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vintage mics
I came across these babies in a downtown antique / prop shop on Queen West this weekend while visiting the Contact Photography Festival. There was much to see and photography as we trekked along the street from Gladstone to Spadina checking out the exhibitions in the festival.
I found the Gladstone Hotel and the images displayed there a highlight of the trip. Such a range of styles and subject matter from the photographers exhibited there. Exposure to the work of others is a great way to improve your own ... and there is nothing better than seeing work printed and framed for presentation.
DJE
Even the horrible weather forecast for a cold rainy spring morning can hold surprises and change to accommodate an undaunted photographer...
After the traditional stop for coffee, tea and such, we were out for a morning walk around the grounds of the Ignatius Jesuit Centre in Guelph. Skies were full of rain clouds with small blue patches breaking through just fleetingly. With the weather feeling more like late fall than spring, I was uninspired ... and cold. The walk around the pond had produced some shots of the clouds rolling over the hills, a family of geese with several goslings and raindrops clinging to a variety of plant life.
Walking back to the vehicle we noticed a large opening in the clouds showing the clear blue of morning sky. If we timed it just right, we could make it to the old section of apple orchard...
bathed in sunlight
... the sun poured through the break in rain clouds, lighting the rows of old gnarled trees with their emerging blossoms and wet leaves. This was what I had come for. We were offered 20 minutes or so of strong warm sunlight to roam about capturing the character of this orchard on a hill and then the sunshine was gone...
Had we let the weather forecast keep us home, dry and warm, the experience would have been missed.
DJE
"look up ... look down ... look all around, look in front ... look behind ... look to the side" ... sound advice anytime when out making images. I found it particularly useful in the Arboretum this weekend while walking through Victoria Woods. I went in search of Trilliums and found Jack In The Pulpit galore, wild violets of course grand patches of Trilliums brightening the forest floor. Looking around, I found this patch of white ones at the edge of a pathway, surrounding a decaying trunk from a fallen tree in the diffused golden light of early morning.
Trillium Pathways
Thanks to the suggestion of a friend, I made my first visit to Algonquin in years, many years. As I mentioned in the previous post, we went in search of moose to photograph and that was certainly a great experience. What struck me most was the beauty of the scenes at the edges of the lakes, rivers, ponds and bogs. I could have spent all my time there framing all the magnificent detail and reflection at waters edge. The changing light throughout the day was constantly transforming the scene before my eyes ...
standing sentinel
DJE
... back from a weekend of photography in Algonquin Park. I had forgotten what a picturesque area this park actually is.
A few of us went specifically in search of some images of moose as they become active in the spring and come close to Hwy 60 in the salt laden roadside wetlands to feed. We managed to spot 10 moose (meese?) in total from Friday evening to Sunday morning. Friday evening was the most eventful as far as the moose went but ...
Even in spring, with trees just beginning to bud, there are beautiful images to be made in this part of the Ontario wilderness.
floating rock
... look closely.
This image is actually upside down (intentionally). I made an exposure of the reflection of the evening sky in the open water of one of the bogs in the park. I composed the image with the reflection of the sky dominating the the lower half of the frame. The reflections from the trees cover a rock protruding from the water that looks quite normal when viewed in correct orientation but seems to levitate in my "flipped" image.
This is a technique I choose to use with some of my reflection images. I quite like the effect ... although it drives one of my photographer friends silly with the disorienting perspective.
... here is the image in correct orientation.
I like it too, but for different reasons :-)
DJE
