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…

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.

Happy 150th Canada!

Thinking back to 1967, it was a big deal when Canada turned 100. I was 8 years old when I received my centennial coin at school. It was also the year my Dad’s company printed a book called Canada – A Year of the Land. The book celebrated Canada’s 100th birthday.

Dad brought home tear sheets for me to put up on my walls. The photos really stuck with me. I wanted to be one of those photographers travelling across Canada taking wonderful images of the landscape.

That desire really never left me. I still love what I do and hope to continue for many more years.

As Canada celebrates it’s 150th birthday, I will continue to travel and capture images. I’m fortunate to be in two books that celebrate Canada's sesquicentennial. The first book is called The Colour of Canada by Roy MacGregor:

Here are my images from The Colour of Canada:

Red Canoe

Covered Bridge in Wakefield, Quebec

Iles de la Madeleine, Quebec

The second book is called, True North: The Canadian Song Book by Eleanor McCain:

Included with the publication of this coffee table book are two CDs Eleanor has recorded of classic Canadian songs. She is performing these songs across Canada with a slide show of the images from the book.

Here are my images from True North: The Canadian Song Book:

Fundy Mudflats in New Brunswick

Bison, Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba

Of course our self-published book “Canada through our Eyes” is still available on Blurb:

I have spent the last 27 years travelling across our great country. I’m proud to be a Canadian and I’m proud to help celebrate its 150th.

Happy Birthday Canada!

Braving the Bugs

You loose your tolerance for things sometimes. I find the first couple of days among biting insects hard. You would think I would be used to it by now. We have spent so much time in some very buggy places.

Blood Filled Mosquito

In late May and early June in Ontario you tend to see a bit of everything - black flies, mosquitoes, deer flies and horse flies. We have had four trips so far this spring and spent time on Manitoulin Island, Killarney, Sandbanks and Bon Echo.

Black Bear Mother and Cub

Common Merganser Male

Spring Ice Formations

Outlet River, Sandbanks, ON

The first 3 locations were wonderfully bug-free except for midge flies.

Non-biting Midge Flies

Bon Echo was not so bug free. The moment we stepped out of the van I realized that a short sleeve shirt and short pants were not a good option. I don’t use bug spray very often but the bugs were so thick, we both quickly sprayed our entire bodies. It was just enough relief to get the dining tent set up. I wondered if it would be better at the beach parking lot so we drove there and got out. There was nice breeze keeping the number of bugs down. We decided to have a swim and then cook dinner there. Later we wandered down to the point to shoot the cliff on Mazinaw Lake. The light was nice but the breeze killed the reflection I was hoping for. I used a 10-stop neutral density filter to smooth out the ripples on the water and create a soft reflection. We had a nice evening at the edge of the lake.

Bon Echo Provincial Park, ON

The next day we shot at a waterfall in Flinton Ontario. The bugs were thick there too. Once I started working though, I was able to ignore them for the most part.

Flinton Ontario Waterfalls

There were lots of turtles at the side of the road. We found a young snapping turtle willing to pose.

Young Snapping Turtle

It started to rain so we headed back for a game of cribbage and cooked dinner. Having a dining tent allows us to work out of the bugs and rain. It is the only way we can stand to camp in the spring.

Campsite with Dining Tent

Working in the Cold

Last week we went on our annual trip with our friends Olga and Robert. We had an enjoyable time in Algonquin. It was so cold it made working outdoors a bit difficult. But we bundled up and aside from a bit of discomfort it was fun.

Madawaska River, Ontario

There were the usual suspects to photograph: Black-capped Chickadees, Nuthatches and Jays. I had a Boreal Chickadee land in a tree above my head but it did not pose within focus range. We did get a few new Blue Jays and Gray Jays.

Blue Jay

Gray Jay

Working at -25C is hard, especially when you are trying to adjust a camera or work with a very cold tripod. We bundled up with several layers, ski pants, parka and winter boots. I find my hands suffer the most so use hand warmers in my gloves. This allows me to use thinner gloves and adjust the camera quickly.

Winter in Algonquin

Highway 60, Algonquin, ON

On our way home we stopped into Mew Lake where there is always a good chance of seeing a Marten. We waited in the cold for about 30 minutes before one made a brief appearance.

American Marten

It was a good start to the year!

Reflections

Parliament Hill & Ottawa River

It’s been a good year. We stayed close to home for 2014 and mostly worked in Ontario. Our province is plenty big enough to keep us busy. Lori and I recently visited Ottawa. We stayed in Gatineau across from the Museum of History.

Canadian Museum of History

This allowed us to walk across the road from our hotel and access the Ottawa River with its view of Parliament Hill. There was a thin film of ice close to shore that produced a good reflection.

Parliament Hill & Ottawa River

We wandered Parliament Hill on a cold December afternoon.

Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Ontario

I wanted to walk here. I needed to walk up to the doors under the Peace Tower. The shooting in Ottawa on October 22 was disturbing but I hope it will not limit our access to our public spaces.

The National War Memorial

I also wanted to visit Wakefield, Quebec. It is a short drive from Gatineau. There is a covered bridge that spans the Gatineau River. It was a little difficult to access a good view with snow and ice along the edge. We parked and walked along the river. A short slide down a hill provided access.

Wakefield Covered Bridge, Quebec

I’m not sure where 2015 will take us. We may head east, maybe west. Regardless, we will continue to crisscross our country in all seasons in search of images.

Here are a few other highlights of 2014:

Georgian Bay Shores

Snowy Owl

Northern Leopard Frog

Whitewater Region Ontario

All the best for 2015!