Sharon's Week 39: Fading Into The Sunset

I'm sitting here with my hands ready to type and I find myself with nothing to say this week.  I guess it has been a fairly nondescript kind of seven days and nothing stands out as needing to be said.

I suppose I could explain my title this week.  The reference to fading is about the total lack of fall colours this year.  We had "fall leaves" to photograph last week  and "a leaf" on this week's list and let me tell you those were hard to find.  The scenery is stunning in its lack of stunning-ness around here.  I'm not sure if there is any colour still to come and I can't seem to stop talking about it.  Last night when Pam and I were out walking I commented several times and again tonight at Hiawatha the topic came up (by me, of course).  I realized that I seem to be a broken record and told Pam that I'm sure I will stop talking about the lackluster colour sometime soon (I promise I will try).  It's just that I have never ever seen a fall like this...I really can't believe that it won't turn around and surprise us next week.  Or the week after that...

Alright then, moving on...

Most of my photos were taken last Sunday on an early morning drive out to St. Joseph Island and then during a walk at Hiawatha.  Then like many weeks, the camera didn't come out again until the last minute scramble for the final photos.  Maybe I ought to consider the daily thing again for next year (note that I only said MAYBE).

Here we go.

reflection

This is a reflection in the pond at Hiawatha.  The way I framed it completely freaked me out when I looked at the image on the screen.  I find it hard to look at because I really, really want to turn the photo upside down to fix it.

a leaf

I have a burning bush in my front garden.  It has always been disappointing (this year is not atypical for this plant) in its lack of "burning" colour each fall.  I rarely get the stunning red leaves.  I highlighted the one red leaf on my plant with this little set up on my light table.

starts with I

While driving around the Island last Sunday, I saw 15 or 20 deer.  Those suckers are unpredictable and are all over the place on St. Joe's.  I call them an Island danger.

dog

When I was done on the Island I texted Pam to see if she wanted to meet me at Hiawatha.  When we started walking she joked that the only reason I had invited her was to get my dog photo.  I had completely forgotten about that but I won't look a gift dog in the mouth (?).

railroad tracks

I crossed so many tracks this week and every time I looked in each direction looking for something a little interesting or pretty (it would have helped to have some colourful leaves) but nothing jumped out at me.  I thought instead of the train bridge at Whitefish Island.  The idea I had was foiled by flooding where I wanted to be.  Pam suggested we risk life and limb to climb up to the tracks and this is what I found there just as the sun was setting.

motion blur - camera

I think you've heard me say how much I enjoy doing this kind of thing.  I really do but for some reason I didn't get out and do it this week.  Last Sunday I was telling Pam about a photo I saw in my latest photography book and I tried it once by the pond.  This is the photo that came of it and I didn't make any more attempts all week.  For shame.  I do believe I will do some more this coming week and you may see another blur photo next weekend.

wild card

I could have used this for my I photo...it is the causeway to the Island and it is an iconic scene around here.

That's it for this week.  

Pam's Week 39: I Was Shaking Like a Leaf...

Well, we certainly experienced a drastic change in weather this week.  Sunday, we headed to the beach for the first time all year (for a real beach day that is; the kids and I had done quick trips for a swim).  It was, apparently, the hottest weekend of the summer!  Then on Wednesday, the temperature dropped to 15 degrees!  I actually had to bust out boots for dinner that evening and long pants and a hoodie on other nights this week.  It's a little crazy, really.  I guess next week looks nice again though not quite as hot - good early fall weather I suppose.

I started out this week strong - Sharon and I went for a walk at Hiawatha last Saturday and I managed to get a few shots and I took some more at the beach on Sunday but then I left my camera in my bag for the rest of the week.  I was contemplating some photo ideas and even enlisted Danica's help to think of words starting with "i" but did not attempt a single one.  Luckily Sharon texted me earlier today and dragged me kicking and screaming (just kidding - I went willfully) to Whitefish Island where I took some more photos.  I will admit that some of these will be a bit of a stretch to fit the topics but my blog, my ideas....so there!

Reflection
Unfortunately, we don't seem to be getting any stunning fall colours this year.  It seems as though all the leaves are starting to turn but then stop.  A lot of the trees that are usually quite beautiful are already leafless yet never did turn their brilliant reds and oranges first.  It's quite disappointing and does not make for the gorgeous reflections I'm sure Sharon was imagining when she chose this topic. 

This photo was from the pond at Hiawatha.  The trees are still very green...

