Rose Fantasy.....

This image tonight is just something that I came up with, as my meanderings online lately have just about driven me around the bend, as they say. So, I spent a few minutes playing with this rose that I had photographed last Summer. It helps me make the world go away for a while. It has occurred to me that maybe the reason that I turn a lot of my images into something a bit unreal, is that nothing seems real anymore, so if I must deal with the unreal, then maybe I will call the shot on what some of the ordinary things of life might be transformed into. It helps to keep me in a positive frame of mind these days....but then again, it may suggest other things that are better left to the gods of time to sort out.  It is what it is, and I am happy with that...Cheers!
 

Autumn Colours, Outside My Window

It appears that November is about to become history in a few days from now, and tonight I thought I should make at least one posting on here before it passes, and we will be into December. Time passes so quickly anymore it seems. Anyway, this colourful little scene is just Autumn through my front window. In the transition from a straight picture to this somewhat impressionist rendition, the roadway changed appearance, and now appears to be a stream running by, an effect that I find a somewhat pleasant surprise. Yesterday, I set up my little bird feeder station, and hopefully I will be able to improve on my bird images this year. It will be fun to see what transpires over the next few months when they return.  There is just one negative for me in my setup....last Winter, while I was focusing wide open on a lovely Redheaded Woodpecker, I did not realize that the lady who lives directly behind me had been outside, and it appears that she thought I was taking photos of her, as she went inside and slammed the door. She has not spoken to me since....such are the joys of living in the city where so many folks are so "triggered" anymore. A few years ago, I got called out at a little league baseball game that my grandson was playing in, and my son was one of the coaches for his team. It seems that when an old guy shows up with his camera and telephoto lenses, that he is up to no good these days, but it is alright for everyone else to be shooting every moment with their cell phones. It makes one want to head for the deep woods, away from everyone.  But then, on the other hand, the bad guys seem to be getting away with a lot these days. So you can't really blame folks for being hyper vigilant I guess. It is for that reason that my photography is usually about things that is close by to me, and even then things can go a little sideways sometimes. Cheers! 

Minimalist Rose, Colour Version.....

This colour version is unedited except for a small black border and my copyright signature. It is pretty much straight from the camera, and I am sure my better half would have much more preferred this one to the image below that I had "messed" with. Personally, I enjoy both versions of this image about the same, and it was a fun experiment. Have a good one and I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving weekend.....Cheers!

Minimalist Rose.....

My photographic excursion took me as far as my back deck today. This lovely climbing rose was at the top of the trellis I had built for it, and was back lit by the Autumn sun, so I took a couple of shots with my 70 ~ 300 mm lens. The colours were lovely, but what really struck me was the minimalist composition, and I thought that something unusual could be made from this. After an hour or so of messing with it, this version emerged, and I quite liked the simplicity of it. Of course, this is taking the saying that sometimes colour gets in the way, to the extreme. The colour version will likely appear on here later on, but I thought a few of you might enjoy this mono version.....have a nice day. Cheers!

September's Rose Abstract.....

This is the last day of September....where did Summer go? So, I thought that since there are still a few roses blooming in our back yard, I would leave you with this little image of a rose that I recently shot. The background effects filters are of my own contrivance, and while it may not be to everyone's taste, I enjoy sharing it with anyone else who may want give it a peek. October starts tomorrow, and I am happy to be here to enjoy whatever it may bring....Cheers! 
 

Contemplation.....

 Maybe I'm getting a little daft in my old age, but it seems to be so very tiring being constantly bombarded with the madness and mayhem that the MSM is constantly pumping out. Tonight, when dusk descended, and my string of solar lights came on to provide a soft glow on my back deck, I decided to take it a bit further, and lit a candle beside the little fountain beside my chair. There is nothing so relaxing as a cup of tea while listening to the sound of water flowing in the soft glow of a candle. It helps the mind drift away, and reflect on the good fortunes in ones life.....and being thankful for them. After a bit, I decided to record the moment, and went for my camera. The image was shot in colour, but after playing with it in Photoshop, and Corel, I decided I preferred the Black & White version. Soon, I will be developing my Ilford Black & White film in the old traditional way...the darkroom. I have 2 rolls soon to be processed. It should be interesting to learn how much I have forgotten, since my switch to digital a couple of decades ago. My images in colour will be done digitally, and my Black & White will be done in the old traditional analog way....the darkroom....now if I can find a late evening Classical Music station on the old radio, it will be a return to the past, which I remember enjoying very much. Who knows, it just might make me want to stay on this old planet for a while longer after all..... hope you enjoy. Cheers! 

