Photo of the Week 2026-05-11

 

' Revolve Spring Morning '

From a morning walkabout with camera (after coffee of course) on our first visit to Revolve Farms this spring ... for Mother's Day. 

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2025-10-13

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING ! 

 

I spent some time with family over the weekend, in the wonderful setting at Revolves Farms, where autumn has made colourful scenes ...

 

' fall colour outside a window '

The "timber-frame" is a great place to sit and watch morning arrive at Revolve Farms. With sun rising above the eastern treeline, it spills onto treetops outside the window of a favourite seat. Sipping morning coffee and getting the day started with this view is something special.   

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2025-10-06

 

Mornings in the forest are absolutely magical ...

 

' light to a stump '

' light to a trunk '

... with sunlight penetrating through breaks in the canopy.

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2025-09-15

Cameras go with me most places, and yes even on a golf trip to New Brunswick. An earlier trip offered more fall colour and I took time for more photography, visiting Grand Falls, and checking out other locations. This trip, nursing a back issue that had the potential to have me on the sidelines watching my golf buddies, I focused on a rehab regimen and shot very few images ...

 

' NB Camp Morning '

 ... and most of those were around the 'camp' (cottage to us back in Ontario) while I was shuffling about early in the mornings trying to get loose . One morning, after coffee I went for a stroll outside and noticed the sun streaming through an opening in the trees to warm the trunk of a tree. There was steam coming off the tree so I grabbed a camera and worked a composition to capture the scene.

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2024-05-13

With a small group of photo friends, I steered the 4Runner, full of camera gear, to Algonquin this past week for a meet up with Jesse Villemaire of Follow Me North Photography. We had booked a full day small group session and the weather looked like it would cooperate after a switch of days to miss some incoming rain.

After an early, 5am pickup at our hotel, Jesse began by stopping at the west park entrance for a review of appropriate gear and settings for the low light conditions we would have should we encounter any wildlife out in the dawn hours. Although our group all had a level of experience with photography, his frequent reminders to check our gear settings were welcome as he took us around to some of his favourite and productive photo spots along the Hwy 60 corridor through the park.

Beyond the fundamentals of lens selection and camera settings, Jesse shared a number of tips with our group, ranging from composition to wildlife behaviour. On our stop at the Lake of Two Rivers campground, one particular suggestion sparked something with me and I used it to advantage in the following image, one of my favourites for the day.

' Algonquin Morning '

What was the suggestion? Well as we extricated ourselves from the van and organized ourselves, he suggested that we might use a beached canoe for a foreground element in our images. The canoe, a rental unit, didn't appeal to my aesthetic and I looked for something else. I had been working to improve my use of foreground elements in many recent shots and here there were a couple of driftwood remnants buried in the sand at water's edge that caught my interest. I proceeded to work the scene to use them in the foreground and composed to include the additional (as Jesse might say, 3rd element) element of the sun starburst and reflection in the image.

It took me some time to find the right position, right, left, up, down, shift over, shift back, lower ... etc., etc. to get the horizon centred, sun and reflection in the middle and the driftwood near the lower 1/3 intersection. Oh ya ... and the pièce de résistance, that tiny little starburst where the driftwood meets the water ;-)

Thanks (again) to Jesse, who captured a behind the scenes image of me at work, generously allowing me to share his shot here.

Think you might want to go shooting in Algonquin and need some inspiration, a guide, mentorship, I highly suggest you check out Follow Me North and consider some time with Jesse and Susan.

 

A day-long / long-day outing in Algonquin Park was just what the photo-doctor ordered ...

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2024-03-11

 

' morning pink to the west '

I've been processing the backlog of images made this winter and decided to work with a little colour-grading in Lightrroom Classic. Based on some examples I encountered and liked online, I decided to work on my own blue-tone preset to use as a starting point for my processing.

When I applied the preset to this image, there was still a little pink left from sunrise reflecting in clouds to west and I decided that it should stay, subdued though it was.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2023-10-02

 

Well ... another 12th of '23 has passed and the final quarter is upon us. Fall colours have arrived, in varying degrees depending on your location. Time is set aside to visit some of my favourite locations for autumn photography, the results of which will be shared in days and weeks to come.

 

My appetite for creating images is returning, slow but sure. Just putting myself in regular positions that have led to success in the past has been a big help in getting things to flow again. I returned to one of those places, and at a time I had been letting slip by ... early morning, near sunrise. What a quiet, still, glorious time it was.

' quiet moments '

An unusually quiet and still morning on Hay Bay, Tobermory.

DJE

 

 

 

 

Photo of the Week 203-08-14

 

' out to open water '

Looking out to Huron across Hay Bay from a favourite viewpoint on my morning walk ...

DJE

Photo of the Week 2023-07-24

 

I first discovered and photographed Bedford Mill in the cold during a blizzard this past winter. The resulting images were successful enough to form a small set of which my favourites were printed and framed for display in the entrance walls of our home. Since that first encounter, I've had it in mind to return during different conditions, for another opportunity to create images of the mill with a different atmosphere. An opportunity came in July and there will be more, perhaps in the spring and fall ...

 

' July at Bedford Mill '

Returning to the spot where you created some of your own favourite images can be a daunting. On one hand there is the knowledge the subject matter has the potential for some solid images. On the other hand, there may be expectations that you equal or better your initial results, either your own or that of those who will ultimately see the work. In this instance, knowing there was the potential for some good images was the encouragement to pay the spot another visit.

