Photo of the Week 2025-12-29

 

 

' sun worship '

After a second full day of shooting between Superior Provincial Park and Wawa, we arrived at Government Dock Beach to set up for a sunset session. 

 

Another group of visitors showed up shortly after us and photobombed my composition and I waited to see what I could make of it. I had already selected my set up position to have the rugged rock and water pools dominate the foreground with the sun positioned central R to L. Moving to another spot to compose without people in frame was an option, but the others were roaming about and I did not want to miss the sun dip below the horizon.

 

Ultimately I turned to the tools available in post processing to 'remove' one or two people who were distracting, but chose to leave one expressive character for both scale and additional interest.

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2025-11-10

 

Waiting for sunset, I worked compositions of the shoreline and rock outcrops at water's edge, Stone Beach, Lake Superior, Algoma District, ON

 

' formations '

It often happens after arriving at a location for a planned photo opportunity, there is time available to explore further. Whether waiting for others in the group, for a planned shot to develop, or quickly getting the planned shot, I try to make best use this extra time and opportunity.

The image above was captured during this "extra time", waiting for the sun to set across the vast Superior horizon. 

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2024-08-05

' blowin' smoke '

 

After a full day of work on the waterside shed, I 5took some time to relax and take in this gorgeous sunset. Over the course of almost an hour, 30 min before official sunset to almost 30 minutes after, I moved around the shoreline for different compositions making a number of exposures.

 

Sometimes it's not until after making the exposure and looking at it on a larger screen, that I see images in the clouds ... I see the profile of a man with smoke coming out of his mouth ;-)

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2024-04-29

 

Hello darkness my old friend ... 

' enveloping '

Sunset with the ice gone and the water calm ... 

 

The sunlight reflecting off cottage windows on the far side of the bay drew me out from a comfortable chair after a long day of work on the shed rebuild project.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2024-04-15

Odd as it may be, I haven't made any photos yet in April. No I was not among the throngs of photographers that shot the eclipse (a story for another time perhaps), and after returning from a golf getaway before Easter, I've been working my way through images made of sunset on March 1st.

 

' burning feather '

' vanes of fire '

' smouldering aftervane '

After capturing images of the much wider scene, I switched camera bodies to one with a longer zoom lens and concentrated on the unique cloud details of this particular sunset.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2023-11-06

 

Three different looks from one capture ...

 

When I framed this composition and made the original exposure, I was concentrating on the reflection. I wanted to keep as much symmetry as possible, with a low POV, bending down, camera hand held, not using a tripod, I was really just scouting the location at this point knowing that I would return in a day or so with a group of photographers.

 

What caught my attention later, while reviewing the day's images on the computer, was the difference in luminance between the clouds in the sky and their reflection on the calm water. After a minimal amount of processing on the original, I reworked the file to balance the luminance of the sky to that of the reflection and in addition, the reflection luminance to that of the sky ending up with three different interpretations of the scene, each with their own mood.

 

For reference and clarity, in the above trip-tych, the top image is the original.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2023-05-15

 

' (Even) In the Quietest Moments '

With the wind down and the bay calm, it was just right to sit, have after dinner coffee and let the serenity envelop us.

 

Taking it all in, I was drawn to the shape of the clouds following the profile of the shoreline trees. For the image,I moved along the shore in search of a composition that would offer a little more than a mirror image reflection. In this case the clear waters provide a hint of what lies below and the exposed rock breaks the reflection of the sky over the calm waters. I placed the horizon mid frame to emphasize the symmetry of the reflection.

 

I regularly make images of sunsets along these shores. The colours are without a doubt awesome and I dare day equal to those anywhere in the world. However the colours are not the only draw when in comes to a Lake Huron Sunset.

Title chosen with a nod to Supertramp, thanks for a great song ...

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2023-05-01

 

A favourite place to just sit back, relax and enjoy the show ...

 

' best seats in the house '

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2023-02-20

' sky pyre '

The final image in a series where I 'zoomed' closer and closer capturing sunset on the Huron horizon.