Hosta Blossoms.....

A short walk in our back yard today provided this lovely white Hosta blossom. The hot humid weather finally broke yesterday, and it is nice to be able to sit out and enjoy a coffee on the back deck again. The roses and other flowering plants have struggled in the heat this Summer, and they seem to be responding to the more moderate temperatures now. For the last several weeks, the temperatures have been up in the high 30's with the humidex up in the 40's, and I call that melanoma weather, so I stay close by an A/C when it gets like that. Anyway, it was fun to be able to stay outside for more than a few minutes today, as it makes it more pleasant to be doing a few things. Hope you enjoy this little image....Cheers! 
 

Monarch on Flowers....

This newly born Monarch apparently emerged from its chrysalis with a malformed left wing, and did not fly merrily away when it gained its freedom. A neighbour of ours nurtures these lovely creatures from the egg stage, right up until she releases them to great blue sky, and hopefully will eventually find their way to Mexico when they migrate at the end of Summer. She presented me with this Monarch clinging to the bouquet of flowers from her garden, and told me to get my camera for a picture while it was still alive. So I immediately grabbed my piece of black velvet, and draped it over the towel rod in the kitchen beside a North window. The lighting is a combination of natural ambient light from the window, and my flash bounced straight up off off the ceiling. This made for very flat lighting, but very rich none the less. Later, I took it outside and watched it trying to fly away, but was having a lot of difficulty doing so. A little while later, I looked out of the window, and it was gone. I have no idea if it actually succeeded in flying, or if a bird had it for dinner. At any rate, even though it was not a perfect specimen, it still looked quite lovely sitting among the flowers in the vase. Why do I bother shooting this kind of thing? It takes me away from the concerns of the world for a few minutes of enjoyment....hope you enjoy it a little also....Cheers!

 

This little illustration was one I shot this afternoon in our back yard. It was blistering hot, and with the humidity, it had to be over 40C, and my lenses on my cameras both fogged up so badly, I was only able to shoot for about 5 minutes max. Now that I am feeling somewhat more energetic, I would like to be able to get outside a little more, but this is real heat stroke weather right now. Thankfully it will be a bit cooler next week. It would be nice to go for a little walk down by the Detroit River, and take in the scenes around Coventry Gardens, which is about 4 or 5 blocks away from our place.....until next time, have a good one. Cheers!
 

It was approximately 2 or so years ago that I was experimenting with doing some table top still life with my medium format Mamiya RB67 SLR camera. The lens was likely the 90mm, and tonight I thought I would give it a go on the Epson V550 Photo film scanner, to see what the outcome might be. My experience using the scanner for black & White film processing is minimal to say the least, but everyone else seems to be having a fair amount of success with this procedure, or work flow, as they say nowadays. It will take a bit of getting use to, and I may even try my hand at making a digital print of some negative that I would happen to like. This image is of a white Datura plant, also known as the Devil's Trumpet flower, so I thought the inclusion of a little gargoyle that I had laying about, might add a bit of a sinister touch. At any rate, it was a lot of fun, and I hope some might get a bit of enjoyment from it also. Cheers! 
 

