God's Country Continued

Sometimes the photo gods smile on us...I was intrigued by some texture & tone contrast shots with a group of old birch trees (the first image) when suddenly a male Cardinal with full crest landed for all of about 5 seconds to add a nice splash of colour and then was gone. The other image is of my wife and her niece throwing stones off the dock...a storybook moment that was there briefly and then gone, (likewise I added some post-processing Orton effect to give it that storybook feel.)

The End of An Era

For those familiar with the Waterloo Region, you will have heard by now that the Seagram Barrel Pyramid is being taken down. Sadly, many of the barrels are in disrepair and the new Balsillie School of International Studies is building a walkway to CIGI directly in the path of where the pyramid currently sits. I just wanted to capture a few more images of the barrels before this landmark no longer exists. There is so much symmetry here to try and capture, not the least of which are the shutter shadows being cast at the same angle as the pyramid. The last image is of a skittish little Starling that seemed to think I was trespassing on his territory. I was drawn to his rough and tough, yet somewhat ornate appearance....these birds are a known to be hoodlums or vagabonds and I think this fellow really looks the part! :-)

The Commitment of the Canada Goose

There is a pond behind my house and this goose has been diligent through all the wind and rain to keep sitting on her eggs. This evening as I was barbecuing dinner, the sun broke through the clouds providing some terrific lighting, so I took the opportunity to try and capture her on the nest. I think she looks very elegant the way she is watching me all the while minding the eggs. In the first image I was struck by the placement of the "human nest" reflecting in the pond with the goose nest. All God's creatures need someplace to call home! :-) The dreamy/impressionistic look to them is called the "Orton Effect" named after landscape photographer Michael Orton.

Our Forest Friends

I was always in awe of the National Geographic photographers with their fast 600 mm Nikon lenses and travel to exotic locales. I haven't spent much time doing wildlife photography...I would like to do more. I bet an African safari or time in the Galapagos Islands would certainly be inspiring! Here are a few shots of some less exotic but still fascinating creatures.