Last Friday was the first sunny day in many weeks. It felt more like Spring than close to Winter. Walking along one of my favourite trails along Lake Nipissing I photographed this sandbank. Enjoy!
I liked the light striking the split and broken plywood covering of the window at the abandoned school.
Last Thursday I drove out to the remnant of the small settlement of Rye near South River. It had been a few years since I visited this place and much has changed. Actually the only place I could find was this old schoolhouse. I like photographing old abandoned buildings. It makes me wonder about the people who lived and worked in these places. I made a few pictures of the inside which I will post in the next few days. I'll leave photographing the outside when the snow arrives.
The first faint sign of Winter. I photographed this ice on some tree roots along the Mattawa river here in Northern Ontario. Just check out the postings for November last year and you will noticed a big difference. Today the thermometer showed twelve degrees Celsius. That must be close to a record for this area.
It has been awhile since I posted a new image. The last week has been very busy and also the weather was simply well lets say lousy. It was and still is very gray and dark. Even rain would have been fine. I took this picture in Champlain park here in North Bay and then used a soft focus filter to make this rather romantic image.
The rain does not let up but I enjoy walking in the rain. The landscape is painted in red and gold. The bare trees and shrubs create stark contrasts. I try to simplify the composition by concentrating on one or two subjects. The branches are like heavy brushmarks in the landscape.
According to Environment Canada's senior climatologist Dave Phillips this Fall has been the wettest and gloomiest autumn since 1970. He is right but for a photographer this type of weather is excellent if you want rich colours. Give it a try go out in the rain and you will come home with very good atmospheric images.
e are in the last days of autumn. The rainy dark days before the snow arrives. It is a good time to work in black and white or with muted colours.
What a beautiful day. It was very warm for November. Actually it felt like Spring. I took this picture in the afternoon and liked the pattern of lines made by a strong back light.
Today was a typical gray, dark and very wet November day. Just a day to sit inside reading by a nice wood fire. I went for a short walk for some fresh air and, even though we had some wet snow, I noticed that there still was quite a bit of colour. This picture actually worked better in colour than black and white.
This image is closely related to a picture I made in Ottawa a few months ago. The composition is very reminiscent of the paintings by Mondriaan and the artists from the Style group but ultimately the image depicts an overall feeling of uneasy emptiness.
The rain which fell the last few weeks have made walking in the bush rather difficult. Some trails have become impassable. However I did manage to take a few interesting images .
The sky over lake Nipissing reminded me of the drawings and prints by the nineteenth century book illustrator Gustave Doré. I remember his very popular bible illustrations full of dramatic skies. The ky was not as dark and dramatic as in the photograph but I first underexposed the picture by about one stop. I further enhanced the image in the digital darkroom till I got the atmosphere I was looking for.
It has been quite a few days since my last posting. The weekend was very busy with visitors so yesterday I decided it was time for a short photo trip. We received a fair amount of snow which is a little too early for my taste however it gave me a chance to take my first winter landscapes like this image I made just outside of the town of Powassan.
We have had quite a bit of rain this month. Actually I should mention that in addition to all the rain we also received an unusual amount of snow this early in the season.
Here is the bridge I had to cross to get to the ruins of the old sawmill in Field. I wonder how long this bridge will be there.
Visited Field yesterday. Field is a very small town near Sturgeon Falls. This is what remains of the oldest steamdriven sawmill in North America. A pity it burned down. So, on a beautiful late Fall day, I drove out to take some pictures before everything would be torn down.
What a miserable wet day. Everything was grey and wet. Black and white was the only way to record the mood of the day. Driving over the railway crossing I noticed the tracks, the puddles and the old part of the Onatio Northland Railway repair shops. Perfect.
While this house is not particularly interesting from an architectural viewpoint, I do like the unusual porch and balcony. The leaves and almost bare trees give this image a feeling of the approaching winter season.
It was a big surprise this morning to wake up to a blanket of fresh snow. It is only middle of October and Winter is coming very early. Hopefully it will melt soon. Lets keep our fingers crossed.
A very cold and wet day. The first snow fell this afternoon. A reminder that Winter will be here soon. The trees have nearly all lost their leaves, there are still a few trees in full colour.
Again, it has been a few days since I posted a new image. The weekend has been very busy with visitors and yesterday friends helped me split wood for the Winter. Today is a dreary wet Fall day so I made this image of a little figurine on our coffee table. I think it is an old chinese incense holder. What or who the little figure represents I don't know but he looks somewhat scary.
The Fall colours in Ontario are always spectacular. In our garden we have a beautiful Saskatoon berry bush. I love the very bright red of this shrub. So here is a picture celebrating Fall.
This picture is for Rob. I know how much he enjoys France and the streets in old Quebec City is very reminiscent of cities and towns in France. Enjoy Rob.
I have been busy this week so I neglected my blog. Monique asked me for more pictures of Quebec City. Here is another street scene in the old city. You can find some very interesting murals depicting the history in various locations.
Fall colours are at their brightest right now. Here a picture of the Virginia creeper next to the front door.
Old abandoned houses always intrigue me. I wonder about who built and lived in the place and what were their stories. This old place in Restoule is ready to collapse but it still has a story to tell.
I made this picture on a recent phototrip around the area. Wolfe lake is a small intimate lake. I have made quite a few interesting pictures of that particular lake.
You will see many sculptures around the old city. I particularly liked this one.
Another street scene but in this image I combined colour and black and white in one picture. I simply did this to add contrast.
Dusk in Quebec City. On our way to dinner I took this typical old Quebec City street. This picture is for Lawrence. I thought he might enjoy this view.