Recently, I have been contemplating going back to my first photographic love, and shooting black and white film again. It finally got the better of me, and after digging out my old Minolta Maxxum 9, 800si, and XE7 film bodies, which have been stored for some 20 years now, they all seem to be working perfectly after replacing the batteries. So I bought some film and processing chemicals, and it is back to the peace and quiet of the darkroom again for me. It is like trying on an old pair of slippers, or jacket that used to be a favourite for many years. Why would I do this you might ask? Well, let me see, no more checking the white balance, no more looking through an electric view finder. The optical view finders of the above cameras are just super. The tactile experience of loading a roll of film into a camera body, and being very deliberate to pay attention to the quality and direction of the lighting, makes one feel like they are actually in control of the process, and not some built in computer that insists on doing things its way. The only controls you need to worry about, aside from the ASA or ISO of the film, is the aperture and the shutter speeds needed for a decent exposure. The rest is all darkroom magic. No more special effects filters, or special effects modes built into the camera. Just find a pleasing image, determine the exposure, and go click, make a nice simple image in black and white. This image that I am posting tonight was one that I shot about 40 years ago on a visit to Florida, and it was shot with probably an old Minolta SRT101, and 28mm lens. Since I do not have my darkroom set up yet, I scanned the Ilford FP5 negative on my Epson V550 Photo scanner, and added a little sepia in Photo Shop Elements. So I ask myself....in 40 years from now, will any of my digital images still be useable? I certainly won't be making any images of them, and I doubt anyone else will care to either.....let me see, that would make me 119 years old...LOL! Anyway, for what it is worth, I am looking forward to putting some fun back into photography again. Stay tuned....Cheers! 

Happy Canada Day!!!

The last two months have been very trying to say the least, and it has now been 2 weeks exactly since I finished my radiation treatments. Hopefully they did the intended job, but I will not know the level of success for a few months yet, after a few follow up consults with my Oncologist. As a result, I am happy today to be back to posting again, and hoping things will return to normal soon. This little image is a celebration of these recent personal events, and also to show my appreciation for this country that I am fortunate enough to live in. Yes, there are forces at work that wish to trash our history and indoctrinate the masses with mixed messages, etc., but what goes around, comes around, and I have every faith that Karma will make her rounds in her own good time. We get back what we give out, and it is my wish to add a little quiet beauty to this old world, even though most of what I post on here is likely not viewed by many, and will be of no significant consequence in the over all scheme of things. For those who do view my blog, thank you for checking in. The future is very uncertain for a lot of folks, and about the only thing that I can say about that is that there is a lot to be said for living in the now. Be engaged in what makes the soul satisfied and share it with others.....Cheers! Happy Canada Day! 

P.S: Camera ~ Sony a900 DSLR

       Lens ~ Minolta 85mm, f1.4 @ f11 for 1/3 sec

       Lighting ~ 2 Aputure Light Storm Mini 20C LED lights at 5500 K

       Photo Editing Software ~ Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo

 

Early Morning Light.....

This little image was shot while I was sitting on my sofa enjoying my usual earling morning beverage. It was shot through our front window, and across the street at a neighbors house. It is all about the lighting, which seems to back light the white grasses, and wrap itself around to provide light to the foreground as well. The tree on the right, and the brick and siding give the scene a bit of a graphic element, and the foreground shrubs a little bit of texture.....Photography is all about the lighting....enjoy it wherever you happen to find it. Cheers! 
 

Bay Roberts, NFLD.....

Due to circumstantial machinations beyond my control, I have not posted much in the past while. It is what it is, and hopefully there are a few folks that still take a peek at this little blog from time to time. Tonight, with one eye on the hockey game, I got rummaging about in some of my old images from a trip to Newfoundland back in 2015. Needless to say, much has changed in the world and personally since then, and I have no idea when or if I will be able to make it back "home" again anytime soon. This image was taken in Bay Roberts, when I strayed off of the main road, and down a little country laneway. It was originally shot in colour of course, but I like this Black & White rendition very much. Earlier this evening, I had played with it in Corel Painter Essentials software, and gave it a more painterly treatment, but a straight up conversion to Black & White is more to my liking.....hope you find it enjoyable as well. Cheers! 
 

Pink Orchids.....

Today was a bit of a slow day, and I decided to try my hand at taking a picture of these lovely Orchids. The lighting was provided by the little pop up on camera flash triggering 2 wireless remote flashes which provided the back lighting. The background was originally a bouquet of Carnations, that provided the colours that I wanted to turn into a somewhat abstract backdrop for the Orchids. Since I have no particular "formula" for making these different abstract backgrounds, and never do the same thing twice, the resulting images are pretty much a one of, and I could not duplicate them again if I tried. They are for my own amusement, and if anyone else enjoys them, so much the better.....Cheers!
 

