Photo of the Week 2026-08-03

 

Last week, we were invited to dinner at our friend's cottage at the very SW tip of the Bruce Peninsula. I've always known that the view of sunset from there would be amazing. Until this occasion, my timing had not been right. With dinner done, we retired to the deck for some wonderful conversation until someone said ... "hey look at the sunset" ... and I was off to grab the camera bag.

 

As I arrived, the ladies were already at the shore, in conversation down on the rock and I heard "where's Doug?", and "over here", "the view is from here" and the like. 

 

' Flying in a V '

I started working the shoreline with the 14-35 wide angle zoom using some rocks and trees as foreground elements before swapping it out for the 24-105 thinking I wanted a little more reach to bring Russel Island more prominent in the frame. 

 

As it turned out, my preferred compositions were made at 24mm from a spot a little further west along the shore. The 1/50 sec shutter speed left the gull blurry from it's motion and mine as I perched a bit precariously on the rock ledge at water's edge.  

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2025-04-14

 

Sorry (not really) to take you back to winter when spring is really just arriving but I knew I had another Snowy Owl image in the RAW reservoir ... 

' snowy in a snowstorm '

I was out with the then recently acquired RF 200-800 to gain more familiarity with it and work on my wildlife shooting. Approaching the location where I hoped to see a Snowy Owl, the weather worsened with snow falling very heavily by the time I arrived. It was difficult seeing the road ahead at time so wasn't sure how things would be for shooting.

 

Driving slowly along the sideroads, the tires were kicking up the freshly fallen snow and it was accumulating on the side windows of the vehicle. Every so often I would get out and brush off the snow for a clear(ish) view of the fields outside. Deciding to head down a little used track where I'd had success previously and that I knew would be closed to traffic for the season in the next couple of weeks, I stopped to clear the windows and strained to see across the field to a line of wrapped hay bales along a distant fence line.

 

... and there it was !

 

Across the field in heavy blowing snow with the 200-800 at it's maximum, I would shoot short 3 or 4 frame bursts between gusts of blowing snow. I was trying to time the shots such that my subject would be less obscured and managed it a few times.

Notes:

- for context, the top image is original width, just cropped top and bottom to 16:9 ratio 

- this lower image in approx. a 100% crop to show the detail I was able to get at 800mm across fields of blowing snow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 DJE

Photo of the Week 2024-07-01

 

' bird & barbs '

This cheeky little fellow wouldn't leave the chain link fence or barbed wire topper so I had to settle for the normally to be avoided "bird on a wire" composition ... but I think it works ok here with the light blue sky as background.
 

I had captured his mate in a natural setting earlier and shared that image last week.

From a Guelph Photographers Guild outing to Urquhart Butterfly Garden, Dundas ON, a really nice little park, easily accessible, free parking and access with lot's of colourful flowers, a large butterfly identification aid and a number of birds dropping in for a visit.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2024-06-24

 

' mama bringing home the bugs '

Female Yellow Warbler - From a GPG outing to Urquhart Butterfly Garden , Dundas ON

 

A number of GPG members met up at Urquhart Butterfly Gardens in Dundas ON, prepared to photograph butterflies and flowers but I encountered this brightly coloured beauty making repeated trips back to what I surmise is the nest with hunger little ones. I kept my distance and allowed her space to do what she needed to do ... ethical wildlife photography trumped interfering with her duties to get a better shot.

A little while later, I saw the male in the same area and grabbed a number of images that I'll share later on social media ;-)

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2022-05-09

 

Getting a decent shot of a Belted Kingfisher has been on my list for a while ...

 

' Mrs. Kingfisher '

 

... not any Belted Kingfisher, one of those that continue to intrigue me with their "piercing rattle" out over the shallows of Hay Bay.

I first heard the call of a Belted Kingfisher years ago, long before I began recognizing it again during my time outdoors at our cottage on Hay Bay and even that was some time ago now. Fast in flight and quick to bolt from their perch, I had mostly just kept an ear out for that familiar sound, then tried to spot that darting movement over the water and along the shoreline.

With spring fully arrived, so had the resident Kingfishers a short while ago. Late one sunny afternoon, with water levels much lower I managed to get out on the rock and approach the area where one had been stopping to perch while making the rounds looking for dinner. There wasn't much "cover" to hide my careful approach and after spooking this female from her perch a couple of times, she returned for a brief portrait session. I managed a few decent frames, this being a significant crop from the original frame but now I want better ...

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2021-11-29

Almost the end of November and they're baaaack !!

 

' wary glance '

I recently made some time to visit an area that has provided most of my opportunities to photography Snowy Owls and was again rewarded with sightings ... two separate sightings on two separate days (likely the same bird).

 

This image of a female or immature male Snowy Owl was made on the second day, when the bird was much closer to an accessible vantage point. I was able to get close enough for this highly cropped image (approximately 60% of the original frame height) from my Canon R5 in 1.6 crop mode with EF100-400 LII and EF1.4x III (effective focal length 896mm).

 

There is no substitute for focal length when photographing birds, not just focal length, good glass and high mega pixel resolution all play an important part. I like to photograph birds, in particular, unique species like the Snowy Owls and Bald Eagles I can find near our cottage. If I was more dedicated to bird photography, my expenditure on lenses would be significantly greater. I'm not saying never, but for now I'll stick with the gear I have and get what I can get image wise.