A Leaf
What I envisioned was a bright red maple leaf floating in some pretty blue water.  Plan B was the lily pads at Whitefish Island, which have apparently died before the lilies even bloomed.  So, I got neither of those pictures.  Instead I have this...

Starts with I
The words that kept popping into my head were idiot and imbecile - both difficult to photograph (particularly when the people who most aptly fit the description were behind the wheels of other cars on the road with me).  Danica came up with interesting, idea, and a bunch of other great words, all hard to photograph, that escape me at the moment.  Here is big stretch numero uno...

As I searched for a wildcard, I came across this photo - Danica is being inventive, using a piece of driftwood as a telescope.

 Dog
I have a dog.  She's a pretty cute one too but she is not good at posing for pictures.  Luckily, we took her to the beach with us last Sunday and she had a ball playing in the water, though was truly exhausted after our beach trip.

Here she is laying so innocently (ooh - another 'i' word) on the beach.  This is before she started digging the holes that Robert fell in.

Here she is carrying her leash out of the water, her hint that she is done swimming.

Railroad Tracks
We don't have any particularly scenic railroad crossings nor do we have impressive railroad trestles or bridges.  Sharon and I risked life and limb to cross over the muddy flooded pathway on some small logs followed by a hike up loose gravel to the railway bridge that crosses the St. Mary's river.  She was doing some creative photographer thing.  I decided I liked how the sunset looked and decided to focus on that instead.  You can see the rails reflecting in the front of the picture.

I did get a picture of Sharon doing her thing but thought she may not appreciate me using it without her permission.

Motion-Blur:  Camera
So Sharon explained how real photographers capture this and I tried it but it didn't work out very well.  In fact, I kept ending up with a white-out shot that I'm sure she would have been able to fix but with my limited camera setting understanding, I couldn't do it.  Since I take blurry photos all the time from accidentally moving the camera (or rather Riya pulling my arm while I am shooting a photo), I decided to use one of those instead.  This was taken last weekend at Hiawatha.  Now to be fair, I am blaming Riya but this could have been the photo I was trying to take when I sprained my ankle and fell down...

Wildcard
I took this photo tonight at Whitefish Island.  Sharon and I took a path we don't often take, thanks to our usual path still being flooded, and I liked how the setting sun was reflecting off these grasses.  Then we noticed all the ducks swimming towards us (I think they noticed us first and thought maybe we'd have food for them).

Here's hoping the weather truly does warm back up again next week as I don't think I'm actually ready to put socks and shoes and long pants and sweaters on every day....

Pam's Week 38: You Wanna Go Where People Know, Our Troubles are All The Same

You Wanna Go Where Everybody Knows Your Name...

What a good TV show that was.  Can anyone name the show from the theme song's lyric?  A rather humorous aside - my second year in university, we had a 13 inch black and white TV and no cable.  You never really realize how much you want to watch TV until your options are so limited.  We happened to be able to get the one channel that televised this particular show - twice a day in syndication and 3 times a day on Thursdays when the new episodes aired.  If you guessed....

Cheers!

You would be right!  So when I saw this topic, I immediately thought of clinking together of glasses full of alcoholic beverages.  Since that wasn't happening this particular week, I thought a picture of a cute bartender doing his thing a la Tom Cruise in Cocktail would be another rather creative interpretation.  I thought my hubby may object to me stalking him with the camera while he was working though.  My final thought was cheerleaders but alas, I don't know any and have no idea when or where I could catch some practicing nor when or where a football game might be occurring that would have them in attendance doing their thing.  And frankly, after hearing my friend's daughter's horror stories about the East-West Game this year, I am not sure I wanted to be hanging around any highschool football games.  Luckily I found a set of pompoms in my daughter's "bin of randomness" and convinced her to help a lady out...

Focus on Foreground

My sunrise jaunt to Whitefish Island last Sunday, luckily, ended up, likely inadvertently, providing me with some of this week's photos.  This would be one of them...I am not sure why but I have always liked cattails, particularly when they are just starting to burst.  I remember picking them as a kid and trying to make them burst.  Must be sort of like the blowing of dandelions in the wind - messy as heck now that I'm an adult but destructive fun as a child.

Fall Leaves

This is another photo I can attribute to the Whitefish Island sunrise jaunt.  I had tried to walk the 2nd island again, only to be foiled by the still flooded pathways.  On my way back, however, these leaves caught my eye so I caught them in a photo.  They aren't fully coloured yet but they are on their way.

