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 2025-02-10

 

Well this feels a little different ...

 

After 4 months of working through images made during a trip to Scotland last September, I came to the end. Interrupted only thrice since returning, my posts to social media have showcased of images from 11 days of the trip. I first paused for a few days to showcase the awesome images captured during the 'once in a lifetime aurora event' 2024-10-10. The second time was to celebrate the return of Snowy Owls to the Bruce Peninsula after an absence of 3 years, the third, to say farewell to 2024 and ring in 2025 with the annual 'Last Light' - 'First Light' images (though these did not make it to all of my social streams).

 

So it feels different not writing about Scotland, my experiences and my time there. It is a truly magnificent place to visit, the people are incredible (even if some in the tourist hordes are not - such seems the case most places these days). Will I go back? I certainly plan to, maybe for a photo specific visit, maybe more of what I did this go round.

 

Now where am I ... oh ya, back at home in Canada. She's certainly a beauty as well. Let me turn to the images I've been making back home in Ontario. How about we start with a pair of bookends ...

 

' 2024-09-28 08:16:34 '

 

' 2024-09-28 19:23:37 '

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 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 2023-07-10

 

Heading out for Murphy's morning walk, I had noticed the lingering fog and grabbed a camera ...

 

' misty morning pea '

... and I should have also followed my own advice to check / reset camera settings  when done with the previous shoot.

 

As it turned out, I was able to save this image (shot accidentally at ISO 25600) in post with Topaz DeNoise AI software. Given that there was plenty of light and a very well exposed (perhaps too well) image, the noise wasn't as bad as one might expect, but it wasn't good.

 

My morning walk about camera is usually one of my EOS M-Series bodies (M3,M5). The APS-C sensor technology in these cameras is 7-8 years old and not on par with the latest offerings. But it did produce an nice rendition of the ethereal scene that greeted us at the end of the driveway when we turned to walk down the road.

Morning mist was lingering between the trees on either side. Sun was rising and burning through the fog, quickly as a matter of fact. So quick that when I checked the exposure in camera, reset the ISO to 'Auto" and went back to re-shoot the image, mist had disappeared further don the road and the moment was gone. But I still had this ;-)

Note to self: follow your own advice :-O

 

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 2021-03-29

A week into spring and I'm still thinking of the final days of winter, sun-filled days when the ice and snow were still hanging around to enhance the scene for my photography ...

 

Last Icy Sunrise

 

This is the last icy sunrise I was able to capture on Hay Bay for winter 2021.

 

Until the spring wildflowers make their entrance, I'll be dreaming of winter past, and the photo opportunities offered.

 

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

Photo of the Week 2019-01-28

Landsharks

 "Look up, look down, look all around" ... a very good bit of advice for all photographers.

As photographers we are always on the lookout for the next image, camera in hand or not. For some of us it is literally a constant preoccupation ... Whether we are out with the intent to photograph or not.

'Always being on the lookout' at it's full extent includes maintaining a 360* awareness. So often, it is all too easy to become fixated on one particular subject or in on direction. Say you're walking along the beach early one morning looking at the horizon, trying to capture the colours of sunrise in the sky over breaking waves. Concentrating on those oh so very subtle shades of pink and orange in the sky opposite to the sun, waiting for that optimum moment when they are at their peak, you may miss ... the Landsharks at your feet !

 DJE

Photo of the Week 2018-04-23

4AM wake up alarm, toast and a quick coffee, grab photo gear, drive to the park, arrive in the dark, meet up with photo buds, 45 min hike ... and this is what was watiting !

Georgian Peach Sky

It can take a prod by others to finally do something that has been on the photo bucket list for some time. Thanks to an invitation from a couple of young(er), hardi(er) photographers (who were winter camping in the park and had been up all night shooting the Milky Way and Aurora Borealis) I joined them on an early morning trek out to the Georgian Bay shore for some sunrise shooting ... and I`m so glad I did.

This won`t be the last time ...

