Project 365 - Day 211 - Dulcius ex Asperis

Today I was intrigued by the skies over Milton so I went north to get an unobstructed shot of the skyline.  I stopped at a park on Dundas between Third Line and Bronte.  I got a couple of shots of the really cool skyline, and was looking around for other things to shoot.  Right in front of me was this perfect specimen of a thistle.

And atop this thistle was a bee.

You might think that this is not something to be excited about, but I was excited.  You see, the bee on top of a thistle is part of the Ferguson Clan crest.

So I took a few shots, and came up with this.  The only regret is that the bee is not looking at me ... :-)

This is what the crest looks like, sitting on top of the Ferguson tartan...

And, to top it off, I got a tattoo on my right arm of the crest in 2009.  

Project 365 - Day 210 - Brant Pier

Today I went to Spencer Smith Park in Burlington, specifically the newly opened Brant Pier.  It was a cool evening, but there were lots of people around - which usually means that it will be tough to get  a shot.

As I was a tourist in the area, I took some time to read the placards everywhere.  One caught my eye.  In October of 2012, seven kids from the Burlington area put their hands in the cement on the pier and signed one of the steel beams.  This is a shot of the handprints.

Once again, I was lying on my stomach in the middle of a crowded area taking a picture. 

Project 365 - Day 209 - Oakville Harbour

I went down to Oakville Harbour today.  It's such a nice day, I wanted to get some shots of the area.  The sky was blue and there were only a few clouds.

This is looking westward, towards the lighthouse that is a subject of many of my photographs.  The water was unbelievably clear, you can see the rocks along the shore line.

Project 365 - Day 208 - Spider in her web

Caught this little guy on the way in from walking the dog.  This is a really small spider in her web.  I used a mister to put some water droplets on the web and then set up the shot.  I had to move one of our patio chairs in behind the shot, as the door and garbage can were creating a mess in the background.

Shot with my 60mm macro.

Project 365 - Day 207 - Echinacea

One of the things I love about our house is the - ahem - eclectic gardening style we have taken on.  Basically, we buy flowers and shrubs that we like, plan them, and then run out of time to do anything about them throughout the season.... :-)

The echinacea and daisies are coming up now, and I had to grab this shot of a echinacea flower straining for light. 

Project 365 - Day 206 - Sailboats sleeping

Tonight's shot is sailboats at Oakville Harbour. 

This scene caught my eye as I was driving by.  This is shot with my 24-70mm lens at f/22 and 30s shutter.  ISO is 400 to keep the noise down with the long shutter.  f/22 makes the lights look like starbursts.  I especially like the reflections on the water of the sailboats in the middle of the pic.

Project 365 - Day 205 - Something different

... well not the subject, but the technique.

I have often been standing in my kitchen looking out our big bay window at the front at the way the light plays on the lilies in the garden.  It is very cool the way they are lit, and I have tried to capture it - but I can never get it right - or acceptable in my eyes.  So today, I decided to try something new and create something that looks a little more like what I see.

I grabbed the shot with my 24-70mm lens, shooting into the sun so that the lily was lit properly.  This had the effect of telling my camera that the shot was totally blown out and useless.  But bringing it into lightroom and cropping out most of the sun fixed that. 

Cropped for content, and adjusted the colour a bit.  I then dropped the clarity down a touch to soften it up. 

This is more like it, but still not completely satisfied.  The trouble is you don't have a lot of time to shoot when the sun gets to that point in the sky -- it sinks fast.

Project 365 - Day 204 - Fishing by the pier at night

Down at Bronte Pier again today.  I got this shot of a couple of guys fishing on the pier by moonlight.  I am not sure if they were catching anything, but the lighting was pretty cool.  It's hard to see your fishing gear in this light though, and the lighthouse doesn't really provide much light.

2 second shutter on my tripod.  24-70mm lens.

