Photo of the Week 2023-09-11

 

' lace in a bottle '

An interesting empty wine bottle and a stem of Queen Anne's Lace backlit through the glass of our cottage door

 

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2023-04-10

 

I haven't been out shooting much in the last couple of weeks. Photography activity has mostly consisted of preparing, printing and framing some images to refresh those at the cottage.

Though the other morning I looked outside and noticed the rising sun was spilling onto some of the crocus that had bloomed in our gardens. I reached for a camera and my 70mm macro to get down on my knees and do some close up work.

 

' morning crocus '

This particular flower had conveniently dropped a petal down such that I could get a view inside looking from the side.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2020-05-04

' from the archive '

So it's day whatever of the COVID pandemic state of emergency and here in Ontario, the government is just starting to ease the restrictions that have been placed on us all to help stop the spread.

I'm not sure how long it will take for things to get back to normal. In all likelihood it will never be the way it was and we will all just adjust to what becomes the new normal. Whatever that looks like, there are some certainties that help me focus on moving forward. Of course there are family and friends and I very much look forward to the days when we can gather as we once did. Soon, I hope the parks, nature trails and golf courses will begin to open up because that's where do most of my walking and I like a variety of choices.

In the more immediate future, there is photography, actually going out and making some images. As much as I have enjoyed several weeks of exploring the archive, there is nothing like the satisfaction I get from actually getting out for photography. I only got part way to 2012 in my image library so hopefully there are more diamonds in the rough tucked away for future rainy days. 

At some point not too far away, some new captures will begin to appear on the blog. But for this week, here's something from the archive I thought appropriate given how the subject looks very similar to all of the visual representations of the Corona Virus that have been permeating the media through this crisis.

' colourful corona '

' COVID, be gone, a poem '

COVID be gone in the depths of dawn

May we rise to be infection free

The isolated days so many are feeling

Our minds sit in darkness and are in need of healing

Our leaders work tirelessly to bring us comfort

As the death toll rises we grieve with such loss

Distancing from loved ones we carry our cross

The days seem endless with so full of despair

Where is the light with no end in sight

The darkness we must overcome

Stand strong and fight as a world we must become one.

Carter Mann

Grade 5 student at Holy Cross

Sudbury

Well said young man.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-07-13

Photographing flowers can become cliché very easily. The click, click, click of random snapshots is often heard when there are cameras and flowers present.

I have my share of cliché flower photos in my library, so I fall into the trap as well at times, but I do try to create something different with my captures as much as possible. That can involve close up macro work, working to find different or unusual compositions, photographing from an unusual point of view (POV) or in the case of this week's image, using post processing to convey a painterly photographic rendition of the scene.

lily trail

There are those that want to challenge and debate whether the resulting image is photography or art, even if it is photography at all or art at all. I have no interest in that debate. I appreciate the artistic eye of the photographer who can see and select a scene or subject from which to create a photograph, just as much as I appreciate the painter who has the ability to put brush and paint to canvas to create their painting. For me it is more about a creative eye, intent and the end result.


DJE

PS  -  Our recent young visitors to the cottage, Emma and Logan, were surprised by my interest in flowers, resulting in a couple of touching anecdotes. Of course my interest in flowers at the cottage is fully with nature and wildflowers. While out for walks with either Emma or Logan along, I would point out what flowers I could identify and tell them what I knew. Wood Lilies, Yellow Lady's Slippers, Showy Lady's Slippers, whatever we encountered, I pointed them out.
One day we were in the village, heading into one of the stores and not wanting me to miss anything, pointing to a decorative planter filled with colour Logan  exclaimed "hey Doug, flowers !" I just had to chuckle.
Another day, after a walk along the shore with mom and dad, Emma came up to me and presented me with a collection of blossoms from the wildflowers they encountered and wanted to know if I knew what they were. Emma even made a drawing on her electronic tablet for me that I had to snap a pic of.

... she made my day :-D

Photo of the Week 2015-06-22

Dad always liked taking pictures of flowers. I recall looking at the large number of prints and slides when he would return from vacation. Florida, Hawaii, anywhere he went you could bet there would be lots of photos of the flowers he saw. So thinking of him on yet another Father's Day, I decided to work on a recent flower image of my own.

It's the time of year for photographing orchids on the Bruce Peninsula, but I was home this weekend to spend some time with Lynn and the boys for my birthday and Father's Day .. can't think of anything better to do on these occasions.

What I did manage to slip in on Saturday morning, was a visit to a local spot a friend showed me last year and capture some images of a Showy Lady's Slipper .
 

a showy pair

Given the time of day and limited access to the flower(s), I had to be content shooting from the road shoulder, across a (cold) creek, around and under some branches with my 7DII, 300mm f/4 with 1.4x extender. The resulting capture was less than spectacular so I pushed the file around in post considerably to create this rendition.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2012-05-21

battered but bloomin'

When I head out to shoot trilliums in the spring, I always look for an example of the purple variety, trillium erectum. This year, my favourite location for shooting Ontario's provincial flower did not yield many purple specimens in good health. All that were there seemed distressed, I assume it was due to the unusual spring weather we had experienced.

After a while of searching around the UofG Arboretum, bending over and crawling around, I noticed one flower in particular with a dew drop forming on one of the sepals. Shooting with a shallow depth of field, the forest floor in the background blurred very nicely to provide a complimentary setting for this image.

Although distressed and battered, this purple beauty was still bloomin'