Photo of the Week 2026-05-25

 

' waking from winter '

From a walk in the Arboretum to see what was springing back after a long winter ... 

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2026-04-27

 

 

' April Showers '

It certainly has been a wet April ... and I met a friend for a walk on the Wild Goose Woods Trail in the UofG Arboretum. Shortly after we started, the rain intensity increased to the point where eventually we were driven back to our vehicles and retired to a local cafe for coffee and a chat. But ... not before making an image or two.
 

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2025-12-15

 

An argument can be made that one should only show their best work and I understand the point in a professional context, in the context of presenting a portfolio for evaluation by galleries, clients and publishers. An amateur, in the literal sense of the word, I'm not motivated by obtaining clients, making an income from my work and though a gallery show or being published would be welcome, these are not my goals.

 

My pursuit is to continually improve my process of creating photographs and photographic art. I get an extraordinary amount of enjoyment and satisfaction from studying and learning all aspects related to capturing, processing and presenting images. It has become a very large part of my life these days. To call it a hobby no longer comes close to describing the place photography occupies in my life. It's a passion, an obsession, a large part of my daily routine, and while I try to share good images, I certainly do not limited them to my very best work.

 

That said, every once in a while it all comes together (or the blind squirrel finds a nut) and I come up with and get to share something that I consider truly special ...

  

' lone tamarack '

... an image that I would include in a collection of my "best work". One I give a 4 star rating (because to date I've never rated one of my images as 5 star, that to me is the pinnacle and 99.9% perfect). One that that represents what I saw, heard and felt, what made me stop, raise the camera to my eye, compose and press the shutter. One that will rekindle the experience of the moment whenever I see it. 

 

' lone tamarack ' might just make the grade to 5 star but I need to live with it for a while before I'd elevate it the final step. For that, I will be printing it large and framing it for the wall.

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2025-12-01

 

December already ... and I still have more from my Algoma-Superior trip in October to share.

 

' Algoma Reflections 

My much anticipated return to Coldfwater Cove was overshadowed by dreary conditions the morning we made our stop. I had to work hard to keep my disappointment in check as I worked with what light we were given. What I did manage to find were some interesting puddles in the rocky shore that were stained red and offered an interesting reflection of the adjacent treeline.

 

Note: For the visually curious, this image is flipped 180* from the orientation in which it was captured to present the trees in a familiar orientation. Something I often do with my reflection captures is flip them during post processing to see what results. It doesn't always work but here, I liked the flipped version better. 

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2025-11-17

 

Back for a month (already) and I'm just getting through shots from the first day of my 2025 Superior-Wawa photography trip. For this week's photo, I have chosen possibly my favourite and one of the last images from the day, as sun appeared through a gap in the distant clouds on the Lake Superior horizon.

 

' Stone Beach Sunset '

I spent a little over an hour working the right side of this crescent beach after arriving well in advance of official sunset. A first stop, earlier in the day had shown this to have potential with the rocky outcrop reaching out into the lake but it was this pool of water inside the rock that caught my eye with reflections from the sky and a small notch that I could align with the setting sun.

 

I made a number of small adjustments as the sun slid down and right in the sky, working to stay out of frame for my photographer companions, yet still get the alignment I wanted. The "sunburst" from selecting an f/11 aperture is subtle enough not to steal the show and the hint of golden light in the extreme foreground sets the composition off nicely I think.

 

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 2025-10-27

 

I don't use my cell phone for any 'serious' photography. They may be a large community of people using their phones as a primary camera but I prefer the form factor, creative control and quality of results from one of my cameras. That is unless all I have with me is my phone and the scene is so fleeting that heading back to the vehicle to unpack my R5 would make me miss the shot ...

 

' Mirrored on the Michipicoten '

After a full day of shooting on our way from Batchawana Bay to Wawa. We had checked into our accommodations, made a dinner reservation at a highly recommended restaurant and arrived to this scene from their outdoor deck looking over the Michipicoten River. Afraid the scene wouldn't last until I went back to the vehicle to grab my camera, I shot this with my phone.

  

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2025-09-22

 

One very calm, peaceful, serene early morning on Hay Bay, Lake Huron ...

 

' sublimmetry '

After spending considerable time working the shoreline rock as foreground, I tuned to look across the bay to see this symmetrical reflection of the clouds on sill water. 

 

I'm often compelled to capture a considerable number of images when I encounter a captivating scene. Then later while editing, have difficulty selecting just one ... and another series is born. Such was the case with this shoot one morning along the shoreline at the cottage. You can see them on my flickr stream beginning with this image.

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2025-03-03

 

' rocks 'n reflections on fall pond '

I'm making an effort to get out with camera when I'm home and visiting some favourite locations from the past seems right ... and maybe some new places too.

 

On a crisp, cold fall morning, I decided to go for a drive and see what I could see. Approaching the road to Snyder Flats, I decided to turn in and see how the place might have changed. As luck would have it, there was a little frost on the vegetation and with water temps higher than the air temp there was some mist over the pond to add atmosphere to the scene.