W

I took this photo earlier in the week when I happened to notice the W-shape my kids were making on this disc swing.  I tried to replicate it last night when we went back to Bellevue Park with Sharon as it was earlier in the evening and the light was better but the kids weren't quite as cooperative as I would have liked.  Really, they were just arguing and being bratty so we went home instead.

Frame within a Frame

So this is a photo I forgot to take and then tried my darnedest to find a frame or attempt a fancy photo as suggested by Sharon's latest photography book.  I tried to find natural frames but wasn't particularly happy with the results. This was the best of the attempts - see the pirate ship in the water?

I also tried to replicate a favourite photo I have of Danica as a toddler at the park but the results aren't quite as stunning when posed...

Friendship

The other night, we headed to Bellevue Park where I thought I could capture a photo of my kids playing as friends.  They decided they wanted to ask their friends from down the street so that made that photo an awful lot easier!  Teyah is also a friend of theirs from the swim team.

Wildcard

During that same Bellevue Park trip, I was drawn to the way the sunset was reflecting through the trees by the river and into the duck pond.  Since all I had with me was my phone, that was the camera I tried to capture the photo on.

And that's it for last week, folks.  I have already started on this week's photos and am hoping our trip to the beach today (believe it or not, we are having our nicest weekend all summer this weekend and thus are planning our first trip to the beach...in September...) provides me with many more photo ops!

Sharon's Week 38: Whitefish Island Saves The Day

Thank heavens for my Fridays off.  I got so much accomplished yesterday:  three hours of photography at Whitefish Island, a nap, lunch with a friend, physio for my elbow, massage therapy for my shoulder (the shoulder and elbow likely aggravated by that three hours of photography), meal planning for this week, laundry, and I'm sure I did something else productive last night but I just don't remember what.

And yet, this evening I feel like the weekend (which has been one day longer for me) has been flying by.  What's with that?!?  Time had better slow down...today I got an email from Photobook Canada telling me that my two book vouchers expire next week.  I'm pretty sure that I can extend that by a week but those book vouchers were meant for my China photobooks and I have yet to begin processing those photos!  I guess I will be attached to my computer for much of the next two weeks (in addition to the photo editing, I have to do some stuff for the O.T. College which Maxine tells me is quite time intensive this year - with a slow talker narrating the slides!).

On a different topic altogether, who loved this weather today?  NOT ME!  I know, I know, it's the most summer we have had all year and it is not even summer anymore but I hate the heat.  At one point, the weather network said it was 32 with a humidex of 40.  That is really not necessary if you ask me.  I foresee myself sleeping in the basement tonight.

So let's get this going so I can head downstairs.

focus on the foreground

I took many shots with a close flower in focus and a bunch of out of focus colour in the background but as I was leaving Whitefish Island yesterday I headed over to the Superintendent's Residence.  I decided that something a little different was in order this week.

Okay, here is one of the other kind of photo.

fall leaves

I noticed this as I was wandering along and I was so excited by the gorgeous colour (I am just reading Bryan Peterson's latest book and it is all about colour).  I took several shots before I decided to move in and remove a dead leaf that was bothering me.  I realized then that the this leaf and berries were not in fact part of the same plant.  I laughed at myself (yes, out loud, by myself) because of course a maple tree doesn't have berries.  It was gorgeous anyway.

W

The bee (or wasp or other stingy thing) wouldn't move off of my W so I went with it.

frame within a frame

I forgot about this one when I was out so this was the best I can do with the photos I have.  The shelter is kind of framed within the trees on either side.  Or, the coloured leaves are framed within the structure of the shelter.  Take your pick, it's kind of lame either way.

cheers!

I suffer a lack of imagination this week and all I could think of was drinks clinking together.  Since I didn't have two people to do this nor did I want to open a beer this afternoon, I settled for iced tea.

friendship

Our cats can be friends when it involves stalking a bird on the front steps.

wild card

I had a lot to choose from this week.  I am going with more berries (not the same ones).  These berries also have a maple leaf...what's going on?

And now I am all caught up.  Now to check what's up for this coming week.

Sharon's Week 37: A Little Late, A Little Cheating

So I blew it again.  I did not follow my own rules and take all of these photos during the designated week.  I will spare you my excuses (because you know I have some) and get on with things.

