Pink and Red

I’ve brought my 105mm lens on my walk today to reshoot the leaf from yesterday. The reason for switching to the 105mm was to see if I could get more of the leaf in focus. 

Pink Leaf Take Two

I think it did a much better job than the 55mm lens. You can see more of the veining in the leaf than with the 55mm lens. I’m much happier with this photo.

Japanese Spindle Tree Berry

On the opposite side of the creek, I found these pink berries. I only see them in late fall, and this year I’ve finally identified what this plant is – the Japanese Spindle. It’s native to China, Korea, and Japan so obviously someone planted this in their backyard where it’s made its way into the creek area.

Rosehip

I walked by the area where there were so many dogwood roses in summer. The roses are now gone, but a few rosehips have been left behind on the bare branches.

I spotted a lot of pink and red today on my walk. It looks like late fall isn’t so brown after all.

The Old Apple Tree

Just another day in the neighbourhood, walking around, taking some photos. But before I get to that, I did get out for a walk in Claireville with my friend Nigel. And I only have one photo to show for it.

Under the Old Tree

Under the Old Tree

Yup, this is it. No other photo I took here looked good to me. I heavily edited this one – added a new sky (the old one was so blah) and I gave it a nice autumn glow. 

Because I was so underwhelmed by the Claireville photos, I went for that neighbourhood walk I mentioned. I was much more successful on this walk.

Pink Leaf

Pink Leaf

I mean, come on, look at this pretty pink leaf. I have no idea what kind of plant it is, but I can tell you it was low to the ground and the nearby tree didn’t have the same leaves. Another one to add to the books to figure out. Oh, and you’ll notice the focus is not sharp on the entire leaf. That’s because I was using my old manual 55mm lens. It has a very small area of focus. It frustrates me a lot. Now and again I still try to use it. One day I will conquer it. I may have to come back again and shoot it with my 105mm lens to compare the difference.

Apples

Further down the path, I found an apple tree with its yellow fruit just hanging around. These particular apples caught my attention because of how the light was shining on them. I was much happier with the photos from my neighbourhood walk today. Sometimes you just need a change of scenery. And surprisingly for me, that was going back to my neighbourhood walk.

Pretty in Pink

Just before I headed out on my neighbourhood walk I stopped in for a look at my parent’s garden. A flash of pink caught my eye.  The chives are blooming this lovely purple-pink shade so I grabbed a few shots before I left.

Chives

Chives

On my walk the first thing I spot on the creek path is two swallowtail butterflies. They are moving from flower to flower so its a little hard to catch a photo of them. One finally decided the flower it landed on was worthwhile to stay on so I quickly shot a few photos. I was able to get a great shot before it flew away out of reach.

Swallowtail

Swallowtail

In the meadow by the high school I found a few white clovers. To get a good vantage point I had to get down low to get the photo  I wanted. That meant I had to lie on my belly looking like some weirdo but luckily there was no one else around to see it.

White Clover

White Clover

Not that it would have mattered. I would have done it anyway. What do you do to get the photo you envision in your head?

Early Mornings and Late Nights

We decided to stay in Lion’s Head rather than in Tobermory this year, just for a change in pace. The decision ended up being a good one since our B&B was so close to a harbour with a picturesque view of sailboats in view of the morning sunrise. We knew we had to get up early to take advantage of this.

Sunrise at Lion's Head

Sunrise at Lion’s Head

The sunrise did not disappoint and neither did the view.

After the sun rose over the marina we headed back to our B&B and dug in to a well deserved breakfast. With our bellies full we were ready to conquer a hike on the Bruce Trail.

Driftwood on the rocky shoreline.

Driftwood on the rocky shoreline.

It turned out to be a great day with clear sunny skies and a bit of breeze as we hiked along with shoreline of Georgian Bay. I made sure to get really low on the shot above to make the driftwood seem much larger than it really was. Changing your point of view can dramatically change your photo results. Give it a try next time you’re out.

Lakeside Daisy

Lakeside Daisy

As we were driving back to the B&B we noticed an area filled with Lakeside daisies, so you know we had to stop and get some photos. Again I decided to get very low for this shot. The daisies are very short at only a couple inches so shooting down on them would not have given me the photo I was looking for.

Back at the B&B we got in a short nap before dinner and then it was time to prepare for a late night shoot. My main goal for this trip was to focus on improving my skills in astrophotography. One of the things I wanted to try was a panoramic to capture the full Milky Way across Little Cove.

Milky Way at Dave's Bay

Milky Way at Dave’s Bay

It looks to me as though I may have captured some northern lights. It was a beautiful Way to end a great day on the shores of Georgian Bay.

Little Wonders of Algonquin

Today I headed out to Algonquin Provincial Park with a couple of photography friends. Our goal was to walk a few of the trails and see what we could find. As we walked along the first trail we spotted a hare in our path.

Hare on the Boardwalk

Hare on the Boardwalk

It didn’t seem as shy as the rabbits where I live but it wasn’t long until it hopped off the path and into the forest.

And then I spotted some mushrooms.

Mushroom Family

Mushroom Family

Followed by an orchid. I didn’t expect to see any orchids at all but was pleasantly surprised when we happened upon a bunch of Pink Lady’s Slipper.

Pink Moccasin Flower

Pink Moccasin Flower

Up until now, I had never come across these flowers. It was a treat to spot them and get some photographs. So that was day one. I wonder what we will discover on day two. Maybe a moose?