Photo of the Week 2026-03-02

 

Visiting family in Ottawa recently provided a number of opportunities to shoot in unfamiliar urban areas. A portion of a walk one afternoon took me through the Earth Sciences complex of Gov Can along Booth St. where I found the architecture interesting to photograph.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very utilitarian institutional in design aesthetic ... but at the same time interesting in it's straight lines and repeating patterns.

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2023-09-25

 

Again ... looking back through my image library and I've come across something that catches my attention and makes me wonder why I didn't take it further.

' M M M Massey Hall '

Over many years of making images, some are bound to be overlooked. Particularly during periods of prolific shooting, it's easy to let quality shots slip through the cracks. A while back, I started working with this image in 'post' to create a multiple exposure / camera movement effect. I must not have been satisfied with the result and abandoned it to languish in the archive until it beckoned for another chance.

That chance came during a period when I'm not shooting very much and when I have been, I've just been going through the motions in an attempt to find some photo mojo. I'm hopeful that hearkening back to better photo times will help.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2022-08-15

Three days after arriving in Inverness, we'd wrestled with what to do and where to go (where could we go) after contracting COVID sometime since our trip began ... and Glasgow won the lottery :-/

 

Relocating to a major urban centre and our planned departure city seemed the best choice and after enjoying the ScotRail system we were in Glasgow. Following the protocols in place we masked when required, social distanced and did our best to continue seeing the sights and experiencing Scotland on our own.

' reflection of an armadillo '

We had chosen a conventional hotel, with a relatively large room for the time we may have needed to be 'holed up' for any required isolation, and the Glasgow Marriott near the Clyde River was the winner. This put us close to the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) and some interesting architecture.

On Day 8 in Scotland, we were feeling well and local protocols allowed us to get outside for some fresh air so we plotted a walk down to and along the Clyde River to the area of the Clyde Arc, the SEC Armadillo, the OVO Hydro and Finnieston Crane, all interesting landmarks.

For the image above, I chose a tight composition of the Armadillo concert venue reflecting in the glass facade of the adjacent Crowne Plaza Hotel.

DJE

 

 

Photo of the Week 2021-09-13

 

It has been a while, it seems, since I've wandered about with a camera in urban settings. 'Street Photography' has never really been my thing, but I used to enjoy regular walks in different urban areas with my photo friends.

This past weekend, with COVID restrictions lifting, the Guelph Photographers Guild held it's first outing in several months. It was good to get out, good to walk with some other photographers, good to renew face to face friendships.

The location chosen was Historic Downtown Cambridge, Ontario (a.k.a. Old Galt), and several of us enjoyed a morning outing along the banks of the Grand River, the Old Mill ruins, some downtown streets and pathways. Much of the area was familiar from previous visits, but I let my photographer's eye roam, searching for something 'new' to shoot. Standing in front of an imposing old building wondering what it was, I looked up and saw it's name against a delicately clouded sky.

The Old Galt Public Library - B&W

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2019-04-01

streetlight

Permission to take a step back ...

Things have changed up a bit here on the blog over that past few weeks. I've stepped away from shooting, at least for the purpose of having something current to post. Instead I've been looking through the image library, going back to projects uncompleted, to experiments with B&W processing techniques as illustrated in this week's image.

There is a purpose in this. Though I love being out with a camera shooting, not allowing myself to shoot builds excitement, passion, creative anticipation ... and I'm about to embark on a long awaited trip that includes a significant amount of photography to document a personal journey. I wanted to be fresh, excited, thirsting to get out with camera in hand.

It may be another week or two, but we'll see how successful this little experiment was in stoking the creative fires  ...

DJE

Photo of the Week 2019-03-18

Following up on last week's post, I processed another set of images in the same B&W Fine Art Style. This set, in direct contrast to the previous set showcase straight lines ... have a look.

Up and Away

 

Straight Up

 

Gro Up

This has been a great exercise, one that has made me want to get out and shoot more of this type of work. It's not to say I'll abandon my landscape, scenic and nature images, but widen my vision as in the past.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2019-03-11

"Learning never exhausts the mind."   -   Leonardo da Vinci

Learning never exhausts the mind. Leonardo da Vinci
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/learning

Learning never exhausts the mind. Leonardo da Vinci
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/learning

Following a recent Wayne Fisher presentation on B&W architectural / fine art photography, I was inspired to take some of the ideas and techniques discussed and apply them to my own images. I had some candidates from my image catalogue in mind for this exercise and ...

... I like the results.

Gehry Swoop

The 2013 image above, of the Gehry staircase at AGO, proved a worthy candidate for B&W treatment in the style I had in mind.

Another pair of candidates from the same outing to the AGO also suited the treatment.

Gehry Curves

Gehry Up

I think it's time to fire up the printer ...

DJE

Photo of the Week 2016-10-03

I recently started working with a new client, 'piper & oak' distinctively different home decor and furniture in Paris, ON. They have a selection of my framed fine art prints to compliment their furniture and home decor offerings, one of which has already sold.

I had promised the owner, Sarah, that I would come back and re-shoot an image made just over 5 years ago during a visit to Paris. The original image had captured the back of the main street shops facing the Grand River and as luck would have it, I had excluded the building that is now home to 'piper & oak'. So on a gloomy Oct 1 morning with heavy grey skies and intermittent rain, I returned for another walkabout and to see if I might be able to capture this time.

Shops along the Grand 2016

Somehow a sepia treatment, as with the original image, just seemed to suit a scene that without certain keys to modern time, looks as though it could have been made decades ago.

I wandered some streets and areas along the river making images for a couple of hours, working to stir the creativity. In the end,  I think the best shot from the outing was of the Library facade where I had to stand on the sidewalk right in front of the building to get something without parked cars or people distractions. Looking straight up with an ultra-wide angle gave an interesting composition.

Library, Paris, ON

While out shooting, I was reminded of the enjoyment I get from wandering around town with a camera, picking out details, broad scenes or just simple vignettes from everyday surroundings. Choosing different locations has always kept the interest level up, whether it is different trails, or different towns and cities. On this outing I managed to get in a couple hours of mindful photo wandering despite the rain that did make me cut things a bit short. 

DJE