The location is 4 hours from home and if not a final destination specifically for photography, is somewhere I have opportunity to pass through when en route to visit family not far away. When stopping by on the way to or from a family visit, time of day can be dictated by travel logistics than photographic concerns, but as luck would have it, my first set of images were made during a blizzard that arrived just in time for the drive home. It was photographic serendipity however, as it made for very interesting conditions and atmosphere. This latest stop was made while making good time on the drive. With 30 minutes or more to spare, I altered my route to pass by the mill, but it would be late morning and I expected much less favourable conditions for photography.

As it turned out, the sunny summer morning was tamed with some exposure blending of captures in post to deal with shadows and highlights. Though not as satisfying as my first results, this latest outing provided some decent results with the additional ones making the grade to be shared on my social media pages following this first from the set.

Enjoy ...

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2023-07-17

 

' dissipation - IV '

Returning to the cottage after a short morning walk with Mr. Murph, I headed down to the shore where patches of dissipating fog were creating a succession of surreal scenes over Hay Bay .

 

At times, the sun would be shining almost completely through leaving me in a localized clear area where all could be seen. The fringes of these areas shrouded what was beyond. Other times, the fog was more immersive creating a softening of everything around me except the most immediate. At various points during the experience, patches of blue sky would appear and drift along high in the scene.

I stayed for a while and made quite a number of images which I have edited down to half a dozen or so for a short series called "dissipation".

 

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 fo the Week 2022-05-23

 

' morning aspen '

Well I'm pretty sure they're aspen but if not I'll pretend that they are ...

 

I'm digging into the archive this week because I haven't gone out with a camera recently. Life seems to be busy with other things right now. This image has been processed and sitting on the hard drive for a couple of years. I've always liked it and the memories it stirs of a morning drive when sun was strong and still low on the horizon.

 

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 2020-05-25

Moving away from images out of the archive, here are some morning shore scenes captured while sitting on our neighbours dock as the day awakened and sun rose ...

morning shore I

morning shore II

 

morning shore III

We had unbelievably good weather several days in a row for our first real warm weather stay at the cottage for 2020. It's not the first time we were up, but the previous visits were just to check and make sure everything was safe and secure.

Our neighbours are not currently up due to travel restrictions and they have always told us to use their dock so I thought it would be the perfect time. Armed with a couple of cameras, a folding camp chair and hot coffee, I took in the waking of the day on more than a single occasion.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2020-03-02

A variety of looks and moods just by seeking out all that a location has to offer during a single outing ...

When the day started crisp and cold with traces of frost on everything out the front window, I knew I had to grab some gear and head out. There were a number of locations that came to mind so I just started driving and eventually chose to visit some favoured spots along the Grand River, west of Inverhaugh.

Hoping to find frost covered scenery, I wasn't disappointed as I turned onto the road heading down to Wilson Flats. The sun was still low in the morning sky, highlighting the frost rimmed branches of trees and anything else in the low lying flood plain.

The question was "where to start". There were so many options for what to shoot and I certainly didn't want to loose the magical atmosphere after the sun had climbed higher in the sky. So I took a deep breath, looked around and just start shooting ...

framed in frost

frosting on the cake

frost flower - in blue

 

steam frost

 

Grand Winter Pano

All images were shot in a 45 minute window, only "steam frost" was shot a short drive from the others, all made at Wilson Flats within a few hundred meters of each other just looking in different directions. 

DJE

10 Years of Blog Posts ... Reflecting

Reflecting on a 10-Year Milestone ...

' a photographic journey ', this blog, has played no small role in my photographic life these past 10 years. Approaching this milestone post, reflecting on those years has opened up a flood of memories, thoughts and questions.

Memories of people, places, experiences and family have stirred. Alan, Grant, Andrew, Emma, Bruce and others. Some subjects, many friends for life. Rome, Florence ... ahhhh Florence, Ucluelet, Algonquin, Montreal, Albion Falls, Cathedral Grove, The Bruce. So many places. Out of my comfort zone at 'Help Portrait' - twice, a frigidly cold, dark, silent night on a back-road in Algonquin and that night sky, 'The Crack'. Dad ... and Mom. A wonderful flood of memories.

And some thoughts, of photographs yet to be made, a life without photography, life with photography, taking a hiatus, simply continuing, even calling it quits.

Then the questions ... ohhhh the questions. The silent kind that pop up while driving, having dinner, walking into the grocery store making you forget what you came for, lifting you up, bringing you down. As always, more questions than answers.

Have I made my "best" image? What if I have? Do I have better in me yet?

If I stop this blog how will it affect my photography? Will it continue? What would I do without photography?

Is the blog format even relevant for photography anymore? With the popularity of Facebook and Instagram attention spans have become minuscule. Who actually reads a blog these days? Does anyone read my blog?

Do I really have to come up with a photo and post every week? Oh shit ! I have to come up with something for this week ! 

Hold on ...

morning aspen

Why do I blog? My posts receive very few comments, over the years just a handful … so why even bother? Is anybody out there? Who is this for?

Weekly posts have motivated me to continue shooting regularly. The blog is sort of a journal for my photographic life ... slowly I realize, I do it for me !

Will I continue?

Photographing ... you bet !

The blog ... I think so.

See ya next week ... maybe.

DJE