Rustic Beauty.....

It is colder than forecast today, so I got digging about in some of my old images, and decided to work a little on this one. It was originally shot as a horizontal, but with a bit of cropping, I turned it into a vertical format, which I find more pleasing. It is just a very simple image that I found out in Essex County somewhere, and it got passed over many times when I was working on other things. The rusty metal background makes a nice contrast of colours and textures for the purple blossoms. With the times changing tonight, and we move the clock ahead an hour, it stirs a bit of hope that soon we will be able to shrug off memories of being stuck in the house for weeks on end, and get out to take photos of the many flowers about the neighborhood. Hurry up Spring.....Cheers!
 

A Bouquet for Frank.....

It is with an extremely heavy heart that I post this image today. My best friend, Frank, passed away last Sunday afternoon. He went for his usual afternoon nap....and never awakened afterwards. With his passing, and everything else that is transpiring in my country right now, the world feels a very bleak place. So...I am posting this little still life bouquet for Frank. You were a really great friend, and had such a positive impact on everyone around you. Your family always came first above everything else....may your eternal rest be peaceful, and you will be missed....big time....

 

Female Cardinal on a Snowy Day.....

This afternoon, I was on my way outside to shovel some very heavy wet snow that had fallen, but got sidetracked when I looked out the window, and our Roses of Sharon bushes beside the deck was full of birds. The camera was near by, so I spent about 20 minutes or so, taking a few photos of them. This lovely Female Cardinal was only about 10 feet away from me, and it was too bad that it was such an overcast day, with very poor lighting. When I downloaded the file, I was able to punch it up a little with my Affinity and Corel photo editing software, so that it became somewhat acceptable. Anyway, it gave me a lot of enjoyment and a really nice diversion from all of the political chaos that this country has descended into in recently. Hope you enjoy....Cheers! 
 

Sparrow.....

This little Sparrow was one of many at the feeders today, and while the Woodpeckers, Cardinals, Wrens and Chickadees etc., seem to be more noticeable, it got close enough for me to grab a shot before it flitted off again. It is a very enjoyable pass time to sit and watch them all vie for their turn at the feeder, and they very often turn on each other. So far, we have had very few Blue Jays join the banquet. Maybe I need to change the feed a bit, but from what I could tell, they appear to be very aggressive, and want to take over. So maybe I will leave things as they are. There are so many types of Sparrows, and I tried looking this little one up, but couldn't find anything to match its markings.....If I should happen to be able to identify it, I will update this post....Cheers! 
 

Carolina Wren.....

Earlier today, we got a couple of inches of snow, and until then, the ground had been green, since the last snowfall had melted off a couple of weeks ago. So it was very enjoyable to be able to get outside and spend an hour or so, clearing the snow away, and enjoying the sunshine, and -2C temperatures. Then to add a little bit more enjoyment, this little Carolina Wren (I think) showed up at the feeder, and hung around long enough for me to grab a couple of shots of it. I looked up the Wren category in the Peterson Field Guide to The Birds, and as far as I can tell, this little one is at the most Northern end of its range. It winter's over within its range, and it seems that Windsor is included in that. So I am quite delighted that it stopped by for a while today. Hope you enjoy also.....Cheers!
 

Male Downy Abstract.....

This little Male Downy Woodpecker made quite a few visits to our feeder today, and I chose this image to make into an abstract of sorts, because I liked the pose and composition. It gives me a lot of enjoyment to spend a couple of hours concentrating on this image, and tuning out the world, and all of the current noise that makes TV viewing unbearable. The more I think on it, the more I realize how very fortunate I am that at a time when the world seems to be coming unglued on so many levels, I have something much more enjoyable to "focus" on....pardon the pun. Sometimes, when photographing birds, they jump about without warning, and as a result, the captured image is not as sharp as you would like it to be, but just sharp enough to not delete from the files. So what to do.....well, it is sharp enough to turn it into something that looks a bit abstract, and a departure from the norm...for me it is a happy recovery and use of an otherwise discarded image.....Hope you enjoy. Cheers!
 

