That’s the case with my Photography Blog. I just haven’t had the time to dedicate to it as I would like and have therefore made the decision to close the doors and take a vacation from it. I’m not going to give up on it though because who knows what the future holds.

I just don’t have the time to dedicate to it right now. I’m still taking photographs when I can but without the free time I just can’t fit in updates as often as I’d like.

Thanks to those who have taken the time to visit my blog and I do hope you’ll check in from time to time, just in case I open for business once again.

Mark

Just to try and catch up a bit, here are a few photos that I have taken over the summer and early autumn this year. Sorry I can elaborate on the photos as I normally would. Hope you like them.

A Red Fox Scratching an Itch

Feeding Time for a Monarch

Fencing Along The Beach at Sunset

A Storm Rolling Down Lake Ontario

I will try to do better and update when I can find the time. Thanks again for taking the time to visit my blog.

Having lived near this Canadian Forces Air Force Base all of my life I was quite used to hearing the different aircraft and identifying them by their sound before seeing them. I knew it was a tutor jet approaching and was most likely a member of the Canadian Forces Aerobatic Display Team known as the Snowbirds. I was correct.

I had only a few seconds to point my camera skyward and was fortunate that the aircraft went directly past my view of the moon. This was the resulting photo.

Despite the fact I had my camera with me, I was really just out for a drive and had no real plans to photograph anything in particular. As luck would have it, those plans quickly changed as I noticed some Mute Swans sitting on the ice in a marsh.

There were only a few small patches of open water and the swans seemed content to lounge about. This only lasted until another unwelcome swan ventured into their area. Then things got interesting as one of the original swans took offense to his presence and began chasing the newcomer. After a brief airborne chase they landed and started attacking each other.

I managed to get several photos of this battle which lasted about one minute. It was quite the site to see.

After the battle the winner returned to his mate and then took a quick dip in an open patch of water. It turned out to be a fun shoot with over 300 photos taken.

On many nights while camping in the park during the summer I would hear the odd owl and it’s familiar “hooting” call but I’d never actually seen one.

It was my first attempt to try and locate one and to be honest, I figured it would take at least three or four trips before it would produce results. I was wrong.

As you can see below, they blend into their surroundings rather well and it was sheer luck that I spotted this bird of prey resting on a tree branch.  The owl didn’t seem to mind my presence as I was able to get very close to him without scaring it off. I was there for about an hour watching him and he did little more than turn his head. Only once did he open his mouth briefly and I was lucky enough to capture it.

I actually did get some nice photos of the rushing water as the low light made it possible to open my shutter and use some longer shutter speeds. But as is often the case, the real find for the day happened by accident.

The rain had started and I didn’t feel like getting too wet so I called it quits and packed up my tripod and equipment and started the trek to my car. As I was crossing the damn I looked to the north along the river and noticed the distant hills were starting to disappear in the low cloud and mist.

Despite the rain, I knew I’d kick myself if I didn’t at least snap a few quick frames. I didn’t even have time to preview them and it wasn’t until I got home and had the files on my computer that I saw I’d had something pretty nice. It isn’t flashy but I think with the black and white treatment I produced a nice photograph. You can be the judge.

While stretching my legs after the drive I noticed a pair of swans floating in the calm waters of Brighton Bay close to shore. So I grabbed my Nikon and 300mm lens and snapped a few photos.

Aside from trying to capture a sharp image of the Mute Swans, I also tried to pay attention to the nice reflections coming off the water.

In the end, I managed to produce some images I felt were worth keeping.

I didn’t want to go to far and I knew of this church that was just out of town located on a hill. I always thought about photographing it but never got around to it…until this day.

On the way there I knew that capturing an image in my camera was only going to be the first part of producing an image I would be happy with. While it’s a nice old small church, it just didn’t do a lot for me. I knew I could probably produce something satisfying during the post processing.

So here is what I managed to create. I wanted to convey a dark almost haunting feel to it. I converted the photo to black and white and then worked on producing the right tone. I’m happy with the final result.

I was driving home one evening and wasn’t in any hurry so I decided to stop and set up my camera and tripod to see what I could capture. It was a cool September evening but it was clear with calm water conditions which I figured could produce some nice reflections.

The first photo was taken shortly after sunset and was a 30 second exposure that produce a beautiful blue tone to it.

The second photo was taken about 25 minutes later or so when it was much darker. The exposure lasted almost 5 minutes which allowed me to pick up the movement of an early star in the sky and the lights of passing traffic on the road to the right.

The problem has always been exposure. The moon is always too bright to allow for the proper exposure of the light reflecting off the water. The only way to get around this problem was to combine two separate photos into one.

I photographed the moon at one exposure setting and then took a separate photograph of the moonlight on the water. I combined the two photos to create this final product.

The second photo was taken two days earlier when the moon wasn’t quite as full and with it further in the sky but the process was the same.