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!

Go East Young Man

We are travelling east this year. I’m glad we decided to head this way. There are so many fires out west, it would be difficult to travel in some areas. So far we have travelled through Quebec, stopping in Riviere du Loup and then on to New Brunswick.

Waterfalls, Riviere-du-Loup, QC

Lori and I wanted to see something different in New Brunswick so we headed to Mount Carleton Provincial Park in the Appalachians. There are some wonderful hiking trails in this park.

We did a couple of short trails the day we arrived.

Williams Falls, New Brunswick

The next day we walked to the top of Mount Carleton, the highest point in the Maritimes.

Firetower on Mount Carleton, NB

On the way to the summit, I photographed a small brook with lots of flowing water and moss. It was a very peaceful spot.

Mamozekel Brook, NB

Mamozekel Brook, NB

We are slowly making our way to PEI. More to come!

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!

Percé Quebec

This is such a wonderful area. It was so nice to be here before the crowds of summer.

Percé, Quebec

Our view from the cottage we rented could not have been better. We faced Percé Rock and had good light on and off during our stay.

On Sunday we took a tour boat over to Bonaventure Island. Clear skies and cool temperatures made for a pleasant day for photographing the extensive Northern Gannet colony.

Northern Gannet

Northern Gannet

Northern Gannet

On Monday we made our way south to Kouchibouguac National Park. The bugs are thick but we seem to be getting used to it. We will work here for a few days and then continue south.

Kouchibouguac National Park

Arethusa