 

' morning pondside '

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

' sun on fall pond '

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm working through the many images added to the library since returni9ng from Scotland back in September. These from the beginning of November should tell you I have a few more to go ;-)

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2024-05-20

 

I'm still working through images from a couple of weeks ago in Algonquin with Jesse Villemaire of Follow Me North Photography. During our stop at the Lake of Two Rivers campground where I made last week's image, I took time to work some interesting compositions along the sandy shoreline.

 

' Algonquin Abstract '

I found this interesting driftwood log embedded at water's edge and worked the scene while the conditions were calm and clear.
 

 

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 2024-04-22

 

' 2024-03-01 18:16:02 '

 

Still on hiatus from normal photo activities, so enjoy another late winter sunset ...

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2024-04-01

 

Spring may have arrived and we may be entering April, but I am still working on late winter images. In particular, I have a set of images from Sunset on March 1st that have me remembering ... reliving ... a glorious display of fire and ice.

 

' sunset on the wing '

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 2023-10-16

 

For me, photographing a sunset is often a process, an opportunity work the scene over a period of time and frequently results in a series of images. Such was the case with last week's ' sun down ' and a number of others from the session. Then I teased that this week's post may provide a look into the process behind it all.

 

In this instance things started early in the day when I checked weather apps for wind predictions. The previous day had been mostly devoid of wind, leaving waters calm. It was predicted to continue through the day and instead of repeating the previous morning's calm water outing, I chose to go search for fall colours fairly certain that I could catch sunset later.

Late in the afternoon, I checked on things down by the shore and began by making a few images of the interesting skies with clouds reflecting on the smooth surface of the bay. It continued as I kept an eye on the changing skies, light and position of the sun, exploring different foreground elements and positions. In all. I shot 45 frames and a screen capture of the RAW files from my Lightroom library will give you an idea of the complete range and how it evolved.

When I shoot sunsets I use daylight white balance to keep things consistent throughout the shoot. With the cloud cover during this shoot, a cloudy white balance would make images too warm for my liking. I always shoot in RAW file format and could change white balance in post if I chose or needed to do so.

 

I mostly shoot in aperture priority mode and use exposure compensation to capture the light levels that I am seeing. As the skies darken, I dial in -1/3, -2/3 and at times -1 EV as the situation dictates. A case can be made for manual exposure and I have on occasion worked in this mode. I just seem to be more comfortable with aperture priority at this point, your mileage may vary.

To explore compositions, I work my way along the shoreline to positions that allow placing the sun centre frame, right third of the frame and also explore with the sun high, middle and low. Options with different foregrounds follow next. I use rocks with sunlight glinting of their wet surface, rocks visible through the clear water and explore leading lines and "s" curves along the shoreline to the extent possible. I've also made a mental note to get in the water and explore vantage points yet untried. Obviously not all options are successful, but the process can have a flow that helps in finding something different. At an unfamiliar location there can be more capture frames and with a familiar location such as out cottage shoreline there can be less.

' calm & composed '

Those interested in seeing all of the images that were selected and processed can check them out on my flickr page beginning with this one and scrolling through the half-dozen or more that I've posted.

Before heading in when I was done, I decided to set up a remote shot with me in the frame and I think it worked out OK but those with a sharp eye will note that I've done some distortion correction from the RAW file seen in the grid above ... such is the case with low POV ultra wide angle shots.

' curtain call '

Let me know if you found this post of interest and I may just work on something similar in the future.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2023-10-09

 

' sun down '

Some unusually calm weather over a couple of days at the cottage provided both sunrise and sunset opportunities for photography. Taking advantage, I was again out working the scene along our shoreline using the smooth water to capture surreal reflections.

At 9:10, the sun had just dropped below the horizon, the day's performance was coming to an end, so too was my photo session. It had begun almost two hours earlier as I checked conditions trying to predict whether this would be a photo worthy sunset.

A number of captures were candidates for processing over the following days and now, a week later, my favourite of the bunch has been selected for this week's photo.

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Teasing next week's blog, I may be giving some insight into my process when working a sunset such as this ...

 

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 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 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 2022-08-15

Three days after arriving in Inverness, we'd wrestled with what to do and where to go (where could we go) after contracting COVID sometime since our trip began ... and Glasgow won the lottery :-/

 

Relocating to a major urban centre and our planned departure city seemed the best choice and after enjoying the ScotRail system we were in Glasgow. Following the protocols in place we masked when required, social distanced and did our best to continue seeing the sights and experiencing Scotland on our own.

' reflection of an armadillo '

We had chosen a conventional hotel, with a relatively large room for the time we may have needed to be 'holed up' for any required isolation, and the Glasgow Marriott near the Clyde River was the winner. This put us close to the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) and some interesting architecture.

On Day 8 in Scotland, we were feeling well and local protocols allowed us to get outside for some fresh air so we plotted a walk down to and along the Clyde River to the area of the Clyde Arc, the SEC Armadillo, the OVO Hydro and Finnieston Crane, all interesting landmarks.

For the image above, I chose a tight composition of the Armadillo concert venue reflecting in the glass facade of the adjacent Crowne Plaza Hotel.

DJE