Photo of the Week 2021-05-03

Back when I first connected with the photography community in Guelph, over 10 years ago, it was a thing for a small group of us to head out on Saturday mornings to different locations and just wander around with our cameras. There were so many places we went, I tend to forget until I dive into the image catalogue and see something that stirs the memory.

Back in 2009, a small group of us decided that Casa Loma would be a good location for just such an outing. I can't remember how many of us make the trek into TO but I remember some of who were there and the fun we had, that day and many others. As with all things, change comes, life happens, friends move, priorities change and so do weekend activities. Almost all of my outings now are either solo or with Lynn, still good time, great memories but different.

Some time after I selected the photo below, processed it, marked it as a potential candidate for posting. Now with my outings restricted with pandemic concerns, the archive comes to life.

High Rent District

Are all horse stables this nice ... well they were at Casa Loma.

Using a low POV (point of view), with my camera actually on the brick floor, I emphasized the herring-bone pattern and lines to add interest to the scene. With scenes or subjects exhibiting strong symmetry, it can be difficult to get an exact balance. Usually if the balance is off, even a fraction, my OCD kicks in and I discard the image. In this case I missed centring the image on a pattern line but it doesn't bother me as much, perhaps because the horse stalls themselves are not the same right and left in the frame.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2017-01-09

I love photographing landscape and nature but regular forays into other genres with different subject matter helps me to exercise my creative muscles. For me they key is to be open to opportunities and recognize or orchestrate them as they present themselves.

... case in point, during everyday conversation recently, Lynn mentioned that a friend of hers from work was getting two new horses, Rocky Mountain Horses. Now although I had heard of them before, I went to the internet to see if they were what I thought and they were. Sooooo .... I asked Lynn to check with her friend and see if it would be OK for me to drop in on the weekend to photograph them.

The friends graciously accepted my request and after our stop at the local market on Saturday morning, in -18*C temperatures, we headed out to the farm where I got to meet Megan, Gunner, Emma and Donna.

Tammy's Herd

I enjoyed the interaction with these beautiful animals, so curious and social. I think Donna was flirting with me, giving me the eye in this next image. What do you think?

flirting

While we were there, we had a tour of the barn and there are always great details in a barn. In this case I was drawn to some tack hanging near a window where I made the image below.
 

tack

I'm very grateful to Tammy and Chad for their hospitality and hope to be returning at some point to shoot, maybe when the snow is flying.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2016-01-04

Spending a week at the cottage over the Christmas and New Year holidays offers a lot of opportunity for photo outings ... it also offers lots of opportunity to sit and read, drink, nap ... eat, nap ... read, drink, eat, nap ... I think you get the idea. Such are the holidays  :-)

So mid week, I thought I better get out for a morning drive and actually do some photography. In search of Snowy Owls specifically, but as always, eyes open for anything to photograph, I followed the now familiar side-roads. In areas where I had spotted them last year, I scanned the fields and fence lines to see if "Snowy' had returned. Searching across the fresh fallen snow for two or three hours, I came up empty. It's difficult to say if the owls have decided not to return to this area or if I just missed them on this day.

Not wanting to turn back without tripping the shutter, I began to look more at the winter scenes of the surrounding fields and forests. Following some yet unexplored roads, west of the main highway, the disappointment of not finding 'Snowy' melted away and my perception changed, time seemed to slow down and all but the scenes in from of me faded away.


At some point I came across a farm with some interesting fence lines in the field and I got out intending to work some trial compositions. While I was getting my cameras ready I heard the sound of a horse neighing and turned around to see three beauties all looking at me across a field. They continued to neigh and whinny off and on for several minutes, all the time keeping an eye on me. They never approached or shifted their position, as I find sometimes horses will. They simply stopped and stared.

equine three

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 2011-10-03

mistical beast


I've written about this at least one before, and it is worth repeating again ... "the best camera, is the one that you have with you".

...no camera, no image ... that is why I travel virtually everywhere with a camera. Oh sure there are cameras in just about every cell phone available today but I'm talking about something a little better. Cell phone cameras a fine for the casual photographer and may even do in a pinch for those who are more serious. I travel with a G12 close at hand the majority of the time and I get some seriously high quality images with this high end "point & shoot".

... case in point, I was on my way to the second stop of my work day on Friday morning. It was a misty early fall morning with the rising sun obscured by a dense layer of fog gently moving through the low lying fields and ravines. Turning onto a local concession road, I noticed some horses on the side of a hill with the sun pushing through the fog behind them the scene was too good to pass by. A few moments later I was back on my way and looking forward to the evening when I could download the images and enjoy what I had captured ... "mistical beast" is my favourite of the bunch.

An interesting background note is that following my photo outing last week where I also captured images in the mist, my companion on that day remarked that he had always wanted to find a white horse in a misty field ... guess I scooped him.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2010-11-15

misty mount


I stood beside the road and watched this horse and it's companions in the fog, early on a recent fall morning . The intensity of the mist would diminish and intensify in slow moving waves as it responded to the gentle breeze. The feeling was surreal ... the scene fading in and out in front of my eyes.

DJE