Photo of the Week 2024-01-29

Over the past week I've found myself enjoying memories from the final month of 2023. A few days at Revolve Farms in uncharacteristic winter weather proved a pleasant surprise. A rise in temperature following the snow dropped by a recent system made for some very "atmospheric" conditions. The resulting fog and mist on Christmas Day allowed me to capture a number of images of which I ended up processing a dozen in a set entitled "Winter For at Revolve". Below are the final two I'll be posting ...

 

' Winter Fog at Revolve - IX '

' Winter Fog at Revolve - XII '

... from that day. Of course, there were other days, at least one anyway ;-)

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2021-04-12

 

On our recent first visit to the farm with Matt & Claire, they led us on a walk around the fields. As we entered the bush and wetland area at the back of the fields, there was a rail fence separating the field from a path into the woods. It just called out to be photographed.

 

Rail Fence

Sometimes it's the simpler things, the regular, the familiar, that make fine subjects to photograph. These log rails amongst the tall dormant field grass presented an interesting leading line into the darkness of the woods beyond.

 

It was a lovely walkabout as we were shown around the property. There were early signs of spring all along the way. I'd like to go back, soon, to capture the wildflowers, gardens and fields of wheat as they emerge.

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2020-10-12

HAPPY THANKSGIVING !

 

Well it's already Thanksgiving, with the fall colours that began to arrive in late September now on full display. I've been finishing renovations at the cottage, catching up with social media posts from my backlog of images during the downtime up there. There wasn't much from autumn to post until now ...

 

fall farm fencepost

Not entirely without some photography time before September was gone, I did manage to get out for a drive on the local backroads around Puslinch one morning to capture my first images of fall 2020. A few more can be seen in my recent social media posts ( Facebook , Flickr , Instagram ).

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2014-10-20

Early Sunday afternoon I took some time for a reflective walkabout on my way home from visiting with my mother. I've written about Scotsdale Farm before (see blog post 2012-03-12), but it had been a while since I last visited and this time I was doing a bit of reconnaissance for an upcoming photo session.

The weather had been overcast since leaving the house just after sunrise, but as I began my walk around the grounds, the sun started to push through breaking cloud cover and made the fall leaves glow. I wandered for a while, slipping back and forth between personal introspection and artistic reflection. The time passed quickly and while there and I had the good fortune of meeting Richard from the recently established Friends of Scotsdale Farm, who interrupted his chores to indulge me in a short chat. 

Scotsdale Fall Trail

This week's image was made along the main trail leading away from the barn and pond. It's a great place for a walk to clear your mind, in fall or any other season ...

DJE

Photo of the Week 2014-07-28

Recently, after sharing a video lamenting the loss of many farms and the associated barns that dot the rural landscape, Alan suggested an outing to a couple of local abandoned barns to capture them before they too are gone. As long as I have known him, Alan has been drawn to abandoned farm locations and has many images depicting such scenes.

One our earliest outings together took place over 6 years ago at the then abandoned McWilliams farm near my home. Over the next couple of years, we enjoyed a few visits there and watched as the barn deteriorated further until ... after vandals torched the house, equipment moved in and demolished all structures. The site is now a vacant lot in a new industrial subdivision, the image of the barn lives on in memory and some of our photographs..

With pangs of regret for not having visited McWilliams more, our planned visit to other structures still standing, perhaps not for long, had stirred something in me. We, three, managed to visit only one of the intended locations on this outing, a place known to some as "Studio 32". We spent time leisurely sketching, walking, photographing and capturing the scene, each in our own way. Initially, I moved off to a spot to get a different view and after completing a couple of sketches, stopped to analyze precisely what it what was that had drawn me to that spot. A small area of the scene I had just sketched included the remnants of an old fence, it's line leading  away and eventually to the side of the barn.

fence to the barn

I see myself getting back to making time for sketching when I go on my photography outings.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2012-11-05

I've had difficulty selecting a single image to present this week. As I mentioned in last week's post, there have been a large number of additions to my photo library since September and I've been going through them and posting a number to my flickr account. You can click the link jump to there if you like. I've simply selected the latest image from those posts as my Photo of the Week.

country roadside

After working hard to find a location for morning shooting, I have a number of favourites from the images that I made there... funny considering it was a desperation drive back a few clicks to get here in time for sun to rise over the horizon. Sometimes it just works ... other times, not so much.