 

Sadly, I've decided that I will I no longer share locations of where I find and photograph wildlife on social media. I've seen and heard of too many instances where wildlife are harassed by over exuberant photogs too focused on getting the shot to the detriment of stressing the animal. I'm not saying that I have no impact on my subjects, but I strive to observe and read the animal's behaviour to know when to move on ... as I did with the owl in this week's photo.  I had spent some time at the side of a busy road close to this beauty when it became evident that other cars were slowing down and my presence I was drawing more attention to the bird. As experience has taught, soon other's would be stopping and ... well, I'll just say it usually doesn't go the way I would prefer.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2021-06-28

Hummingbirds of Revolve Farms

 

On a recent visit to Matt & Claire's Revolve Farms location in Athens ON, we were treated by an appearance of the local Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.

 

Ruby-throated Male

Ruby-throated Female

These two were in frequent attendance at the feeder outside the tiny-home window and I imagine provide much entertainment when Matt & Claire are taking respite from their daily work regimen.

feeder outside the window

It was challenging to get the sharp images I would prefer without my 'birding' setup of the Canon 7DII with EF100-400 L IS. The EOS M5 and Sigma 18-300 performed acceptably but I look forward to going back to see just how much I can improve my results.

The above images of the birds are crops from the frames below which include the feeder. The Hummers did land on the branches holding the feeder and I would like more time to focus on making better images without being a distracted, disrespectful guest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2020-12-28

Well, well, well ...

 

I forgot to get a post out yesterday. I think this makes twice in over 10 years that I've missed making a Photo of the Week post on Monday. So here we go, a day late and backdated to yesterday ;-)

 

' Sleeping Beauty '

 

The back-story: I made a solo trip up to the cottage for a single night just before Christmas to check on things and take some items up so we would have more room in the vehicle the next trip. It also gave me an opportunity to scout around and look for photo opportunities without having to be concerned with passengers.

 

The drive up was mostly unrewarding photographically as the weather was quite blah. After cruising some of the secondary roads north of Wiarton, I managed to photograph a Rough-legged Hawk and grabbed a far off shot of a female Snowy Owl sitting on a fence post out in a farm field, but nothing really noteworthy. That day remained heavily overcast and dull so there were not night sky photo opportunities either.The weather forecast was for rain the next day so I planned to take care of a couple of things and leave early morning with enough time to do some Snowy Owl scouting on the was home.

 

I made a mid-morning departure and about 30 min into the drive I decided to pull off the highway to refill my coffee cup from my thermos. Safely on the shoulder of a side-road, I screwed the cap back on the thermos and looked out the side window to catch ' Sleeping Beauty '

 

 

Sleeping Beauty

Talk about serendipity! I'm not sure I would have noticed this bird as I scanned the area to either side of the highway as I drove along, but there she was. Sitting pretty and completely at rest if not sleeping. I watched for almost an hour and she never moved for nearly 20 minutes when she opened her eyes a bit and shortly after began preening.

I particularly like this image because the owl is perched on a rock in a natural environment as opposed to on a fence post, hydro pole or other man made structure. She stands out well against the darker field grass background.

An there you have it ... a day late and well worth it IMO.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2020-04-27

' from the archive '

Switching things up after a string of posts from Windfields Farm and before that, other abandonments, though I'm still mining my library of images having photographed little in the last 8 weeks ...

' yellow eye '

I think all photographers go through a "bird phase" at some point. For that you likely need a telephoto lens and my first for my digital cameras was the Canon EF 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM. The lens was touted for it's sharpness and versatility but not part of the Canon L-series and hence not with the accompanying price tag.

The next step is frequently to visit a zoo or a location like the Mounstberg Raptor Centre. Back in 2012 when I visited, their birds were all rescues in rehabilitation of deemed unsuitable for release back into the wild. Personnel at the centre cared for the birds and used them for public education. Many of the birds were kept in enclosures that allowed photography through wire netting. There were also paid sessions where handlers would bring birds out and perch them for photographers to snap pics.

On my first visit to the centre, I happened to arrive just as the Snowy Owls were being tended to by staff. They had just watered the vegetation in the enclosure and the two Snowies were sitting near the front looking at the keeper, he commented "they want their bath" and gently sprayed them with the hose. I grabbed this image while one was still fixated on getting it's shower.

The images is processed with "selective colour", the eye being the only colour in the frame, everything else converted to grayscale (B&W). It's not something I normally do, or like for that matter. But a friend asked me if I would make a print as a gift for someone who loved owls.

Here's the image without selective colour ...

DJE

Photo of the Week 2014-12-15

A chance meeting Saturday morning at the Tobermory Farmer's Market Christmas Sale led to some great intelligence for my wildlife photography. While there, I heard two people talking about the number of Snowy Owl's in the area. I interrupted the conversation, introduced myself and listened intently. Another person entered the conversation and the next thing you know I had a plan for Sunday morning.

I left the cottage in the dark before sunrise with the weather heavy.  The morning light was very dull making it necessary to bump up the ISO for decent exposure settings but I was treated to a sighting within minutes of reaching my intended location. A male Snowy was perched on a fencepost a hundred or so metres out in a field so I pulled the vehicle over, grabbed a few quick images, then sat back and poured some hot tea from my thermos to wait.

Eventually he moved on to a utility pole, across a field and then courteously perched on a dead tree stump making for a perfect environmental portrait setting. Fortunately, I was able to get relatively close access from a local dead-end county road and make a number of images, but still from a fair distance.

sitting pretty

I managed to see 2 other Snowy's in the same area, but distance and crappy light remained a challenge preventing me from making any better images.

I'm going to have fun getting to know these beauties this winter.

DJE