Project 365 - Day 203 - Molting Insect

I think this is a june bug.  It's some kind of beetle anyway (maybe Ringo Starr?)  :-)  This guy was clinging to the post of our carport this afternoon when I got home.  I lined him up with my macro lens and shot.  No extension tubes, but I do have a flash on the ground pointing up.  The shot was originally portrait, with the post upright, but it looks better in landscape orientation so I rotated it.

Project 365 - Day 202 - Hilton Falls at the Hilton Conservation Area

This afternoon I took a drive to Hilton Falls in the Hilton Conservation area.  It's a pretty easy hike up to the falls, 4 km there and back.  When you get to the falls, everyone is lined up with their cameras taking pictures with the falls in the background.  I, of course, went around the rock wall to get my own unique angle on the falls.

Off to the left in this picture is the water outlet from the old mill that used to be here.  Some of the rock wall is still there too from the old mill.  I wanted to get the whole scene in, so I used my 24-70mm lens at 24mm.

Project 365 - Day 201 - Fondant Daisies

... I guess they are a cross between Gerbera daisies and Brown Eyed Susans.  I know they were made by me, so I can basically call them what ever I want.  So these are the orange floodilaflops.

The floodilaflops are going on one of Sonia's creations.  She made cupcakes tonight that these will sit atop.  Although I did say that I made them, Sonia air brushed them and supervised the entire process - so basically it was a joint effort. 

Yes, they are edible - but I wouldn't eat them.  Fondant isn't that tasty ... :-)

Project 365 - Day 200 - Okay, who ticked off Mother Nature?

'cause she's mad. 

Big storm in Southern Ontario today.  I grabbed this shot on my way to pick up dinner in between the storms that we had.  This was taken about 8 pm-ish, when the sun was going down.  Trouble is, this is facing south-east, and anyone who knows anything knows that the sun sets in the west.

This is on the north service road in Oakville beside the QEW.  The colours were amazing in the sky tonight.  Kinda scary though ..  I did my fair share of storm chasing today :-)

Project 365 - Day 199 - Little Miss Muffet

I have always been intrigued by spider webs.  Today, I was trying to shoot one when I found it's owner still home.  I got a couple of shots of the spider and tried to make it turn over - it wanted to show me it's underbelly the entire time.  I got this one, and then the spider took off.

Project 365 - Day 198 - Gerbera Daisy

Today's shot is a macro shot of a Gerbera Daisy.  The daisy has a very intricate petal pattern that can be seen here.  It almost looks like the centre is coming out to eat the viewer ... venus flytrap anyone?

Project 365 - Day 197 - Pubescent Ducks

So, today I went down to Bronte Harbour again.  I like that place, and it usually provides some excellent photo opportunities.  Today was no different.

I was watching these mallards swim by.  They were mostly female mallards - or so I thought.  When I used my 70-200mm lens to zoom in, I found that a couple of them had mottled heads, and their green feathers were just starting to come in.  On a couple of them, it almost looked like acne.

You should have heard them quack, it's funny when a duck quack cracks like a 13 year old boy singing the national anthem ... :-) 

Project 365 - Day 196 - Old truck

One thing I really like about summer is all the old vehicles come out of storage.  As I am driving my wife's Dodge Caravan around looking for something to shoot, I enjoy passing the 1950-something Ford thing-a-ma-jig.  Sometimes I will tell Sonia what it is - as if I really have a clue.  Mostly it's 'NOICE!!"

Today, there was a 1940-something whatchamacallit that drove past me.  I dropped my shutter speed to 1/20th of a sec and panned and fired.  Bringing the photo into Lightroom and setting it to black and white really helps show the age of the car.  I also added some noise to simulate grain and vignetting as well - just a tad...

Project 365 - Day 195 - Flowers from the garden

Very busy day today.  It was Sonia's birthday - but I'm not gonna tell you which one.  Let's just say it was an anniversary of her 21st and leave it at that ... :-)

So there was a lot of stuff to do even though our friends and family took over the planning of the party and basically left Sonia with only little things to do.  Every time she tried to do something, someone would hand her a drink and take over.  It was cool to see Sonia actually relax and spend time with friends and family.  It didn't stop her from giving me things to do though... :-)

So the afternoon was spent grilling for our guests and then catching up with friends and family that we haven't seen for - oh let's say about a week or so.  That's the good thing about Summer, we make excuses to see everyone a lot.