DJE

Photo of the Week 2017-11-20

There are very few weeks where I do not make a number of new images and have several to choose from for my 'Photo of the Week'. With the move off daylight saving time and fewer daylight hours, there is little time for photography before or after work. That leaves the weekend and when plans for work around the cottage consumed virtually all of the hours of decent weather ... I turned to the image library ...

A New Year Dawns

With winter not far off and the first snowfalls already threatening, a previously processed yet unreleased image from last winter, the First Light Challenge - New Year's Day to be precise, seemed an appropriate choice ... and the next First Light Challenge will be the 10th I've participated in. What will my image be? You'll have to wait and see ....

DJE

Photo of the Week 2017-07-17

Morning Sun at Dunks Point

It was a great hike with Lynn, Tracy, Murphy and Indy ... although the rain started to fall as we arrived at the parking area, we all were prepared with WP jackets and headed out towards Mermaid Cove. The connector trail to the Burnt Point Loop is a great point to access this trail and quickly get to the beautiful views from Burnt Point & Dunks Point.

With the sun hidden behind heavy cloud, the views from the first two lookout areas were washed out and lacking atmosphere. Had it been pouring rain, there may have been some mood to capture, but as it was, we just continued along the trail with the dogs.

Arriving at the third lookout spot, Dunks Point, the sun was breaking through the clouds and I was able to capture it spilling over the shoreline with heavier skies in the background.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2017-03-13

Winter Morning Hues 2017-03-12

Instead of bemoaning the loss of an hour of sleep, I was up just after 5:00 am (would have been 4:00 am without the change back to DST) having morning coffee and puttering about on the computer when I decided I should open the blinds and enjoy the arrival of dawn.

Daylight slowly arrived and muted hues of pink, purple and magenta began to glow in the western sky as sun prepared to crest the opposite horizon. Gradually, the sun would top the treeline and direct light would begin to spill onto the iced waters of the bay. The magical transition wouldn't last long and I began preparations, donning some gear to keep out the -15*C morning air and readying my camera gear.

With spare batteries and anticipation, I exchanged the warm comfort of the cottage, for the icy chill of morning air, the crunch of the frozen shore and the otherwise sublime silence of a winter morning to capture the magnificent hues ... 

DJE

First Light 2017

Best Wishes for Health and Happiness in 2017

Those that have followed me for some time will know that it has become tradition to make an image at official sunrise on the first day of a new year. It started as a challenge from my good friend Alan Norsworthy, first I think to just get out of bed early on New Years Day, but also more ... to start the new year off on the right foot photographically.

It requires one to get up and out before really knowing what the morning will bring. It requires some measure of dedication to making images and, from me, some measure of planning to select a location and envision the photographic possibilities so that arriving on location in mostly dark, I can do final checks and get set up.

This year I selected the pier at Dyers Bay on the Bruce Peninsula, a location that would afford a look at the sun rising over Georgian Bay, should the cloud cover cooperate and actually provide that look. Indeed it did and another 'First Light Challenge' is in the bag.

First Light 2017

DJE

Photo of the Week 2016-09-26

I've been looking for something a little different to do with my photography recently, not in place of what I have been doing but in addition to ... 

Sunsets are a favourite and as always there have been some beautiful ones over Lake Huron lately. That's one drawing card to the area we chose for our cottage location, but this time I decided to turn my lens to the other end of the day, sunrise.  Mornings hold their own magic, it just seems easier for most people to stay up for sunset rather than get up early for sunrise. I'm usually up early, 5 am early, and yesterday that meant the stars were still out and from the deck I could see the constellation Orion clearly in the southern sky. I almost went out to capture some stary sky shots be settled in to have coffee and plunk around on the computer. Then with morning light arriving and with mist rolling out of Ragged Bight, I knew there would be a shot out there ... 

Morning Hues 2016-09-25 - Pano

When I reached the shore, not only was the mist beautifully ethereal, but the sky was aglow with orange, pink mauve and blue. The biggest decision was what portion of the scene to capture ... and then I recalled reading a recent article about stitching vertical images together for a panorama. So 13 frames make up this image (overlapping ~30% for each frame) which represents approximately 180* around the spot where I stood.

