Dog Days of Summer

Australian Blue Heeler

We are going through yet another heat wave in the city. Lori had dried laundry in the backyard. She must have brought in a Cicada in the laundry basket. We are seeing them everywhere right now. I took this opportunity to take a set of stacked images to increase depth of field. The image below is a composite of 11 images, each with a different focus point. This method works well as long as your subject doesn’t move.

Dog-day Cicada or Heatbug

It has been a turbulent summer for us and for Toronto.

Toronto Nathan Phillips Square

There are times when I feel like I need to just keep my head down and weather the storm. Music is often what I turn to when I need to escape. We went to see Brandi Carlile in June. She was one of the last few performers at Massy Hall before it closed for renovations. I have witnessed many great concerts in my life but this was the best yet and in the best venue in the country. This grand old hall has been a part of my life since I was in grade school. My first visit was to see a quintet made up of members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. I can’t remember what grade I was in but it was around grade 6. With many visits since, I have watched my heroes play their hearts out on this stage: Bruce Cockburn, Stevie Ray Vaughn, BB King and Emmylou Harris. So many great shows. I have really enjoyed Massey Hall.

Massey Hall Toronto ON

Massey Hall Toronto ON

We spent a bit of time in Eastern Ontario and Quebec this summer and visited Gatineau Park for a few days. It is an interesting place. There are many lakes and trails to discover. We hiked into the Carbide Willson Ruins, near Meech Lake. I hope to go back again this fall and photograph this scene in fall colour.

Carbide Willson Ruins, QC

To end off the summer, we spent a bit of time with family in Brockville.

Brockville City Hall, ON

We then headed north to Manitoulin Island via highway 17. It was quite smoky in some areas from all of the forest fires.

Manitoulin Morning

Summer is never complete without a trip to the north shore of Lake Superior. We spent time in Lake Superior Provincial Park and in Pukaskwa National Park.

Bathtub Island, Lake Superior Park ON

Bathtub Island, Lake Superior Park ON

Canoe in Pukaskwa National Park, ON

North Beach Pukaskwa National Park, ON

I hope things settle down for awhile. For us and for Toronto…

The Waiting Game

You know the old saying, “I have all the patience in the world, I just don’t have time to use it”. Nature photography is often a waiting game. Sometimes it’s worth waiting and sometimes it’s not. Do you have trouble with this? I know I do. If the light is good and nothing is happening in front of my eyes, I often want to cut and run to the next location. But sometimes if you just sit tight and wait, you can get that extra special image. In the first example (above right), I was shooting in Southern Saskatchewan and spotted this Richardson’s ground squirrel at the side of the road. I used a 500 mm lens and shot from the window of the van using a bean bag for support. The light was still good but it was nearing the end of the morning shoot. I had taken what I thought were good images when I noticed another ground squirrel coming out of the same hole. After about 10 minutes I was able to take the next image (left). Now that’s a little more interesting. The voices in my head start to speak a little louder now. “That’s enough, I’m hungry, and the light is getting harsh…..”.



But wait there is a third head poking up, so I keep shooting. Finally the second and third squirrels are up and they form a nice grouping (right). Now I would love to say this always happens when I force myself to sit quietly somewhere and wait but it doesn’t. Nine times out of ten nothing interesting happens at all and I’m left wondering what I missed down the road.

What about that other side of the coin? What if there is something better down the road? It’s enough to drive you crazy if you let it. Sometimes you just have to listen to your gut and go with it. For example, I was in Brockville, Ontario during last year's Thanksgiving weekend and got up early to shoot some scenes in this picturesque town on the St. Lawrence River.

I was in the old section of town and was shooting just as the sky and city lights start to blend together. It was okay, some good stock shots but nothing dramatic. I could see the sun was just about to clear the horizon and the voices in my head started to speak. “Look there’s mist. This could be interesting”. I decide to listen to the voices and head down to the river. As the sun came through the mist it was quite dramatic. I shot a few frames and checked the histogram for exposure. (image below)
I could hear a boat coming and got myself ready to shoot as it passed the highlight in the water. (see image below)
But when I heard the rowers coming I really got excited. (see image below) So sometimes you are rewarded by staying put and sometimes you are rewarded by moving on.
How many times have you run into a photographer and they say “you should have been here 5 minutes ago”? I hear it all the time. I guess you can’t get them all. A lot of your decisions will be based on a number of factors such as how long do you have (an hour, week or month?) and how well do you know the area? This is where research and scouting locations ahead of time becomes very important. If you know where to be when the light hits, you know your options and can make more informed decisions. The more informed you are, the more you can trust those nagging voices in your head.