Photo of the Week 2026-09-14

 

Away on an annual golf trip to Grand Falls, New Brunswick I hadn't intended much in the way of photography. Though I had a capable small 'point 'n shoot' camera with me, I mostly used my phone for snaps on the courses we played.

 

One morning, while the others slept in, I was having coffee on the deck looking out to the river. The humming birds were humming at the feeder near my left shoulder, Blue Jays and Crows were beginning to make themselves known as the sun continued to rise. I looked to the opening in the trees along the Salmon River and made my way off the deck to catch this lovely little scene.

 

' down by the river '

' down by the river II '

I find it interesting to see the effect of focal length in these images. Both were shot from exactly the same location. I no more than shuffled my feet as I switched from 'normal' to 'wide' view on the phone.

 

In the first, normal, the branch of early autumn red leaves and the river take on prominent subject roles whereas in the second, wide' I find that it's the sunburst, shadow and light that grab my attention with the red leaves and river relegated to supporting roles.

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2026-06-29

 

' St. Lawrence Sunrise - L'Islet-sur-Mer '

On the way home from PEI, we stopped overnight in L'Islet-sur-Mer, a quaint Quebec village on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River not far from Quebec City.

Of course I had my phone with me for some photos while I was out on the course, but I also took a "proper" camera to take advantage of any special opportunities that arose. Up early on our day of departure, I grabbed the camera took a walk down to the wharf on the St. Lawrence River ...

 

I stepped off the break-wall to walk along the cocky shoreline. Moving east, just past the concrete wharf face, I saw a lone tree perched higher up on the riverbank and framed a shot with it back-lit by the warm clouded morning sky.

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2022-10-10

Someone I recently ran into said "I thought you were still in New Brunswick"and I had to laugh. They had assumed that because I was still posting images from that area, I had not returned home. In some ways they may be correct, memories of that recent trip, any trip or outing for that matter, occupy my mind for some time ...

The namesake of Grand Falls NB was the subject for photos on the morning of my 4th day in the area. Though I had seen the falls during a brief stop the first day and as we passed by on various outings, this was the first time I had gone with the specific purpose of exploring the trails, viewing platforms and vantage points near the falls and downstream gorge. Following is a selection of images I made during that time.

This spot is on my list of places to revisit for further exploration ...

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2021-02-01

 

Unlike previous images from exploring Jones Falls with my son Jordan, at Inglis Falls we were not able to access the river below. I know there is a way, but it's not a journey to be rushed and I need to do some more research before making the trek. When we visited briefly, I did make a series of images looking downstream from safety, behind the stone wall near the brink of the falls.

 

Downstream of Inglis

Similar to the images of Jones Falls, I made several exposures hand held at high frame rate to combine as layers in Photoshop to create the flowing water effect.

 

 Downstream of Inglis II

 DJE

Photo of the Week 2021-01-18

 

Having someone along who enjoys exploring as much as I do helped me get this week's shot. My son Jordan loves exploring outdoors and wanted to see some waterfalls on our recent trek to the cottage, so we made a stop at Jones Falls.

 

Jones From Below

Jordan was rather eager to try and get below the falls. I knew from previous visits that there was a way to descend into the gorge and signs led to a point that looked a bit sketchy covered with ice and snow. Exploring a bit further, we found a much easier option and without ice cleats and winter hikers, were able to get down to river level.

 

Getting an image from this vantage point had been on my list for some time. Although conditions weren't perfect for photography, I'll take what I got  and consider it a decent first attempt.

 

Notes: I did not bring a tripod with me on what was expected to be just a quick, short trek. As I do with HDR captures in cases like this, using the highest frame rate of the camera, 4fps for the EOS M3, I made a number of hand held exposures then imported some as layers in Photoshop, auto aligned the layers, stacked them as a smart object and set the blend mode to mean for a flowing water effect. The result was processed as I normally would with plugins (i.e.Topaz, Anthropics, or ON1)

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2020-09-07

Tanglewood (in colour)

Reviewing the image catalogue, looking for images from Guelph, I came across this version of an image originally processed and published in B&W.

Over time preferences may change. With new processing software development and skills, alternate or improved renditions of old images may be possible. It's not often that I go back and re-envision an image but it's an interesting exercise, one I should perhaps explore more often.

This image, made shortly after I'd upgraded one of my camera bodies to the full-frame 5D MkIII, caught my eye again a while back. At that time I reprocessed a colour version and saved it off to the hard drive ... and kinda forgot about it until I stumbled on it recently.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2019-08-26

Well ...

... after a recent stumble followed by a stagger (or two), causing me to set about questioning why I photograph, how I photograph, what is it I'm trying to do with my photography, I wasn't making any headway. In fact I felt like I was regressing, going backward and downhill ...

Then as so often happens in life, I had a breakthrough !

Thanks to the suggestions and feedback from a number of people, some close friends and others who serendipitously offered some sage advise. Whether known to them or not, their conversations and comments were very, very helpful.

One suggestion to review the highlights of my blog over the past ten years helped me to reconnect with what inspired me ... amongst other things, this "reinspired" me - Thanks D-L H

Another, in part of a conversation over lunch, helped me to understand how my process of creating images had changed over time and perhaps not for the better from an experiential or gratification perspective - Thanks TB

Others, with their support and urging to continue, to move forward, helped lift my spirits in which I found motivation and energized me sufficiently for me to seek a path forward - Thanks LME, DC, HB and others ...

With renewed vigour, I may just be ... over the rut.

over the rut - IR B&W

In fact, rather than having difficulty finding an image for this week's blog post, I've had difficulty selecting just one from a purposeful and fulfilling outing to McQuillan's Bridge, a local landmark that I've been meaning to capture for some time.

