We had a little snow overnight. Nothing as significant as we received last Sunday, but enough to be interesting enough to go out for a walk in the late afternoon to get some photos.
Footprints in the Snow
I liked these footprints on the creek path. The way the light was shining across the path caught my eye. I got down really low to get a better view of the light and shadow around the footprints. It gives you a unique perspective on your subject when you change your angle or position.
Frozen Reeds
It was cold enough today to freeze the small puddles by the schoolyard (which are deeper than you would think). The soft light was hitting the ice in a way that made it glow.
Taking the catwalk home I noticed these berries that seem to have got stuck on the fence. I decided it looked interesting enough to take a photo.
My friend Nigel and I headed up to explore the grounds at McMichael Gallery up in Kleinburg. I had never been to the grounds before and was looking forward to walking their trails.
Statue
One of the trails, located not too far away from the parking, is the Sculpture Garden. There are nine bronze sculptures along this short trail, donated by artist Ivan Eyre.
The Trail
After our short walk among the sculptures, we took the valley walking trail on the other side of the parking for a nice walk along the Humber Valley.
The Reflected Pane
The trail took us to the main entrance of the Gallery and then on to Tom Thomson’s shack. Tom Thomson was a Canadian painter and was an early inspiration for what became the Group of Seven.
A Visitor
Before heading back to the car, we took a break at a bench to enjoy a little bit of the day. As we chatted, a little bug decided to visit us. He hung out for quite a while, so we were able to snap a lot of photos of his journey from one side of the bench to the other. I like this photo of him with his large dark shadow following along.
My car has blown its transmission and has been towed to my mechanics to see if she can be revived. In the meantime, my friend Nigel has graciously said he will drive us to our hiking destinations until I get it sorted out. Thanks, Nigel!
Rouge Valley Lookout
We decided to head out to Rouge Valley Urban Park to a trail on the north side of the park that has a viewing platform so we can see the fall colours from up high. Neither of us had been here before and were looking forward to a good hike in a new park.
Rouge Valley Trail
After we visited the park, we took some backroads towards home. As we drove we spotted a farmhouse and barn that we’ve photographed a few times before.
Thompson Farm and Fence
Parking on the side of the road we walked away from the farm along the fence to find a clear angle looking back towards the barn. I noticed the overgrown vegetation along the fence and decided I liked that composition best.
Farm Landscape
When we got back in the car and started to drive past the farm, this view made us stop to grab a couple more shots before heading home.
After a couple of days of some dramatic star shots, it’s back to my neighbourhood walk. I headed out towards the end of the day to get some better light.
Dahlia
Now, these yellow flowers I think are dahlias. I could not find anything that looked close enough. If any of you know what they are please let me know in the comments. It’s been driving me nuts.
Vine Covered Fence
The path to the right of this vine-covered fence leads to the beat up track that goes around the unused football field. Back when I was in high school here we did not have a football team. We did, however, have an amazing basketball team. So, although the grass gets cut and the track gets graded in the spring, no one really uses it as it was intended. It makes me a little sad, but at the same time, things like these vines of morning glories growing on the fence, are left to their own devices. This makes the photographer in me very happy.
Sun Streak
And so does this light. Look at that great sun streak coming in! It’s summer evenings like this that really make my day.
Some days I don’t stray too far away from home for my photos. My mother has some beautiful plants in her garden, and one of them is the dahlia plant that is currently blooming in our front yard. They are like little bunches of love.
Purple Dahlias
Our front yard garden is small with only a few plants, but in our backyard, we have a large bush of fall phlox. We have other plants around the house, but these two are my favourites.
Fall Phlox
I still went out for my walk and I found a couple of things to photograph, even though I didn’t feel as inspired to take many photos. One thing that caught my eye was this trio of yellow flowers.
Elecampane
I found this vine, from either a cucumber or zucchini-type plant, that is struggling to escape the backyard it’s meant to be in.
Vines and Fence
The textures of the leaves against the texture of the wood fence intrigued me. By taking away the colours it made the textures more pronounced. I guess in the end, I still found things to be inspired by on my walk.
