Photo of the Week 2019-05-20

afternoon trillium patch

Every spring the trillium of Victoria Woods bloom in a magnificent patch extending on either side of the trail. There are Red Trillium sprinkled amongst the mostly white Provincial flower of Ontario.

This is a favoured location to enjoy and celebrate the true arrival of spring.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2018-05-14

trillium patch in sunlight

A favourite place for a morning walk once spring has arrived ... Victoria Woods and the trails through the trillium.

It's wonderfully peaceful and refreshing to walk surrounded by the fresh green leaves and brilliant white flowers dotted here and there with their burgundy brethren. They spread across the rich soil in large swaths as readily as singles sprout in the crook of a tree root. When morning sun crests the horizon and begins to spill through still leafless trees and onto the forest floor, it comes alive.

Every year, for for some time now, I have made it a point to go and experience the trillium bloom and try to capture the fresh, clean feel in images.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2016-05-23

Spring is a wonderful time to get out in the woods in Southern Ontario ... if you can find spots the mosquitoes haven't
;-)

I'll be starting a week of vacation and looking to scratch the photographic itch while taking advantage of the down time. I have plans to hike a few trails and catch some of the orchids on the Bruce if they are are out yet.

Enjoy your week !

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-05-11

I've been experimenting with my image post processing lately. It's all part of the journey. Trying new things is like creative exercise, flexing the artistic muscle if you like.

An approach that simplifies the detail in my original capture causes me to look more at the graphic elements and colours of an image. It removes reality to an extent, masks the flaws that I can become obsessed with causing me to give up on an image.  

For example, in this week's image, there are focus issues. The depth of field is too shallow, caused to some extent by me working hand held without a tripod, but also because I was shooting at a 135mm focal length at an oblique angle across a patch of trilliums, not wanting to step amongst them and cause any damage. Rather than give up on an image that I liked because the foreground and background were not in sharp focus, I decided to process the image with a Photoshop plug-in, Topaz Simplify, and create graphic photo-realistic like result.

In this, I see things that can help my photography, improve the original capture, strengthen my composition. Letting go a bit and trying something different can be a good thing. I'm not worried what others may say or think. After all, it's my journey.

By the way, I've widened the format of the blog post so the landscape format images are no longer cut off a bit on the right side when I post them large. Please let me know if you have any trouble viewing and if you see an improvement.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2012-05-21

battered but bloomin'

When I head out to shoot trilliums in the spring, I always look for an example of the purple variety, trillium erectum. This year, my favourite location for shooting Ontario's provincial flower did not yield many purple specimens in good health. All that were there seemed distressed, I assume it was due to the unusual spring weather we had experienced.

After a while of searching around the UofG Arboretum, bending over and crawling around, I noticed one flower in particular with a dew drop forming on one of the sepals. Shooting with a shallow depth of field, the forest floor in the background blurred very nicely to provide a complimentary setting for this image.

Although distressed and battered, this purple beauty was still bloomin'

Photo of the Week 2012-05-14

trillium trail

The Trillium Trail at the Arboretum, UofG is a favourite morning walk in early May when the trilliums are blooming. One could spend a couple of hours enjoying the morning sun rising to shine on a carpet of white and green. I did, ...

... trying to capture the feel of cool morning air warming to the touch of the sun as the day begins.

It is a quiet, peaceful time  to be out in the spring air. The smells and songs of the forest calmed my senses as I roamed around watching the light and shadows flowing across the scene.

As I often do, I became engrossed in making images. I lost track of time, became completely absorbed in the process and didn't notice the joggers approaching on the trail until they passed by.

I wonder what they thought of the guy lying on his stomach in a patch of trilliums wit a camera?
I did manage to make this image before they came along and startled me.

DJE