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 Weeek 2025-12-08

 

I guess my 'disappointment' with weather upon arriving at Coldwater Cove was unfounded because I managed to come away with some decent captures. Perhaps because conditions were not what I had envisioned, I had to put more effort into finding and making images there that day. In doing so, I realized that I had to switch off auto, me not the camera, and open up to what the location was offering.

 

Since last weeks post, I've managed to publish another 8 images from Coldwater to my social media steams and in addition there is this trio ... 

 

' Turtle Rock III '

' Turtle Rock II '

 

' Turtle Rock I '

... from some time I spend shooting an interesting rock formation that I've named 'Turtle Rock' owing to it's resemblance of a turtle's back as it submerges below the water surface.

 

I'm sure not everyone will agree with me but hey, beauty is in the eye of the ... in this case photographer.
 

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 2025-03-03

 

' 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 2024-09-02

 

The need for an image to post weekly on the blog motivates me to pick up the camera even when life seems busy and full with other things as it is now. With bright sun and wind on Hay Bay, I tried some in-camera double exposure ICM images using the darks blend mode.

 

' rough shore '

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2024-08-19

A few minutes after official sunset, the cloud structure started to diffuse, softening in the evening sky, as a trio of kayakers return home.

 

' the home stretch '

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2024-08-12

 

' 'V' for Vivid '

Up at the cottage to make some progress on 'the shed project', there was some time to take in one of those glorious Huron Sunsets. Standing at the shore, as the minutes ticked off, colours in the clouds were intensifying.

 

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 2024-04-15

Odd as it may be, I haven't made any photos yet in April. No I was not among the throngs of photographers that shot the eclipse (a story for another time perhaps), and after returning from a golf getaway before Easter, I've been working my way through images made of sunset on March 1st.

 

' burning feather '

' vanes of fire '

' smouldering aftervane '

After capturing images of the much wider scene, I switched camera bodies to one with a longer zoom lens and concentrated on the unique cloud details of this particular sunset.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2024-01-08

A couple of months ago I decided to visit Halfway Log Dump in Bruce Peninsula National Park. The road in is not maintained during winter and is closed from early winter to late spring. I thought I would take the opportunity to go before the road was closed.

The shoreline along Georgian Bay at this location has provided many photo opportunities since my first visit over a decade ago. This time I would continue recent work on ultra-wide angle compositions, this time with my RF 14-35mm.

Though ultra-wide angle focal lengths can be used for stunning compositions, it requires practice to become proficient in their use, as I am experiencing while I work with focal lengths of 11mm and in this case as wide as 14mm. I made a number of successful images during this outing and in some cases worked a particular subject or view in various ways as I gain more comfort shooting this wide.

 

At one location, an old weathered cedar on a rock ledge caught my eye. My first instincts for a framing had me too far away, surprisingly so and I moved to the edge of a crevice using the lens zoom a bit to frame a shot (version A below).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not satisfied, I moved back a step, zoomed back out to 14mm and included a spruce standing above the background treeline as another point of reference. When I reviewed the images on the computer, this ended up being my favourite version.

' old cedar on ledge '

Before finishing with this scene, I moved even closer to the point where I had to remove and set my back pack and tripod down to step off the main cliff onto a ledge in the crevice. Even then I braced my foot on the other side of the crevice to lean slightly more towards the cedar (version B below). Upon review, this wasn't what I was looking for either.

 

' old cedar on ledge -B '

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm enjoying the challenge of working ultra-wide and have made some satisfying images but that first stand out image is yet to be made.

 

Oh yes ... as things turned out and real winter weather yet to arrive, Emmett Lake Rd. was still open when I passed by most recently. Perhaps I will change another visit.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2023-12-11

 

Not long after last week's post, I completed my processing of a set of images that now comprise the series ' revealed '. The series features the magnificent Superior lake-bed colours and shapes at Coldwater Cove, as seen with the use of a polarizing filter to reduce glare and reflection on the water surface.

 

With these two images, getting close with wide angle zoom allowed me to create interesting abstract interpretations using the natural patterns, shapes and colours in the rock of the Canadian Shield. I was left to imagine rough water and waves crashing along this shoreline because on this day there were but ripples on the water's surface.