After a couple of rousing games of catchphrase, it was time for everyone to go.   When we were cleaning up, Sonia reminded me of my shot.   So I grabbed my camera and headed outside.

Too cloudy for a moon shot, and everyone has seen a lot of those from me.  So I decided to shoot these flowers that are beside our front steps.

I shot these earlier in June before they bloomed.  Check it out here.  This shot is them in full bloom.  I still don't know what they are, and google seems so far away right now.  That's like 2 or 3 more clicks ... :-)

I used my flash for this shot with a piece of white paper banded to the flash to direct the light toward the flower.  It allows the flash to wrap around the flower, so you can see the petals in behind the ones in focus.  It is a pretty cool concept, one that I don't use a lot but really should.  It's a cheap light modifier, and it works great.

Project 365 - Day 194 - Dante

Today's shot is of our nephew Dante.  Dante is an old soul, he is a kid that loves to laugh and play, and loves to read and learn.  One minute he's playing soccer, and the next he is reading a book about a mouse on an adventure. 

Today was his birthday celebration.  He had his actual birthday last weekend while we were camping and we gave him his present at the Pinery.  Today he got his presents from his grandparents and godfather, and one of those was the book he is reading now.  As soon as he unwrapped all the presents, the parry was over and Dante started reading.

The thing I like about this shot is you can really see his character here.  He is reading this book about a mouse like it's war and peace or something - sheer concentration.

Project 365 - Day 193 - Lighthouse at Port Credit

Today's shot is from Port Credit in Mississauga.  There is a lighthouse there that always interested me, so I decided that I wanted to shoot it.  Night time seemed like an ideal time to shoot a lighthouse, although maybe an overcast day would have been better.

It took a while to get the shot right when the light was aiming towards me. 

I had to erase a light standard that was to the right of the lighthouse as it was displeasing to the eye...

Project 365 - Day 192 - Coronation Tree - Summer Shot

This is my summer shot of the tree in Coronation.  It's going to be part of a compilation shot that I am going to do in the fall when I get the fall shot.  Going to do various combinations to find the one that looks the best.

Project 365 - Day 191 - Hosta Flower

There was a torrential rain storm today, and after the rain the flowers in the front garden were all covered in drops of water.  So I grabbed my camera and started experimenting with the Macro lens and extension tubes. 

This is a flower off of a hosta in the front garden.  I got in close to show the stamen and the pollen.  I was dodging a really big honey bee - a very big camera shy honey bee to be exact - but I was able to get a couple of shots of this.

Shot with my 60mm lens on a tripod.  External flash behind to catch the right edge of the flower.

Project 365 - Day 190 - I hate these things

I realize that hate is a strong word.  I know it's one of God's creatures and all that, but I really can't stand the common house centipede.  When our cat Leo was alive, he would hunt down and eat these guys, making a sickly crunching sound as he mashed them up and swallowed.  Then he would look for more.  It actually made Brodie sick to his stomach - yes our dog has a weak stomach for that kind of thing ...

This guy was outside sitting on the van bench seat when I got home today.   I was trying to put this seat in the van, and he wouldn't move.  I didn't want to kill it, as he is outside and really not bothering me -just don't come inside - so I was trying to move him.  He wouldn't budge.  So I got my camera and took a couple of pictures.  Then I moved him, and searched the entire seat for more of his family or close relations.

Shot with my 24-70mm lens and heavily cropped ... :-)

Project 365 - Day 189 - Johnny Bower

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting a truly great person.  Johnny Bower was at the MLSE Team Up challenge, he was the honorary coach of one of the teams that participated that day.  This team actually drafted Johnny to coach for them.

