Solitude

We were at the cottage to 'close it up'.  We got up Saturday morning to snow (more slush than snow...).  Made for soggy work doing stuff outdoors.

My daughter went down to look at the lake.  It was quite the contrast - her dark coloured clothes against the white and grey of ground, water, leafless trees and sky.

It was a day of striking stillness and quietness.  No birds sang, people were indoors keeping warm and dry and the slushy snow seemed to absorb all sound.  It was so very, very quiet.

Times like this are rare:  Time to be still and quiet and alone.  Time to listen and reflect.  

We need times like this.

Whatzat(3)

Are you stumped yet?

MC (middle child) and I were out for a canoe (quite a rare event as MC is more into motor-driven watercraft) and he spotted something in the water.  I couldn't see it.  We paddled back and eventually found it again.  I think the only reason we saw it was because the sun was at just the right angle.

It was a log in the water - appearing to be perfectly vertical and right below the surface.  MC stuck his paddle in the water and had to put if right down under the water to touch it.  This meant it was about five feet below the surface.

We tried to take pictures of it, but that was tricky because the canoe is never perfectly still and, as mentioned, the sun had to be hitting this log just so.  The picture above was taken by sticking the camera right in the water and hoping for the best.

This was yet another example of the happy discoveries that can happen when you are WITH someone.

By the way - did you catch the pun in the first line?

Raft

A bunch of loons in one place is called "A Raft of Loons."  I didn't know that - I had to look it up (Nifty web site that lists what groups of animals are called)

It's rare to see loons congregate like this.  As I happened upon this scene, there was a family on shore taking in the site.  When there is an unusual gathering - others notice.  Often these unusual gatherings are of an unpleasant nature (riots, etc).    

I belong to a church - it would be great if when the Church gathers it get's noticed - but for all the right reasons.

'Shrooms!

Fall has been the best time (for me anyway) to find and photograph mushrooms.  All these pics were taken within a matter of minutes - these were just the ones I found as I casually walked around.  It is amazing that all of these fungi are just the visible part of a much larger organism that exists underground.  Their variety, fragility and briefness add to their appeal.  When I go back next time - these won't be there.  As with many things, we need to be very intentional to enjoy and appreciate that which we 'stumble upon'.

Vivid

What a wonderful fall morning for a kayak!  The sun was just coming over the trees on the eastern shore, the sky was blue like only the sky can be, the water was blue like water should be, and the kayak, well, it was red!  The air was crisp, the sun was warm and so very bright.  It was one of those times when creation seems to be crying out: "Alive!"  What a privilege to be in the middle of it.

Focus

 

In the image above I am attempting a macro shot of a water drop on a flower petal.  To do this I use the setup shown in the photo at the bottom (more explanation there).  Doing this type of photography requires a great deal of patience - which I don't necessarily have yet. 

 

The photo below is the same water drop but with the focal point adjusted ever so slightly. 

 

The photo above focuses (more or less...) on the far shore of the lake - the photo below on the trees on our property (more or less...).

 

What's the point here?  Well, the obvious point is water drop photography is cool!  But beyond that, it shows what a difference in outlook a very slight shift in focus can achieve.  Life's like that too, isn't it?

 

 



Here's my macro setup.  At the front of the lens is a Raynox macro adapter. Behind that 70-300 zoom.  Between the tripod and camera is a 'macro rail.'  With this type of macro setup you don't focus the lens, rather you use the macro rail to move the whole rig fore and aft to achieve focus.  For the pictures above the front of the lens was about 2" from the water drop and I changed the focus within the water drop by adjusting the rail by about 1/16 of a turn of the little adjusting knob which moves the camera by about 1mm.  My setup is on the low end of the budget for these types of things - but it works (more or less!).

Black

I've never seen black mushrooms like this.  There were a bunch of them in one spot.  Tried to find out what the name is - searched my mushroom book (yes, I have one...) and online - nothing.  Does not knowing it's name or details about it diminish my enjoyment of it - nope, not at all!  I realized that I actually have never bothered to look up the names of the mushrooms that I find and photograph.  It has never entered my mind that I had to know their details in order to enjoy them.  Perhaps I need to have that attitude about other things in life - stop analyzing and trying to understand - just enjoy. 