Here's what I learned about myself during week 37:  I am no longer an awesome student who takes excellent notes and remembers everything I heard.  I attended a three day workshop last weekend and right now, only six days later, I'm darned if I can explain a tenth of what I thought I learned.  I am hoping that when I sit down with my binder (which contains some pretty sketchy notes - because of illegible handwriting and a lot of half-sentences with questionable short forms) it will all make sense again.

Another thing I learned:  I need my weekends.  I found myself on Monday morning while working with students, doing those long blinks that are one step before the head nods.  You have to understand that I sleep poorly most of the time so I know what tired is but this was something else.  I have always been able to hold it together during work but not this time.  I think I used up a whole week's worth of brain power at the workshop and my body was demanding sleep in order to recover. 

I made it through all my scheduled appointments for the week and decided to take Friday off.  I was able to get out and catch up on the missing photos so here we go.

in the way

My amazing friend Donna came from Grimsby to entertain me at the hotel on Saturday night.  When we were driving back from dinner, there was a superb sunset happening.  Unfortunately the view from my balcony looked out onto this building which was in the way of the setting sun.

selfie

My other amazing friend Jo entertained me on Friday night.  I headed to her neighbourhood and we wandered on the Danforth until we chose a place to eat (which was an excellent choice - the best sausage ever!).  We walked past a used book store and I decided that was the place for a selfie (is it still called a selfie if there are other people in it?).  I have no idea what the book Jo is pointing to is all about, it's just the one that was in the window.

starts with T

This was the view from my balcony facing the other direction.  I am in Toronto.

near

Go along with me here...I am near the heron 😏.  When I have seen this bird in the past, he or she has been very skittish so this was exciting for me.

backlight

Here we have another photo of Queen Anne's Lace past its prime.

active

Even though it feels like mid-summer, the chickadees know what's coming.  They were flying around me like crazy looking for food.  Sadly, I had not brought any.  This one appears to be giving me the cold shoulder.

wild card

On my first trip to Elliot Lake this school year, I noticed some colour in the trees along the Blind River (at least I think that's what it's called).  

Week 38 will be up soon.

Pam's Week 37: Near, Far, Wherever You Are...

Just in case you were wondering, Sharon isn't the only one who will be breaking the rules this week.  I, admittedly, took some of my photos last Friday and Saturday and a few more today.  For anyone paying attention, that likely means that I didn't actually take any during the proper week.  Oopsie...

As you will see in the photos, the week started (or rather last week ended) with a girls' night in Sudbury to celebrate our friend's birthday in advance.  We shopped, we ate, we drank, we laughed, and we were in bed by 10 p.m.  We were quite the party animals!  My how the times have changed....it doesn't seem that long ago that I would just be deciding where we were going out that evening and starting to get ready...

Anyways, it has been a great week.  The weather has been sunny and hot and nicer than it's been all summer.  In fact, I think I heard that yesterday was actually the hottest day we had this summer!  Unfortunately I spent much of it at the Y with the kids but such is the life of a mother, I suppose.  It was another bright sunny morning this morning but then the rain moved in this afternoon for a bit which gave us plenty of opportunity to do a major clean and purge of the playroom.  Of course, my other to-do list items ended up postponed but perhaps the biggest one is done!  And our kitchen, except for one door that we are still waiting for, is now finished!  It's pretty and organized and bright and I love it!

I think I will post these pics out of order as I feel like I should at least post the ones I took first earliest.

Backlight

I took this photo at Farmer Bob's last Friday night.  The light behind the sunflower was just so stunning (I actually took it by accident, not realizing it was a topic this week.  The photo just appealed to me at the time).

Starts with T

Like I said, we headed to Sudbury last Saturday to celebrate our friend's birthday.  What I failed to mention is that her name is Tuula, which starts with T.  Sharon decided the car should be decorated for the trip.  Unfortunately, some of the letters flew off en route.  One of them, somehow, ended up on the rear window!

Selfie

I should preface this photo by mentioning that a couple of people in it hate having their photo taken in the first place so if they knew I was posting it on the blog for anyone and everyone to see, they may unfriend me forever.  Just more sacrifices for the sake of art, I suppose...

In the Way

Yesterday we had tickets to see the Vague de Cirque performance hosted by The Machine Shop (an old paper mill that has been converted into a pretty cool concert venue and restaurant and such).  It was held in a big yellow tent (which I had considered using as "starts with T").  The story itself was a little silly but the acrobatics were pretty astounding.  I tried taking some photos but there was something hanging in my way...

