Photo of the Week 2026-02-09

 

' 057774 OS C 11 '

I've been working on my 'rural winter series' for almost 4 years now, working out the process of what types of scenes suit the approach. I've settled on a 1 vertical x 2 horizontal crop for the most part, but have used other aspect ratios when they seemed better suited. I've shot on bright sunny days, foggy cold winter mornings, in snow squalls and dreary overcast days. Since making the first image, I've refined the preparation, processing and presentation of the image considerably thanks to improving my skills and utilizing some of the newer features in LR & PS. My naming convention for titles has morphed from sequential series name and number into an acronym-like format of the rural address for the location that does not blatantly call out the specific residence.  

 

Beginning with that first image, a sizeable series has emerged. As of this writing, comprised of 25 images, 'rural winter' is not complete. It does represent a conscious and significant effort to collect and curate a series of consistent woks, a few of which I've shown on the blog previously.. 
 

rural winter library as of 2026-02-08

My own inspiration for this series, as I've mentioned previously, came from the works of a watercolour artist who paints winter scenes of stone heritage buildings in a minimalist setting.

 

So why then in my self-talk, when I see others pirating my idea, do I feel violated. Perhaps because I feel I've put the effort into creating something different, unique to my work. Should I? Am I justified in my feeling? Or truly, is "imitation the sincerest form of flattery"?

...  

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2026-01-12

 

Winter weather provides me with many opportunities for for photography and I don't always take advantage of them. I find my outings to drive the backroads within reach of home have become much less frequent. When I do take a backroad, stops to photograph have become less frequent and I find myself thinking "I should have stopped back there ... " and good photo opportunities are missed.

 

In an attempt to rectify things, on the heels of a chance finding of the scene in last weeks post, I purposefully gathered up the needed kit and headed out looking for additions to the series 'rural winter'  

 

' 6926 W C R 34 '

I've driven by this farm countless times as it's very close to home. I've made photographs at and around it but not composed in favourable winter conditions to create something worthy of including in 'rural winter', until now.

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2025-04-28

 

 

' rural winter - VI '

Adding to my series ' rural winter ' with an image from earlier this year. This scene was revealed as I drove an unfamiliar road, more than enough to remind me to vary routes between regular destinations. Shot near St. Jacobs, I noticed the long entrance drive winding across a fresh blanket of snow, bracketed by s set of trees.

 

I had expected to expand the series with a number of images by now, and found myself pulled in other directions with my photography and this is the lone addition from the last two winters..

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2023-03-20

 

Experimentation is sort of like R&D for my creative mind. It can fuel my inspiration and lead me enthusiastically in new directions or let me wander and simply provide rest and distraction from the normal routine. Once started, an experiment can quickly run it's course, amble on for long periods ultimately leading nowhere, or even pause for a while until the time is right to pick it up again, tomorrow, next week, next month, a year or more from now.

 

A creative experiment underway the past few months had me working on winter scenes of rural homes and farms. Inspired by the work of a watercolour artist, I set out to capture and process images for a very specific look. I needed deep snowy foregrounds, barren surroundings and even skies and now that we have reached the last day of winter this experiment must pause. Whether I will pick it up again next or some future winter remains to be seen.

 

' rural winter - I '

The experiment produced just five images that come close to the result I was looking for. This week's image (above) is the best of the lot and as serendipity would have it, was my first attempt, capture and post process. A number of learnings came out of the experiment to date. First, not all rural scenes lend themselves to this process. The watercolour artist starts with blank and builds the scene with only the elements that are desired. Any photograph captures everything already in the scene and some elements could not be eliminated either through altering composition or in post processing. A scene with snowy or light plain foreground with minimal detail provides the best starting point as does a plain brighter sky. Dramatic or abrupt transitions to open space at the sides of the scene also allow for isolating the scene through heavy vignetting and transition to full white at the edges without appearing to be sharply cut out. Starting with captures having these characteristics allows processing to create an image where the main subject elements float within the frame or on the final print.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2023-02-13

 

' winter homestead '

 

This place has been photographed many times and when I had the opportunity to stop by in the middle of a blizzard, I knew it would allow me to capture something different ... that and a little work in post  gave me the stark, cold, isolated look I wanted.

 

I've managed to get out and photograph during what winter weather we have had here in Southern Ontario. It's been a very mild winter, so far, with only two or three significant snowfall events, and then the snow hasn't remained on the ground long afterwards with temperatures rising to unseasonally warm levels just days after the snowfall. I'm confident that winter is not over yet, however I am not confident that that there will be more opportunity for the winter photography that I so love ... at least not until next year.

Not willing to give up yet, I am thankful for the brief periods of winter I was able to enjoy in the Rideau Lakes area and on the Bruce Peninsula to this point in 2023.

#frozenfingerphotographer

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2021-08-30

Digging into the archive this week ...

 

' door no more '

I shot this image in an abandoned farmhouse almost 12 years ago to the day. It was during my "rurex" period, where weekends  consisted of visiting many of the local abandoned rural buildings and properties.