Female Downy Woodpecker "Sketch".....

Yet another picture, or "sketch" dare I say, of this little female Downy Woodpecker that has found the suet block much to her liking, as she stops by on a regular basis to feed. This image was taken today, and instead of posting as a regular photo, I decided that it might be interesting to see how it would look as a sketch or something resembling a drawing of sorts. If I had the talent that my granddaughter has, I would be able to sit down with a pencil and pad, and in a matter of minutes, come up with something far superior to this software rendering. But, alas, I am no artist, and must rely on my photo toys to make my pictures. Her pencil drawings look every bit as real as if it were done with a camera, and that totally baffles me no end. She can copy something from a photograph, or conjure up a fantasy piece from her head, that just blows me away. Hope you get a little enjoyment from my software fumbling....Cheers!

Redpoll at Breakfast.....

The first thing I do when I stumble out of bed in the morning, is check the feeders outside the kitchen window. This day, I was happy to find this little Redpoll enjoying what I had set out for it. So, I grabbed the camera and fired off this shot of it, and while it is not considered by some to be a true or pure "nature" shot, because it shows the "hand of man", that is of little concern to me. What does it matter if it is perched on a twig, or on this perch, it is still a beautiful bird, and no less enjoyable to my eye. It is wonderful when "nature" comes to you, when you are not able due to circumstances, to go to it.... Hope you enjoy it a little also.... Cheers!
 

Female Cardinal Abstract.....

This image was originally a little more grainy than I am usually used to, and there was a fair bit of "clutter" in the background as well. So, what to do....I decided that since I liked the pose, I would replace the background with clutter of my own design, which I have quite a few samples of now. Then I added a poster edges filter, and it took on a somewhat abstract look which I sort of enjoy....It is what it is, and it is time to go to bed.....Cheers!
 

Male Downy Woodpecker.....

 Today, I decided to try a little enhancement to the bird feeder, by attaching a couple of branches from a couple of bushes in our back yard, to the pole the feeders were hanging from. The idea was to maybe exclude the metal cages etc. from the pictures that I would like to take. This is my first try, and I think it almost did the trick. There is a fair bit of building "clutter" in the background, and the bokeh of the lens I use for these shots almost eliminates things that are distracting. However, I have to pick and choose what angles to shoot from, to keep it down to a dull roar, so to speak. Anyway, for a first effort, I will be happy with this one, admitting of course, that I am about the laziest of all nature photographers that you might find....but it is nice to shoot bird pictures while having my afternoon coffee, I must admit....Cheers! 

Oak Leaves & Geometrics Illustration.....

This image was taken through our front window while I was enjoying my morning "cuppa". Lately, I have been trying to make something out of apparent nothingness, just to give myself a little challenge of sorts. It keeps the mind off of things, and too occupied to be bothered with all the blather on the various news outlets....I no longer have time for all the gloom and doom narrative, and subliminal social engineering, they constantly spew out. For me, it is more important to be occupied with the simple beauty of very ordinary things, and to sometimes grab a shot or two just to try to make something that I can enjoy....hope you do also. Cheers!
 

Happy New Year!

Well, here we go again....another year ahead of us, to hopefully see an improvement in the general situation of the country, and the world in general. Anyway, I thought I would kick things off with this little image of a Female Downy woodpecker at the suet block....at least that is what I think it is. I am no birder, but when I looked it up online, it looked very much like the pictures that appeared. The Downy and the Hairy are very similar in appearance, and I think the Hairy has a little longer bill. This was taken just outside our kitchen window, and I have been keeping my camera with a 70 - 300 mm zoom lens, on the kitchen table for when the birds show up. Today, we were visited by a Redpoll , and it stayed only for a few seconds, and was gone again before I could grab a shot. Maybe one day I will be able to get out into the country side and try my luck in the real world.....Cheers, and Happy New Year everyone....

P.S. Camera: SONY a77Mk2

       Lens: SONY 70-300mm SSM-G

                                                                       Exposure: ISO 3200, f5.6 for 1/640 second, handheld,                                                                                                    through kitchen window @ 300 mm. (450 mm)