Family

Fabulous weekend at the cottage with the family.  But that's not what this post is about (or maybe it is...).  Watch the video below - but don't read what follows (I know this is a PHOTOGRAPHY blog - but this video is way cool...)

Sorry for the poor quality - had to downsize for this site.

At first I thought the larger fish was eating the little fish - it looked like a feeding frenzy!  But after a while of watching, it became obvious that the big fish wasn't eating the little fish - she was protecting them - from me!  Heather looked up 'cat fish' in our cottage reference book and saw that this behaviour is normal for this breed of catfish.  They will hover around the brood and protect them - vigorously if needed.

During the course of the weekend I encountered a couple other examples of close knit families.  Here are a couple other pictures.

OK - without sounding too proud of myself - this may be my favourite picture I've ever taken.  Hannah, Grandpa and me were out in the boat taking a little travelled route behind a couple of islands.  The water is VERY shallow and we were going very slow.  Because of our slow speed I saw this Momma Loon with her two little ones.  We sneaked close and Momma, while keeping a very close eye on us, let me take a bunch of photos.  After a while she had enough and moved quickly away while letting out several loud calls.  Grandpa wondered is she was calling Dad for help!  What a way cool experience.

Here we have another happy family!  A Merganser family.  They were happily fishing until I came around in the kayak.  Then, Momma decided to move them away.  Slowly at first, but then the young ones grew uncomfortable with my presence and started doing a very cute run/flap/swim.  They made it across to the shore of an island and then happily continued their fishing.

Together (times three...)

Talk about a near perfect day!  On Sunday June 30 (right before Canada Day) I got to spend time with each of my kids doing something special with each at the cottage.

Zac and I went for a canoe trip from the cottage to Norland (about 10 km).  The winds were behind us and the current carried us wonderfully!  Along the way we spotted lots of cool stuff - including this Heron.  Our trip ended with a great lunch at the Riverside Inn in Norland (Fish and Chips - yummy!).

In the afternoon Hannah and I went out on the pontoon boat for a casual cruise.  Along the way we encountered this loon who was preening himself in between fishing dives.  I let Hannah gingerly pilot the boat closer to the loon while I frantically snapped pictures (like Humming Birds and mushrooms - I never tire of taking pictures of Loons).  

After a delicious meal of Ribs and Wings (and Grandpa's coleslaw), Joel and I set up for the evening finale!  Joel is big fan of things that go boom and I was a very willing assistant.  The picture does not do justice to the fun we had lighting up the night sky.

Af the end of a day like this it is impossible to not feel very blessed.  Not only do I have amazing kids - but they actually seem to enjoy doing stuff with their old man.

Travels (Travails?)

Austin, TX

Austin, TX

Austin, TX

Between LA and Bakersfield, CA (shamelessly showing that we had a Mercedes Rental car!)

Phoenix, AZ ("Hole in the Rock" front side)

Phoenix, AZ ("Hole in the Rock" back side)

Over the last several months I have had to travel for business.  I haven't done that for quite a while and certainly not this frequently.  To be honest, I don't travel well - I miss my family and my 'space' and my routines.  Having said that, there certainly are some great aspects to it.  I have gotten to see some new places, meet some great people, eat some good food - and take some photos!  I've posted some of these pictures on Facebook, so sorry for the repetition.

Monochrome

This picture looks like it had the 'monochrome' effect added to it - it didn't.  It's a panorama picture taken at Beacon Bible Camp (the men from our church had a retreat there).  On the far right of the picture is the corner of "Uncle Charley's Cabin".  This modest cabin belonged to the man who founded Beacon Bible Camp and donated the land (400 acres!) for the camp.

This scene is really beautiful - both the beautiful simplicity of the monochromatic imagery and the beautiful simplicity of a very generous man.

Eyelashes

If you zoom in you will see that hummingbirds have eyelashes!  Who would have known.  I love these happy discoveries.  This picture (and about 15 others) were taken from inside the cottage through a fairly dirty window.  Very surprising how sharp this picture turned out.  Yet another example of the serendipitous joys of photography!