 

With sunset photography, scouting or knowing the location in advance helps me form a plan of how I will shoot. I use that plan as a guide only and adapt as I respond to what the scene is presenting.

 

I 'scouted' this familiar location along our cottage shoreline earlier in the day for ice formations with the idea of using sunset reflecting through or from them. I used The Photographer's Ephemeris to determine that sun would set almost perfectly centred behind the mouth of our bay. But conditions did not turn out as I had anticipated and my response was to shoot a series of images using the lens to zoom in tighter and tighter into the point where the sun had fallen below the horizon.

 

Here are the other images from the series ...

 

between the ice and sky - still  closer

 

 

 

 

 

 

between the ice and sky - closer

between the ice and sky

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

scouting the probability of sunset - II

DJE

Photo of the Week 2023-01-02

 

As we begin another trip around our fiery orb in the sky, rather than look back and pick "my best #(whatever)" from 2022, I went back to see what was left, overlooked, unfinished or abandoned ... and there happens to be quite a bit.

 

First I turned to a collection I keep entitled "for posting" and realize that there are images there from as far back as 2009. This collection contains mostly mages that I completed processing at the time but never posted for one reason or another. Some may have been too similar to other I did choose to post, others may have just been left behind as I moved on to newer captures.

It was an interesting exercise and I realize that there are likely a fair number of images lurking in the shadows, worthy of another look. Perhaps they will be released in 2023, but for now I've selected just one, a sunset image from exactly one year ago today.

' Sunset 2022-01-02 '

Just another sunset, a glorious January sunset on Hay Bay ... 

 

DJE

 

P.S.  to give you a peek at what is in the "for posting" collection.

 

Photo of the Week 2022-12-12

 

A corruption to my Lightroom catalogue file had me scratching my head trying to figure out what had happened and during the recovery process I found some unfinished work from early October of this year ...

 

' Tranquility Base is right here ... '

 

A three frame stitched panorama depicting the end to a fall sunset on Hay Bay, Lake Huron, Northern Bruce Peninsula ON, my 'Tranquility Base'

Oh ... the corruption issue, it's fixed. Thankfully I know my way around a computer well enough to fix most things like this. My backup process came in handy again, though now that it's fixed, I think I could likely have got by without one. However, having multiple backups sure helps me to stay level headed and focus on the fix rather than what I've lost.

Again I'm reminded to go back through my catalogue of images to see what I've overlooked or forgotten about as I continue to add more and more and more ...

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2022-05-30

 

Every sunset is unique - No two are ever exactly the same 

 

' a slice of pink '

This, from a couple of weeks ago ...

 

As I grow my catalogue of images, some, no many get overlooked, at least initially. Particularly when I enter a period of frequent outings and prolific shooting, but also when I make many exposures during a single outing.

 

It's always a question, whether I should process everything from a past shoot before moving on to more recent captures. Does it matter? My OCD left brain says it does, my right brain frequently speaks up and creates chaos. It's just one of the struggles on my 'photographic journey'.  

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2022-05-02

 

After a beautiful sunny end to April at the cottage, May started with a passing storm ...

' An approaching May storm '

With the storm threatening, I downed my coffee and donned the rain gear to take Murphy out for his morning walk before the downpour began. Certain that I would get drenched, the camera(s) stayed safely stowed in the cottage ... until we got back that is.

At one spot along the road, a lot has been cleared in preparation for a build. The clearing through the trees provides a great view of what is going on out over the bay to the west. This is where I began coaxing Murph to get on with things so I could get back and capture the heavy skies and storm approaching from the west across northern Lake Huron. He didn't seem to understand, but he did eventually respond to my urging and I made it in time to capture some images before the deluge began.

 

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2022-03-14

Revisiting favourite locations at different times of day, in different light, different weather conditions and different seasons provides opportunity to capture some very different images.

I love the view out towards Lake Huron from our location on Hay Bay. Regular followers will recognize it from the many images I have shared here and elsewhere in recent years. So it should come as no surprise that I made several treks out onto the ice this winter in search of compositions of interest.

