Travelling Again

It has been 2 years since we were away for more than a weekend. It was exciting to load up the van and head out. We visited Lori’s mom on Manitoulin Island. It was wonderful to be able to go into her home and give her a hug.

Misery Bay Provincial Park, ON

Philadelphia Vireo

We spent three days on Manitoulin and then traveled up to Lake Superior Provincial Park. The weather was great. Not too cold or warm. The water was warm enough for extended swims and the trails were not too busy.

Lake Superior Waves

Sand River Beach, ON

While in Superior, our friends James and Li dropped by for a cup of tea on their way to Pukaskwa National Park.

I have spent so much time here over the years. I can’t count the number of times we have camped in the park. It never disappoints.

Baldhead River Falls, ON

Baldhead River Falls, ON

It was great to get away and great to get back home.

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…

Strong Women

We started our trip west this year as we usually do. We stopped to spend some time with Lori’s mom on Manitoulin Island. Evelyn Lane is a painter, sister, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, great great grandmother and one of the strongest people I have ever known. She is 92 and still going. I wonder if I will ever even come close to 92?

Bull Thistle Flower (image stacking)

While on the Island, I travelled to Misery Bay Provincial Park one morning. I was thinking of Doreen Bailey while walking the trails. Doreen passed away in April 2016. Lori and I have spent time with her in the park. We have also worked on several projects together. She taught us a lot about the plants and animals of Manitoulin. I felt her presence on the trail. A trail and place she had a big roll in preserving for all of us to enjoy. Thank you Doreen. You are an inspiration.

Misery Bay Provincial Park

We have been planning this trip for a few months. The new van is much like our old one. But the bed is a lot more sturdy and comfortable. There is a lot more storage space above and below the bed too.

The Van

The Van (side door)

The Van (back view)

We are on the road now. Starting to get into it. Hopefully the cameras will be getting a little workout.

The Van (with Gear)

Image Stacking

Sometimes one photograph will not provide enough depth of field. Image stacking is a technique that involves taking several images and focusing on different parts of the subject. I have been using this technique for a few years now. The images are put together in Photoshop by using Auto Blend. This allows me to increase the depth of field dramatically. The following image was made from seven images stacked for increased depth of field:

Pink Lady's Slipper (image stacking)

For comparison, the image below is is a single image shot at f8. You can see that the depth of field is much more limited.

Pink Lady's Slipper (one focus point/one image)

It is quite simple for a landscape image. I often only need 2 or 3 images to achieve maximum depth of field.

Erratic Rocks (image stacking)

For macro work, it often requires many more images:

Wild Columbine (image stacking)

Your photo subject needs to be motionless. I use a sturdy tripod and work on windless days. For flowers, I only want the parts of the flower in focus. I leave the background soft so it has a very natural look. Live view is the best way to focus. Switch to manual focus and zoom into 10X in live view. I use a remote to trigger the camera and often use mirror lockup. Most lenses have a particular aperture that is the sharpest. It is usually 2-3 stops down from wide open. If I’m only taking one image of a flower, I need to work at f22 or f32 to achieve the depth of field needed to have all of the parts of the flower sharp. This is not the optimum aperture. By stacking images, I can work at f8 or f11. This gives a much sharper image at the focus point.

If you use Lightroom, select and process the raw images. Then go to the menu Photo>Edit In>Open as Layers in Photoshop. If using Bridge, select and open in Adobe Camera Raw. Adjust all of the images and click Done. Then go to Tools>Photoshop>Load Files into Photoshop layers.

Once you have the images as layers, in Photoshop go to Edit>Auto-Align Layers. Then Edit>Auto-Blend Layers. There are sometimes little lines on the image at less than 100% view. If you zoom into 100% and still see areas that need editing, put a blank layer on top and use the spot healing brush with sample all layers turned on to fix up any blemishes.

Manitoulin Magic

Lori and I travelled to Manitoulin Island for a few days. We were there to celebrate her Mother's 89th birthday. Although we were having a good visit, I couldn’t resist sneaking off for some spring shooting.

Birch Tree at Dawn

We had good weather. I always see so much when on the Island. With little traffic and abundant wildlife, it is a photographer's dream.

Midland Painted Turtle

Everything seemed to be waking up after a long winter.

Red Fox

May and June can make for long days! Getting up before sunrise and working until sunset can really wear you out but it's well worth the effort. I’m still working with time lapse and image stacking, which make for even longer days. Here is an example of star trails:

Night Sky Star Trails

We saw more Bald Eagles on this trip than ever before.

Bald Eagle

While driving along highway 540 near Gore Bay, I spotted a Great Gray Owl.

Great Gray Owl

I was able to work with this big guy for about 2 hours. I just waited for the light to warm up a bit and set a bit lower in the sky.

Manitoulin never disappoints!