canada Day 2017 Fireworks III

... from the Parks Canada Visitor Centre tower, Tobermory, ON, in windy conditions. The tower movement from wind and people proved a challenge.

At Lynn's suggestion, this year I headed to the to observation tower with the idea of capturing the Canada Day celebration fireworks from a different point of view. Also on my list of objectives were to use in-camera multiple exposure and a wider angle of view.

Arriving at the tower around 9pm, it seemed no-one else had the same idea or at least they hadn't made it there yet. As I climbed the stairs, the wind picked up. A few flights and I was above the tree tops, fully exposed. Concern that the fireworks might be cancelled started to play in my mind. Reaching the top, heading back and returning the next night seemed a 50/50 possibility.

Alone, I began to set up, against the railing, in a corner.  As I set the tripod and attached the camera, others started arriving, a couple at first, and by the time the show started around 10 there were maybe 20 of us up there braving somewhat cool temperature made colder by the wind. With that many, the movement in the tower from weight and wind catching our bodies was more than I had expected. I began to wonder if it was such a good idea from a photography point of view as I would be using long exposures and the movement would be an issue.

As it turned out, for the most part the images I captured were impacted by the tower movement. Not so much as to make them all trash can worthy but enough to disappoint my discerning eye. In addition, I had decided to pack light and brought just the 17-40mm lens which turned out to be too wide even at 40mm given the distance away. The 24-105 would have been more suitable on my full frame DSLR ... oh well, that's what pixels and cropping are for ;-)

DJE