 

' revealed IV '

 

' revealed VI '

Calm, sunny conditions such as we had are something not too common for late October on the lake that is Superior. 

 

 

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2023-12-04

 

I found that my images from our Retreat visit to Coldwater Cove group nicely into 2 sets. The first featured interesting foregrounds using the rock formations and patterns along the shoreline. This week's image introduces the 2nd set which features magnificent lake-bed colours and shapes, seen through the calm, clear Lake Superior water.

 

I've been eager to get to this set of images since reviewing them on the back LCD of my camera almost 2 months ago.

 

 

' revealed VII '

I really owe our Retreat leader, Andrew McLachlan, a big shout out for calling me out to join him on a large rock outcrop in the water. He asked if I was using a polarizing filter and suggested that with the glare removed, there were interesting patterns below the water. Well there certainly were and much more than that, there were magnificent colours.

A considerable amount of time was spent scrambling around on that rock. Making sure to keep my balance, lest I plunge camera and all into the cold water. Many different compositions were created and I came away with two handfuls that I'm prepared to share. This first image is not the first made but the first that had me thinking WOW!

 

More to come ... 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2023-11-13

 

It had been a while since last away on a photo retreat or workshop and once all the planning, preparing, packing, paying and travel to get there is done, it was time to make best use of shooting time and all available opportunities ...

 

' rock & ripples '

After another shoreline sunrise shoot at the lodge we were on the road and away from our accommodations in the strong sunlight of an uncharacteristically calm and warm late October morning. We had stopped at a little day-use park area and the group was scrambling around some interesting headland rock formations using the time to photograph details and patterns. Uninspired by the harsh lighting and a bit frustrated with the cramped location, I wandered away from the group and explored the sandy beach along the south side of Katherine Cove.

When I came across this rock embedded in the sand at water's edge I liked the simplicity of the scene but my first thought was that the glare off the water would be a problem. I decided to add a polarizing filter to my lens and see if they could be tamed. I turned the filter ring as I  re-positioned and voila! Magically the ripples below the water surface were revealed and the added bonus of darkening the exposure brought out the warm rich tones of the sand.

As often happens when I'm out with a group of photographers, I'm pushed to explore more, to work the location more, to extract more ... and there you go, opportunity not wasted ;-)

 

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 2023-10-30

One week ago I had just returned from the shores of Lake Superior where I joined a handful of other photographers for several days of shooting immersed in the outstanding Algoma District of Ontario. The Lake Superior Wild & Scenic Photography Retreat hosted by Andrew McLachlan and operated out of Rock Island Lodge had long been on my wish list, or rather it's predecessor had. Since travelling to the area for work over a decade ago, then researching the area for solo photo exploits, I found it was home to an organized photo workshop and the seed was sewn.

 

The weeks and days preceding my return to this stunningly beautiful part of Ontario, had me struggling with my photography, feeling uninspired. Though it's happened before, given the time of year when fall colours were vibrant, I was in an odd place creatively and hopeful that the coming experience would see me through it.

 

The drive up Highway 17 from Sault Ste. Marie to Wawa, provided opportunity for stops at Chippewa Falls, Sand River and Old Woman Bay to test the waters and whet my appetite (puns intended). Though we would return to two of these locations in the coming days, I was able to get the creative wheel turning again ...

 

... then after arriving at the lodge, meeting our hosts and the other photographers, it was time for a first sunset shoot out on the shore.

 

' magenta moments '

You can find the images from this outing in my flickr album "Algoma" along with photos from my previous visits to the area. Most recent images will be added at the top of the album page and expect a few more over the coming days and maybe week or so. Yes the trip was that successful, I'm still working through the captures.
 

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 2023-07-31

For this first time I can recall since beginning this blog over a decade ago, I'm presenting images from the same outing in consecutive "Photo of the Week" posts.

 

Of all the images made during a recent visit to Bedford Mill, I selected a few for processing and sharing on my social media streams. Together they make up a nice small series. However I chose to release one per day (missing a day or two) which left me with two remaining as of this writing. For the sake of continuity, I decided to publish both today and conclude this latest series before moving on.

 

' mill & water lilies ''

'

' Bedford Mill - from the other side '

I'm certain I will be back to this picturesque location, perhaps fall might be a good time to drop by and see the colours ...

 

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