Last Day of 2017

The years sure fly by. It seems to get faster and faster. We lost some friends, connected with a few from the past and gained some new ones.

Spring Thaw, Bruce Peninsula, ON

I didn’t feel like I did much although it turns out we added many new images. We stayed in Ontario for the most part. No big trips. No unusual adventures. It was nice not to drive quite so much. Here are a few of my favourite images from the past year.

Sometimes, the best images came from close to home like this one in my back yard:

Northern Flicker Yellow-shafted Male

Dog-day Cicada Adult and Exoskeleton

We travelled to a few of our favourite haunts in Ontario. We found this Coyote in Killanrey.

Coyote

Lori found this Yellow Warbler building a nest. It was quite accommodating.

Yellow Warbler Female with Nest

We also checked out some Ontario Provincial Parks for the first time:

The Pinery Provincial Park

Awenda Provincial Park, ON

The college where I teach went on strike this fall. So I took some time to shoot the fall colours in Algonquin.

Fog in Algonquin Ontario

We had one final trip to Parc Omega in Quebec and Wolfe Island in eastern Ontario:

Bull Moose

Grey Wolf

Short-eared Owl

Happy New Year! All the best for 2018.

Spring!

Finally. I know, we are supposed to be tough, rough, eat snow for breakfast Canadians but this winter…

Presqui'ile Provincial Park, ON

it was a real winter.

Muskoka Chairs in Winter

We have kept ourselves busy with photo submissions and a few excursions into the cold dark night.

Sunset in Algonquin, ON in Winter

We also did a bit of writing. I have an article in the current issue of Outdoor Photography Canada. It’s a technical how-to article about processing RAW images.

Outdoor Photography Canada

I can’t count the number of times I whined about this winter. I think maybe I forgot what a real winter was like. It really is very beautiful when you get out and embrace the cold. Here are a few of my favourite images form the past few months:

Red-tailed Hawk

Wild Turkey (Eastern)

Male Northern Cardinal

Snowy Owl

Presqui'ile Provincial Park, ON

I’m looking forward to working without mitts and a parka. Happy Spring!

Back at It

Moeraki Boulders, New Zealand

I thought I would be a little nervous. Usually I am nervous on the first day of classes in September. My week started with an 8:00am class. Maybe I wasn’t quite awake yet, but I didn’t have any sense of nervousness. After being out of the classroom for 16 months, I seem to have settled back into the routine quickly. I guess it’s like riding a bike. This is after all my 18th year of teaching at Seneca. Time sure flies. I have learned a lot this past year. Already I’m starting to share some of these things with my students and my peers. That has always been the fun part for me. Learning and then sharing that knowledge is very rewarding. Most of the photographers that I know do some form of teaching as part of their income. They teach workshops or guide other photographers. It is a great way to diversify your income. I have given several one-on-one workshops in the past and continue to offer this kind of thing on a limited bases. I teach full time. So when I get some time away from school, I usually want to shoot my own stuff. This limits the number workshops that I do. One-on-one is a very enjoyable way to teach. It means the cost for the student is higher (and a little lower for me) but a lot more material can be covered with just one student as opposed to trying to teach 10 or more at a time.

Scarborough Bluffs

If you are reading this and are interested in the kind of photography that I do, contact us regarding a custom workshop. Prices start at $300.00 for a half day and go up from there. I always provide printed notes. The workshop time is split between shooting outdoors here in the Scarborough Bluffs and working on the images at the computer.

Fall is approaching fast. It won’t be long and we will be chasing coloured leaves!

Autumn in Algonquin

November is almost over

I usually dread the month of November. It's dark and moody. The light is fleeting and I’m usually at my lowest energy level. Looking at the calendar today I realized it's almost over. We have busied ourselves with work, dreamt of future trips and projects. It has flown by. I guess that's the secret. Keep yourself busy in the dark times. Looking back at some of the images I have taken at this time of year I see they don’t really show how I was feeling. I wonder why?

Mew Lake Winter - Click for larger

Polar Bear - Click for larger

You would think that my images would be dark and moody and reflect how I feel but they do not. Not that there are many images in my files from November. It seems that I don’t shoot very much at this time of year. Must be the energy level.

We did have a chance to get up to Algonquin mid-month and wander the roads and trails. It was quiet and peaceful and surprisingly warm. I didn’t feel the usual pressure to produce. Just enjoyed the time away with Lori and shot when I felt like it. This Marten was kind enough to wander by.

Pine Marten - Click for larger

We also spotted this Grouse on the Opeongo Road. I drove past, turned around and stopped to shoot out the van window. It didn’t move!

Ruffed Grouse - Click for larger

The busyness of the holiday season is about to kick in. The next few months will fly by and spring will be here. The whole cycle will repeat with ever increasing frequency.

Maybe I should go grab a map and start thinking about where I want to go next year...