A mid-day outing in full sun, with my Infrared converted EOS M, resulted in a collection of captures that I processed with various plugins to create B&W and False Colour IR images. It's been a while since I've been so satisfied with the experience and results of an outing.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2018-07-09

It's a good thing when I have images from the past 3 weeks not yet posted and trouble deciding what to pick for my Photo of the Week ...

... so let's go with the most recent (and if you follow me on social media, you'll see some of the others as I get to posting).

From Sunday's visit to the Niagara area to see dear friends and spend some time together ...

Niagara River Whitewater

I knew I was going to like this image as soon as I came across the scene. Framed by the trees on either side and the shore, top and bottom, the Niagara River rages at the bottom of the gorge on it's way to the whirlpool. I found it hard to do justice to the beauty and power of nature in a still photograph, but this captured the scene at this point quite well ... just imagine the sound of Class 6 rapids 10 metres deep.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2017-07-31

I decided to change things up this weekend, not go to the cottage and spend the time paying visits to a couple of friends ...

On Saturday morning, Lynn and I headed to Paris, ON to visit 'Piper & Oak", the Home Decor and Furniture store owned by a couple of friends. I missed their 1 yr Anniversary when I was on vacation over the July 1 Holiday and was long overdue to pop in and say hi.

We decided to go early and have breakfast in town then walk around for a while exploring. I decided to take my infrared converted camera for a different look to the images I might make. A change of scenery, a different camera have a way of getting the creative juices flowing and Saturday it was no different.

River Walker

Made while we sat on the deck of 2 Rivers Restaurant waiting for breakfast to arrive, the sun was shining warm and bright, fly fisherman were working the pools and eddies along a wide shallow section of the Grand River when one decided to walk along to the next promising spot.

The surreal quality of IR images processed in false colour or B&W always awakens my vision, causing me to look at things differently, making me pre-visualize while I scan the scene looking for compositions with potential.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2016-10-03

I recently started working with a new client, 'piper & oak' distinctively different home decor and furniture in Paris, ON. They have a selection of my framed fine art prints to compliment their furniture and home decor offerings, one of which has already sold.

I had promised the owner, Sarah, that I would come back and re-shoot an image made just over 5 years ago during a visit to Paris. The original image had captured the back of the main street shops facing the Grand River and as luck would have it, I had excluded the building that is now home to 'piper & oak'. So on a gloomy Oct 1 morning with heavy grey skies and intermittent rain, I returned for another walkabout and to see if I might be able to capture this time.

Shops along the Grand 2016

Somehow a sepia treatment, as with the original image, just seemed to suit a scene that without certain keys to modern time, looks as though it could have been made decades ago.

I wandered some streets and areas along the river making images for a couple of hours, working to stir the creativity. In the end,  I think the best shot from the outing was of the Library facade where I had to stand on the sidewalk right in front of the building to get something without parked cars or people distractions. Looking straight up with an ultra-wide angle gave an interesting composition.

Library, Paris, ON

While out shooting, I was reminded of the enjoyment I get from wandering around town with a camera, picking out details, broad scenes or just simple vignettes from everyday surroundings. Choosing different locations has always kept the interest level up, whether it is different trails, or different towns and cities. On this outing I managed to get in a couple hours of mindful photo wandering despite the rain that did make me cut things a bit short. 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2012-08-13

tanglewood

DJE

Photo of the Week 2012-01-30

Two weeks ago, Lynn and I took Murphy for a hike on the east section of the Cambridge Mill Run Trail. This Sunday we returned to complete another section of the trail from Beaverdale Rd west to ... where ever about an hour round trip would take us.

We left Guelph mid-afternoon and as we drove over to Cambridge it started to snow.

... and it snowed


... and it snowed, and snowed, and snowed.

It was snowing heavy when we parked and geared up. As we headed west along the trail I was surprised by the amount of snow and that it seemed to be coming almost straight down. It lasted just long enough for our walk.

I love winter walks in the snow ... and winter photography.

DJE

Rocky Saugeen Mill

Rocky Saugeen Mill

Each of the past three years, photography has taken me on a trip up the Bruce Peninsula to Tobermory. Each year I pass this scene on the way up and the way back ... this year the light was magic.

On the way up this year it was greay and dull, but ...

...On the return trip, just as we were driving across the Saugeen River, sun was pouring through a break in the cloud onto the mill and tree lined river necessitating a quick left off the highway to park and walk back to the highway's edge near the bridge (not much room there to keep out of the way of traffic rushing along Hwy 6).

DJE

Photo of the Week 2011-11-07

cascading waters

It had been a while since my last visit to Everton, a favourite location for a short, relaxing photo walkabout. I last blogged about this enchanting little spot nearly two years ago.

Normally, I would approach a photo outing at Everton with my tripod, neutral density filters and the idea of making some long time exposures to show the water smooth and creamy as it rushes and flows over a series of drops to become the quiet river again. On this outing, I took a bit different approach and walked the area probing around into new reaches, looking for something new...

... but I found myself drawn to one particular scene that I photograph on virtually every visit to Everton. There is a spot where the translucent waters of the Eramosa plunge almost a metre into a pool rounded out by years of scouring. In order to get the view back up the narrow channel one must climb onto an outcrop of limestone that extends out and into the cascade. The colour of the water can vary from brown to green depending on the time of year and lighting conditions. On this occasion, I chose to capture the greenish hues with a short exposure to bring out the turbulent character of the cascading waters.

DJE