Today, I woke up early and the sunrise looked so pretty so I decided to take Riya for an early morning walk at Whitefish Island.  Okay, early for me would not be early for Sharon but when I am out of my house before 8 a.m. on a non-work or take kids to activities day, it's early!  I loved the look of the clouds with the pink sun but the power pole or whatever it is was also in the way.

Near

I was pleasantly surprised to see that we hadn't arrived at the island this morning too late to see the beavers.  I thought it was cute that one of them was swimming near the ducks.

Active

Well, we have certainly been active this week with activities starting back up again.  I wasn't sure how to capture that in a photo, though.  Instead I thought I would include another photo (or two) from the Vague de Cirque.

Wildcard

This was also taken at Farmer Bob's.  Can you see the rainbow in the sky behind the goat walk?

And that's all folks....I surprised myself again though in that when I look ahead to this week's photos, I accidentally took at least 2 that I like that would fit the topics!  I am ahead of the game!

Sharon's Week 36: September Morn

I know that back to school happened here last week but for me, the return to my regular school schedule begins tomorrow.  That's when I begin working with kids every day rather than sit at my computer writing reports.  It's funny...I do look forward to the end of the school year when I can relax a bit and not have to be "on" all the time to keep the kids engaged while working towards our goals but I really look forward to getting back into it all in September.  I was not meant to be an office person, that's for sure.

I have had to think a lot about my career over the past few weeks as I had three opportunities to switch jobs within my organization and avoid all of the ongoing uncertainty around the school program and my job.  The first two chances I let slip by because I had little notice and I don't have a resume.  The third job opportunity gave me plenty of time to get organized and I did dig a little deeper into what it would mean if I did change jobs to work in the adult program but in the end I chose not to apply.  The final decision was a result of me realizing that I love working with kids.  They make me laugh out loud every day and I want to end my career (in seven years and 21 days, but who's counting?) laughing every day.  As it stands now with the upcoming changes, my job will likely be much different from what I am currently doing but it will be with kids and therefore, I will laugh.  That's all I need.

This week's photos were slim on the ground until Friday when I had one of my days off.  Then they multiplied.  Here we go.

wild card

This is one of my motion blur photos.  I have been looking for this composition for years (since I saw a similar photo in a photography book) but hadn't been able to find it:  a stand of birch trees with something colourful at their base.  As I was driving around St. Joe's Island Friday morning, I found this spot and proceeded to take a million photos while moving the camera up and down (even though I feel like the camera is moving the same way all the time as the shutter keeps clicking, it's amazing how many of these photos do not turn out).  I am glad nobody chanced to drive by and see me looking like I might be seizing by the side of the road.

6

We had a number and a letter this week.  Obviously I wasn't paying attention when I made the list.  I caught this 6 with a quick glance into the bushes as Pam and I walked on Whitefish Island.

stress

There are two different stresses going on here.  Levi does NOT love driving and would not get his licence if I didn't force him to.  That's number one.  Number two is that he is driving my three day old car.  Eeeek.

back to school

I had absolutely no ideas for this and then Pam said she assumed I would be doing something with pencils or crayons.  Thank you Pam!  I did get a new set of pencil crayons for the year and here they are.

silly face

What was I thinking?  I don't photograph people and especially not when I have to make them look funny.  I guess I was trying to challenge myself again but again, I weaseled out of it.  I believe that a turkey has the silliest face on any farm.

This goat licking his lips is pretty silly too.

H

I went up to Hiawatha thinking that I could find two trees beside each other with a fallen tree or a branch crossing them forming an H.  Maybe I chose the wrong hiking trail for this because such a thing was nowhere to be seen.  I changed tactics and decided that an H formed by branches against the bright blue sky with green and a few orange leaves would be perfect.  That too, was difficult.  I found this and shot it quickly hoping for better later but better didn't come.

harvest

I am nothing if not dedicated to my sunrises.  On Friday (my day off!), I set my alarm for 6:00 so I could head out to Echo Bay farmland for sunrise.  Unfortunately there was not a single cloud in the sky so sunrise was rather boring but I enjoyed my drive, a cup of yummy tea and the audiobook I was listening to.  There isn't any actual harvesting going on here but it is a farm and I assume harvest has happened or will happen at some point.  Those bales of hay must have been harvested, right?

Here are a few photos from a trip to Farmer Bob's with Pam, Duncan and Danica Friday night.