Life without a Schedule

When I worked as a college professor I had large blocks of time when I did not have a set schedule. True freedom is an open agenda. So I have had a lot of preparation for a pandemic! Boredom is my inspiration. When you let the tank empty you can fill it with whatever you want. These days I fill my days with music, art and literature.

Prince Edward Point Lighthouse, ON

My world is in many ways smaller lately but I’m able to watch the seasons change in one place. I’m able to know my backyard better than I ever have. There are so many worlds within worlds.

Surface Hoar Frost

When all this is over and we get back to life as it once was before masks and constant hand washing, what will you have learned about yourself and the world around you?

Snowy Owl

Mariners Park Museum Lighthouse

I have learned that I have just enough self motivation to keep me moving forward. I have just enough curiosity to keep me interested in the world around me without a timetable to get in the way.

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Creativity - Where Does it Come From?

Ideas for images come to me in the night. They come to me while I'm driving somewhere or doing something other than photography. Where does creativity come from? I'm not sure anyone knows. It comes through me and from me and when I least expect it. It's not something I can force or control. Sometimes I get a great idea when I'm stressed and under pressure, or sometimes when I'm bored and navel gazing. Whatever it is, it's the most wonderful feeling when you complete the cycle of a creative idea: capturing the image and then finally showing it. I hope to share with you through this blog, my creative journey.

Cape Spear Old Lighthouse (Digital Composite)

One fall I was under pressure to come up with an idea for an Xmas card. At the time, I was teaching image compositing at Seneca and was working on a class demonstration to turn a daylight image into night. The image was the old non-working lighthouse at Cape Spear in Newfoundland. I had just finished the image, complete with lights on, when this Xmas card crisis hit. The problem with using the lighthouse was that it was photographed in June. A winter image was needed. I looked for a snow scene with the light coming from the same direction as the lighthouse and found an image of snow drifts and grass from Manitoulin Island. I blended in this image but something was still missing. I needed a strong light source. For this I added a moon image from Northern Ontario. The final step was to add a blue tone to make it look like a cold night. It took about 48 seconds to come up with the idea but the whole process to create the image composite took about 48 hours. This was one of the first images we had posted with Getty.