eastern Georgian Bay

Just got back from a shoot on the east side of Georgian Bay, in the outer islands area of Georgian Bay Islands National Park. The islands were beautifully scuplted granite outcrops, litearlly covered with orange lichens (Xanthoria elegans). Some of the islands had shallow pools with tadpolls (see 4th photo down) and a few lily pads (last photo).

All these were taken with an EOS 1DSm2, 17-40mm lens and Singh-Ray warming circular polarizer LB.

Blue Iris

I was trudging around in my hip waders last night in a small lake near my house. It's hard to manage all the gear when you're knee deep in water and sinking in mud. I was holding a reflector and pressing my cable release with one hand, and holding the ND grad in front of the lens with the other. My goal was an image of Blue Iris in a larger habitat/landscape context.

EOS 1DSm2; 17-40mm lens; Singh-Ray 4x6" 3 stop hard edge ND grad.
5 second exposure at f16; ISO 200

results of Bruce Peninsula Wildflower Workshop

I'm finally catching up on sleep after a great weekend for my Bruce Peninsula wildflower workshop. The weather was idyllic and the flowers spectacular (or is it pestacular Julie?) especially the Yellow Lady's Slippers and Indian Paintbrush, which are the best I've seen in years. The participants were fantastic - both enthusiastic photographers and just plain fun. We laughed almost as much as we shot. Thanks Julie, Glenn, Tracy, Dennis, Brian, Renee, Kiang, Phil and Vicky for making the weekend a success. Extra special thanks to my co-leader Ian Brooks (http://www.ianbrooks.net/), better known as "Mr. Nikon".

I managed to get in a few shots when I could.... all taken with an EOS 1DSm2

Photo Info (from top to bottom):

1. Yellow Lady's Slippers; 17-40/4L lens and Singh-Ray thin warming circular polarizer LB

2. Striped Coralroot orchid; 70-200/2.8L with 25mm ext tube and full flash (off camera) with Gary Fong diffuser (the thing that looks like a salad bowl)

3. Maidenhair Spleenwort fern in rock crevice; 17-40/4L with Singh-Ray thin warming circular polarizer LB light diffused, and supplementary light bounced in with reflector

4. Catamaran sailing into Indian Head Cove, Bruce Peninsula National Park; 17-40/4L and Singh-Ray thin warming circular polarizer LB

The spring rush....

Sorry I haven't had time to post! This time of year is truly crazy for me, with so many things to photograph - breeding birds, wildflowers and landscapes with fresh green foliage.... a great dilemna!

This is one of the best years I've seen for Indian Paintbrush. There are amazing patches of them along the sides of the highway up here on the Bruce Peninsula. I find them to be one of the most photogenic flower species.

Hope you're having a great spring!
cheers,
Ethan-

More Pelee birds

I've been having an outstanding week shooting migrants in the Pelee area. I just got back from 3 magical days on Pelee Island, where I was treated to cooperative warblers and was amazed at how few birders or photographers were there (the solitude was fantastic!). Now I'm back at Point Pelee National Park, and have been spending long days stalking migrant songbirds, with pretty good success.
I have a ton of photos to show, but I need to sleep - after trekking approx 10km per day with my 600mm lens /bird gear, I'm beat!

Pelee birds

Hey everybody,
Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but this is prime photo season for me. I'm shooting in the Pelee area right now, and am having some of my best success ever with warblers....
More to come!

a digital 'right of passage'

When I shifted to digital capture a couple years ago, I hung onto a couple of my film bodies just in case a situation came up where I would need to use them. But I haven't used them - not once! So on Friday I went into Henry's camera store in downtown Toronto, with my two EOS 1N film bodies in hand. I think I'd originally paid around $1500 each when I bought them, but they're not worth much now. The market is flooded with people dumping their film bodies, and the folks at Henry's said they're having a hard time moving them. I traded the two bodies for an 80GB iPod worth $400.

This made me think about how much I like digital capture. It's so easy to experiment, to be able to check the results immediately and to adjust the composition or exposure to improve the shot. I've never been a technical photographer who memorizes f-stops and hyperfocal distances. I'm much more interested in the things I'm photographing, rather than the act of photography itself. So digital has been tremendously liberating for me over film.

There are many people out there still getting great results with film, and I would be just as crazy about photography if I was shooting film today. But I'm loving digital capture, and making the most of the technology. A fond farewell to my film bodies!

close to home

My backyard is a rugged boulder-strewn slope that ends at a wall of sheer cliff face. The Bruce Trail meanders along the top of the cliff and offers some great vistas of Colpoys Bay. Weary-eyed, I trekked up there this morning to catch the sunrise. Here are a couple of the shots.

more Smoky Mtns...

... and a few big landscapes from the Smoky Mtns. Most of these were shot with the Singh-Ray gold n blue polarizer and ND grads - my favorite landscape filter combo.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

A few shots from my brief trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee) over the past few days. The park far surpassed my expectations - and I can't wait to go back for some intense shooting!

online photo game (warning very addictive)

If you need a break from editing your photos, click on this link:

http://hk.promo.yahoo.com/movie/superman/Stop_Press_Game/

A perfect way to waste large quantities of time.
So far the best I can get is 143!
Have fun!

Cuba photos

I just got back from 7 days of shooting in Cuba, with a bit of sun and rum in the mix. Cuba is an incredibly photogenic country - with vibrant culture and color!

from snow to sand

I'm heading out the door for the airport, but thought I'd sneak in a few shots from yesterday. Had some fantastic light and ice conditions!

winter shoreline

I'm not a big fan of winter, so I escape whenever I can. Later this week I'm heading to the carribbean for 7 days of shooting and relaxing. It helps get me through the winter!

To make sure I fully appreciate the trip, I've been out shooting a fair bit in the snow. Here are a few from last night - it was frigid!

Singh-Ray gold/blue polarizer used to saturate the two snowshoe images.

icy shoreline

I went snowshoeing out to the Georgian Bay shoreline in Bruce Peninsula National Park this weekend with a group friends. The overcast skies broke with periods of beautiful light -
conditions were about as good as they get!

All photos with EOS 1Dsm2; EF 17-40; Singh-Ray circular polarizer.

Snowy landscapes

A couple shots I've taken this week....

both with EOS 1DSm2; EF 17-40mm lens; Singh-Ray warming circular polarizer
2-stop soft edge ND grad on the wind turbine shot