No tripod, no fiddling to find the nodal point, just pivot and shoot. Sure there are some issues with doing it this way but I'm no going to argue with the result. Besides, If I had gone back inside for my tripod and taken time to set up, I likely would have missed the magic.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2016-03-14

I've been down with a cold since last weekend. Finally starting to feel better by Saturday, I had to play catch up with preparation for our kitchen reno that starts on Wednesday. That meant clearing out the garage to make space for our old cabinets to be stored until they head off to a new home and making sure we were prepared to take delivery of new appliances in about a week. This left little time or energy for a photo outing this week ... so it was back to the photo library.

While having coffee Sunday morning, I started browsing back through my photo library and wondered what I was up to last year at this time. I checked and came up with an interesting image from a morning drive where I was racing sunrise.

mystic morning

What I was doing was racing to get to a decent location with an interesting foreground, before I lost the colours and patterns in the morning sky. If I recall correctly, I was on my way in to the office for work, having chosen the more leisurely backroad route. When I noticed the sky, I re-routed a bit to a location I had visited before at sunrise. I found this old tree and fallen limb at the edge of a farm field and stopped to make the shot. Dressed in casual shoes and pants, I waded through knee high snow in the roadside ditch so I could get a composition shooting over the fence so it was removed from the shot.

I think my shoe came off in the snow a couple of times as I tried to get back to my vehicle. I remember turning on the heater and resting my foot by the vent for a few minutes to warm it up and dry my sock before continuing my otherwise uneventful morning commute.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-07-27

The Peace of The North

I used the phrase "The Peace of The North" recently in an email to a friend when referring to an impending departure to the cottage. Thinking about it more, there really is a different feeling to everything when I am up north. I've been fortunate to experience it regularly in the couple of years since we got the cottage.

Even simple morning walks along the cottage road hold a peace that makes them quite a different experience from my walks at home. Everything just seems ... well, different. The sounds, the air, the light ... particularly morning and evening light. And what a great thing that is for photography, when the golden hours hold just a little more magic.

A morning walk with Murphy is always a great start to the day. His eager, bouncy approach to walks can be contagious, no matter what the weather and the location. When it's up north, with sunlight cresting over the trees, I'm eager too. I know that in the fresh morning air and warmth of the sun there more of "The Peace of The North" ...

Morning's Peace

... and I'll take all I can get, though Murphy my prefer that I stopped a little less to make photographs ;-)

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-02-16

dogs 'n halo

Sun Dogs are a phenomenon that occur when sunlight refracts off ice crystals in the atmosphere creating a pair of bright spots to either side of the sun. They are most conspicuous when the sun is close to the horizon (sunrise or sunset). Conditions must be just right in order to see the dogs and in the image above, one is faintly visible just left of centre frame.

On Sunday morning I had contemplated heading out to somewhere along the east side of the peninsula for some photography and if I was early enough, possibly a sunrise image. As it was, with temperature nudging -30*C without the windchill factored in, I decided it would be wiser to stick closer to the safety and warmth of "home". Since I was already bundled up after taking the dog for a short walk, I picked up a camera and headed down to the shoreline to be clear of the trees for an unobstructed view of the rising sun. As luck would have it, there was a sun dog, faint but perceptible along with a halo. I looked to find a foreground element, got down low, with the camera almost on the snow, to include the shape of the snowdrift and some branches in the frame and made the this week's image.

The conditions:
The weather forecast overnight predicted a temperature of -29*C with 40 km/h winds gusting to 60 km/h the windchill was -40*C. When Lynn and I returned to the cottage after dinner spaghetti dinner at the Tobermory Winter Carnival the night before, the wind was howling out of the north and blowing snow everywhere. Let me tell you, it was cold, bloody cold. I was thankful the wind had died down by morning. Still, the thermometer we have hanging on a section of privacy fence showed how accurate the weatherman was (for once). That's -29*C, just as forecast.

DJE