Johnny is one of those guys who will show up any time anyone asks him.  He seems to truly enjoy giving back to the community.  He had a stack of autographed photos that he was handing out to the teams that played against his team.  What a great guy.I can't believe he can still sign his name the same way at 88 years old!

Part of the fundraising for the MLSE Team Up challenge was a silent auction.  One of the items was 5 signed pucks and a singed hockey stick, all by Maple Leaf allumni.  Sonia bid on it and won.  The intention is for us to raffle this off as part of another charity event that we are involved in.

But first, I wanted to capture the fact that I owned a hockey puck signed my "The China Wall" himself.

Project 365 - Day 188 - Grass

Today's shot is from Bronte Creek Provincial Park.  One of Sonia's cousins has a son that turned one and he had a family party at Bronte.  We had just come back from camping, and while walking to the party area, I noticed the way the grass was blowing in the breeze.  So I set up to take this shot and waited until the grass was still - which took a long time.

So this is what I came up with.  I am going to have to go back there, it is a really cool park...

24-70mm lens at 52mm.  ISO800 and 1/250s at f/5.6

Project 365 - Day 187 - Catterpillar

This guy was on the tent this am.  I didn't have my macro, so I grabbed this shot with my 24-70mm lens and then cropped down to this shot. 

Sorry for the brevity of the posts, but I am dealing with limited battery on my laptop and the wifi conn at the Pinery leaves a lot to be desired.  Well, back to the beach!!  :-)

Project 365 - Day 186 - Sunset on Lake Huron

Went to the beach for sunset yesterday.  There was a lot of cloud cover, but the lake was pretty smooth.  Grabbed this shot along with a bunch of others.  I am going to try and go back down again tonight.

This is yesterday's shot.

Project 365 - Day 185 - Camping with WIFI

We are at Pinery Provincial Park this weekend camping.  We left on Thursday am and I was just able to get to a wifi signal now. The camp store has a pretty good internet connection - very useful.  I still can't believe I am on the internet while camping.

This shot is from yesterday at dinner.  I grabbed this of the meat that we were grilling and the pita on top.  Pretty cool shot, but not really a lot of shooting going on with all the driving, unpacking, setting up tents and so forth.

Enjoy.

Project 365 on hold

To all my project 365 followers  due to some

technical difficulties. I will not be able to post for a

 couple of days

Project 365 - Day 184 - Orange Lillies

These lillies are going nuts in our front garden.  They are absoultely huge this year, the flowers are taller than me.  I had to get on a stool to get this shot.  They seem to have loved the wet cool spring this year.

This is shot using my 24-70mm lens at 48mm.  ISO is 400.  1/80s at f/5.6 

I wanted to capture the texture of the flower.  I love the way the ends of the petals look torn ...

Project 365 - Day 183 - National Pride

Half way through !! WOO HOO!

Went back down to Bronte harbour today.  Last night I noticed a lot of boats with flags, and thought that it would be a good shot.  This is what I came up with.

I took all the colours down except for the red. I had to eliminate some red that was distracting as well.  I spent about 20 min on this shot.

Cropped for content as well.

Nikon 24-70mm lens at 40mm.  ISO1000 and shutter was 1/400 at f/4.0

Project 365 - Day 182 - Happy Birthday Canada

July 1st, 2013.  Canada's 146th birthday and she doesn't look a day over 125.  How do you do it Canada?  :-)

We went down to Bronte Harbour tonight to catch the fireworks.  There was a big group of us, but I split off to go to one of my usual perches to capture the 'works unimpeded.  It was really tough today as there was a western wind off the lake that was taking the fireworks in that direction.  My first couple of shots were blurred because of this, and I was also having trouble with little feet kicking my tripod around on me.

I ended up with a few good shots - not as many as I would have liked but still good shots.  This one was one of the long exposure shots.

2sec shutter, f/13 and ISO400.  My 24-70mm lens at 32mm.  I cropped out some of the heads right in front of me, but you can see the people on the breakwall under the burst.

No colour correction as this was how it was shot and how it looked.