DJE

    

Photo of the Week 2012-05-28

... time to break out the infrared camera.

backyard stairs - IR

I haven't been satisfied with much of my photography in recent weeks. At times I've really just been going through the motions hoping I'd end up with some respectable images. 

When I get into a creative slump like this, it's time to change things up a bit. The change can be going to a new location, switching up subject matter or any number of other things that force me to see differently. In this case, I broke out the camera that I had converted to infrared (IR) and headed out with some friends to add to my portfolio of Guelph images. Working in IR removes the influence and familiarity of colour in my images putting the emphasis on form, line, tone and texture even more so than regular black and white.

Our destination was St. Patrick's Ward and some of the grand old properties of the neighbourhood. Aside from the relaxing morning walk, I actually made a few images that show some promise and I may have broken out of the slump ... we'll see
DJE

Photo of the Week 2012-03-12

The Fences of Scotsdale

A return trip to Scotsdale Farm during some recent severe weather provided great opportunities for images.

This time I dragged Alan, another photographer, along to hike some of the trails and fields. The wind was gusting like I haven't seen in years. It sounded like thunder as it ripped through the barren forest trees whipping them around, bending them to the point of breaking branches on many and trunks for some . We needed to lean into the wind as we made our way off the Bruce Trail, across an open field. In the middle of the field I turned to look back and saw this scene. I stopped to make several compositions, some capturing the fences, some the blowing dormant field grass.

Near the end of the outing, I was called away to deal other matters and I just dropped the camera at home, forgetting leaving the images on the card. Several days later I formatted the card thinking they had been downloaded to my Lightroom library. When I eventually went looking for them to evaluate what I had captured I was surprised not to find them. My usual routine of removing the memory card, importing the images and reformatting the card for next use had given way to urgent personal matters. I learned a bit of an important lesson hear.

Thanks to a bit of recovery software I was able to retrieve all but a couple of files from the formatted card. There are a few keepers in the bunch.

DJE

Photo(s) of the Week 2012-02-27

This past week I was east of Toronto with my mother for a few days. Daily I traveled from Brooklin to Oshawa taking Simcoe St. past the now abandoned Windfields Farms of the late E.P. Taylor. Formerly a 6 square kilometer Canadian horse breeding facility, Windfields has always caught my eye and I finally decided to stop and make some images.

Windfields Gates


The legacy of Windfields Farm will live on in Canadian and horse racing history. These are the main gates to E.P. Taylor's once thriving Windfields Farm. Beyond these gates, the final resting place of Northern Dancer.

The property will soon be consumed by urban development. Reportedly, the grave of Northern Dancer and 15 other horses will be preserved in a memorial garden.

... more from my brief stop at Windfields Farm.
Windfields Lane


Windfields Debris


Windfields Fences


Windfields Fences II


I must plan a return visit before it is gone ...

DJE

Photo of the Week 2011-07-25

tree & broken fence


On the hottest day of the year so far, the sun was intense and blazing down on the landscape as I made my way across the flat farmland of Southwestern Ontario. The day started with an absolutely clear sky, but clouds had formed and would provide some interest for the background in a scenic image.

A lone bare tree standing in a field caught my eye and I made a number of infrared (IR) exposures before noticing a broken section of fence to use as a foreground element. Knowing the bare tree and fence boards would render as dark, almost black in IR to contrast against the white grass and clouds, I moved to find a suitable composition including the fence and creating some depth to the image.

While setting up, I noticed the shadows from the clouds sweeping over the field and waited for a moment when their shadows were approaching the tree and sunlit fields were visible on the horizon.

DJE