 

There were a few of us from the local photography community that shared an interest in exploring these structures. Unfortunately, my participation in such activities came to an end when arson claimed many of the structures ... including this one. I've written of other nearby buildings lost to arson at the hand of a disturbed individual who was ultimately identified, charged and convicted on several counts ...

... though the beauty of these structures and this door in particular are no more.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2020-11-02

 

November has arrived, colours have faded and leaves are fallen. Soon scenes like this will be blanketed in white ...

 

Fall Farmhouse

 

While processing this image, I decided to try several different techniques. Here are the results in a collage ...

 

 

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2020-03-30

I'm glad to have photography to help keep me busy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Every time I get the urge to go out as I would in "normal" life, I head to the computer and click away into my image archive, ultimately finding something to occupy my time for a few minutes and possibly hours ...

Already, I've been reminded of so many people, places and things from early in my over a decade of digital shooting ... and I've only really been concentrating on the Urbex / Rurex content that I have.

Fascinating to me are the details to be found in abandoned locations ...

low fidelity

DJE

Photo of the Week 2020-01-27

Other than a recent snowshoe hike up on 'the Bruce', I haven't been out for photography lately so it's back into the archive for this 'Photo of the Week'. I have a few marked for possible posting in just such a situation.

Stones and Cedar Cabin

This one is from back in 2010 ... when we actually had a bit of snow. It's from a photo trek with a couple of buddies and I came across it recently while searching for past images of the Lion's Head Lighthouse for a previous post.
 
DJE

Photo of the Week 2014-07-28

Recently, after sharing a video lamenting the loss of many farms and the associated barns that dot the rural landscape, Alan suggested an outing to a couple of local abandoned barns to capture them before they too are gone. As long as I have known him, Alan has been drawn to abandoned farm locations and has many images depicting such scenes.

One our earliest outings together took place over 6 years ago at the then abandoned McWilliams farm near my home. Over the next couple of years, we enjoyed a few visits there and watched as the barn deteriorated further until ... after vandals torched the house, equipment moved in and demolished all structures. The site is now a vacant lot in a new industrial subdivision, the image of the barn lives on in memory and some of our photographs..

With pangs of regret for not having visited McWilliams more, our planned visit to other structures still standing, perhaps not for long, had stirred something in me. We, three, managed to visit only one of the intended locations on this outing, a place known to some as "Studio 32". We spent time leisurely sketching, walking, photographing and capturing the scene, each in our own way. Initially, I moved off to a spot to get a different view and after completing a couple of sketches, stopped to analyze precisely what it what was that had drawn me to that spot. A small area of the scene I had just sketched included the remnants of an old fence, it's line leading  away and eventually to the side of the barn.

fence to the barn

I see myself getting back to making time for sketching when I go on my photography outings.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2012-09-03

I took a couple days of vacation recently to head up to Tobermory with a buddy for some photography. The Grey-Bruce area and particularly the Bruce Peninsula is a favourite location for landscape and nature images but there are countless old farm and rural structures that make excellent subject matter as well.

We left Guelph early in the morning so we could reach our first stop near Chatsworth while the sun would still be low in the sky spilling light on to some farm ruins and a small rustic cabin. My buddy had been wanting to shoot the cabin in the right light for a long time and I found interest in the farm ruins that had deteriorated significantly in the couple of years since I had first photographed them.

I crossed an area of knee high grass to get to the barn structure and found myself getting soaked from the dew. As I rounded the north-west corner of the barn, I saw light streaming through a large garage sized opening onto some goldenrod. I made a few images from this point of view and then continued around the barn. When I stepped into the light from the opening I was struck by the scene captured in this week's photo.

morning on the farm

It took a little bit of post processing to hold back the extreme brightness of the sunlight in the sky and then to bring out some detail in the shadow of the log roof over the opening.

It's encouraging when the first stop on a photo trip yields a great image.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2011-07-25

tree & broken fence


On the hottest day of the year so far, the sun was intense and blazing down on the landscape as I made my way across the flat farmland of Southwestern Ontario. The day started with an absolutely clear sky, but clouds had formed and would provide some interest for the background in a scenic image.

A lone bare tree standing in a field caught my eye and I made a number of infrared (IR) exposures before noticing a broken section of fence to use as a foreground element. Knowing the bare tree and fence boards would render as dark, almost black in IR to contrast against the white grass and clouds, I moved to find a suitable composition including the fence and creating some depth to the image.

While setting up, I noticed the shadows from the clouds sweeping over the field and waited for a moment when their shadows were approaching the tree and sunlit fields were visible on the horizon.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2011-02-14

farm in a snow squall


I had occasion to be driving through Durham Region on Saturday and although there were times when the sun was shining and patches of blue sky were visible, for the most part there were snow squalls and white outs as the a cold winter wind swept the landscape.

On my way to meet up with my mother, I decided to take a more scenic route than I normally would have. The squalls made for some tense driving conditions. I did not stop to photograph and still ended up taking more time than I had expected to reach my destination. On the way home, I retraced some of my earlier route hoping for similar conditions. Although not quite as dramatic, the snow was whipping around and I was able to stop (safely) and make a few images before ultimately heading home.

white out


DJE