 

A month ago, I made an image with the setting sun placed behind a crack and thrust up slab of ice. Two weeks later, and at sunrise rather than sunset, I was in that exact same spot, composing images around that same crack and slab of ice.

 

' crack 'n morning sky - H '

 

' crack 'n morning sky - V '

With the sun behind me and obscured by clouds, instead of blazing into my lens, the resulting images are night and day apart. 

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2022-03-07

Purple and Gold, the colours of royalty

 

' Regal Pageantry '

When I photograph out over Lake Huron, I quite often used a longer focal length to capture at least one image without any of the headlands or islands present. Some time after I began this practice I was introduced to the Seascape photography of Hiroshi Sugimoto, his exploration of the boundary between sea and sky.

"Water and air. So very commonplace are these substances, they hardly attract attention ― and yet they vouchsafe our very existence. The beginnings of life are shrouded in myth: Let there water and air. Living phenomena spontaneously generated from water and air in the presence of light, though that could just as easily suggest random coincidence as a Deity. Let's just say that there happened to be a planet with water and air in our solar system, and moreover at precisely the right distance from the sun for the temperatures required to coax forth life. While hardly inconceivable that at least one such planet should exist in the vast reaches of universe, we search in vain for another similar example.  Mystery of mysteries, water and air are right there before us in the sea. Every time I view the sea, I feel a calming sense of security, as if visiting my ancestral home; I embark on a voyage of seeing." 

                                                                                                                       - Hiroshi Sugimoto

 

I've contributed a number of images to a flickr group "Following Sugimoto" dedicated to the genre, this is yet another.

 

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 2021-11-15

 

' sparkling waters - heavy skies '

Having a front row seat to a view like this is nothing short of spectacular. Whether it's a dramatic sunset or mid-day cloudless blue skies, subtle morning pastel hues or angry storm fronts, the horizon separating Huron Waters from Huron Skies always gets my attention ... 

This image is a heavy crop in an aspect ratio using multiples of the 'golden ratio'. It's an aspect ratio I use for pseudo panoramas when cropping from the original file. The original capture was made while experimenting with my R5 set up in crop mode for wildlife with  my EF100-400L and 1.4x converter. I was making some test shots earlier and used the same setup to capture a very selective slice of the view out over "La Mer Douce".

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2021-10-25

 

' Huron Sunsets are Just Ducky '

There's often an additional little something in the clouds ...

Seeing faces, animals and familiar shapes in the clods is a form of pareidolia, and something that frequently occurs with me. Those following this blog will know that I frequently photograph sunset and the skies over Lake Huron. During my most recent visits to our northern retreat, things did not change.

The October skies over the Bruce Peninsula and Lake Huron are often very dramatic. Approaching weather phenomenon, storm fronts, cloud formation and clear blue sky make a wide variety for the atmosphere and appearance of the images I capture. So far this month (October 2021) has done it's best to stir my desire to pick up the camera and catch what I see through the lens.

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2021-10-18

 

 

' Green Flash and Kayaker '

I have tried many times to catch the 'Green Flash' as the sun dips below the horizon at to conclude sunset. It requires specific conditions to occur and is a fleeting phenomenon when it does. For those not interested in following the link provided above to research for themselves, it requires a clean, clear, unobstructed horizon, frequently over a large water body. The atmosphere causes a refraction effect and green is the last colour that can be seen, just as the last of the sun's orb drops to the horizon line. In the case of this photo, the distinct cloud line off in the distance over Lake Huron proved enough.

 

I've mentioned this to others observing sunset with me and some of the looks and reaction I have received are comical. But it is a "thing", explained by science. Captured by others in video and still images ... and now by me (though it was the very beginning of this very brief phenomenon).

Green Flash - enlargement from photo above

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2021-08-23

 

' 2021-08-20 20:43:45 '

Another Hay Bay sunset to close out the 8th year of cottage life on 'the Bruce'. I don't think I'll ever tire of taking in a Huron Sunset.

 

DJE