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more clouds and water…
these photos were taken on different days, but you will be able tell that from looking at the sky…
The Chief Commanda Restaurant
The Chief Commanda ll on its way back to the dock…this was de-colorized slightly
this next one I originally took because I wanted a shot of the duck, but I ended up liking the reflections and movement in the water…
a different perspective…
usually I go down to the waterfront to take photos, but today I was driving by from one street over and decided to walk to the top of a berm that is in front of this area to see if I could capture a different perspective of this particular spot…
buzzing around!
I was at the waterfront the other day and came upon this pretty pink flowered bush…I’m not up on my flowers so I don’t know what it is called…but the closer I got the more Bees I noticed…so I tried to get a few shots. I have to say these fellows don’t stay in on position for more than a couple of seconds, it was very difficult to get photos…I’m sure the people walking by where wondering what I was doing? these are three different Bees at three different bushes…in case you were wondering!
angry clouds…
I have to admit I’ve a major weakness for dark, moody, angry looking clouds…I don’t want any storm to accompany them, I only want to watch the clouds. I stopped along the waterfront earlier today as we had such clouds rolling around in the sky, no storm, just fabulous clouds! It is amazing to watch them change before your very eyes…mesmerizing! I’ve not done anything to these photos…this is how the clouds looked…I may try HDR, on these photos another day… for for now this is it.
when I see the lake this calm with clouds like this I always think, “the calm before the storm” I’ll let you know…
more…
another shot of Cincinnati as we are driving through…I not sure why there were so many usable shots going through Cincinnati, but I’m happy there are! I liked this one with the trains against the skyline…
This one is gong through Atlanta…I don’t have much that is usable as there are so many over passes going through downtown Atlanta…this isn’t great either but thought the skyline through the underpass was a different perspective…
churches…
A few weeks ago it was a gorgeous sunny day, after a meeting I decided to walk around to see what might catch my eye…churches…the first one I’ve shown a couple of shots of before…Pro Cathedral of the Assumption…this is a beautiful, older, stately church, but I’ve not figured out how to show it at its best yet…
Holy Name of Jesus…another stately church, the stone work is amazing!
this last one is St. Andrews, it is smaller, and not as old as the other two…I tried to clone out the wire going across the photo, but the sky is so strange I spent a great deal of time on it but it never looked right, there was always a line, all be it blue, across the sky. I thought it look better with the wire as is…
simplicity!
clouds are a favorite thing of mine…especially when they are heavy and moody!
Cocoa Beach
different night, but same location, Cocoa Beach.
Jellico Mountain, Tennessee
Cincinnati on the fly…
here are a few more photos of my drive home from Florida in March of this year…again all were taken from the passenger window as we drove…this is leaving Kentucky,heading into Cincinnati Ohio…towards the Brent Spence Bridge…I cropped out all the vehicles ahead of us not sure it was a good idea?
the photos above and blow are of the same area, but the top was a different angle & cropped …
I’ve always wondered about these skinny houses in Cincinnati and why they were built this way…this is the first shot I’ve been able to do anything with…I’ve searched the internet but couldn’t find any info on the skinny houses…if anyone can tell me where I can read the history on these houses let me know…
drive bys….
When driving to and from Florida I would snap shots along I75…most are terrible, but everyone so often I see one that has merit, with a little help of course. These were taken this past March on the way home in Kentucky…
this one from a distance looks like the moss you see in Florida…not sure if it is though…it is a bit blurry, but thought it was interesting none the less.
If you have visited before you will know I’ve a thing for gnarly trees, especially on their own…
water day…
I’ve not had a chance to get out and take new shots so for today, two of the photos will be ones I took two Saturdays ago, the other one is from Cocoa Beach that I took this winter…I love the water so never get tired of see or taking water photos! I wanted the whole pier so had to stand way back then crop the photo to bring it in…not thrilled with it though.
the pier at Cocoa Beach…only visited for a few days but enjoyed it…on the pier I think there are 4 restaurants…only visited one but enjoyed the food and music!
this is another part of the waterfront here, if you look closely you can see the Chief Commanda I, restaurant in the background.
and of course Chief Commanda II, from a different angle…
CF 100 “Canuck”
“The CF 100 “Canuck” was conceived to meet the demanding requirements of defending a country as vast as Canada. It was a two place, all weather, long range, high altitude interceptor, built in Canada. It first flew on January 19th 1950, and the first were delivered to the RCAF operational training unit North Bay in July 1952. There were 9 SODNS based in Canada, 4 based in Europe and 3 based in Belgium. A total of 692 CF100’s were built”. The above excerpt was taken directly from a third plaque attached to the base of this aircraft…I wasn’t able to get a descent photo due to glare…this aircraft is in Lee Park, North Bay. We have had a military presence in the way of a base since 1951.
pretty pink tulips
on Saturday after the Market I took a few more photos besides the Chief Commanda II…some of them were of the lovely tulips along the water front. It was a warm sunny day on Saturday, since then the warmth and sun have been simply a memory…as we get further into summer here I’m hoping to be able to take more shots of flowers…I don’t have any in my yard right now as the landscaping is being done…I don’t have much of a green thumb so it will be simple, with flowers that grow like weeds!
her replacement!
yesterday after the Market I went down to the waterfront hoping to get a couple of shots of the Chief Commanda II. I got much more, but that is for another day…today here are shots of the grand old lady’s replacement. Info regarding the Chief Commanda II can be found here… http://georgianbaycruise.com/index.php?page=home
busy few days…
I’ve not been around the last day or so as I’ve been very busy…may not be around much until Sunday. The first photo is of Cincinnati on my way home from Florida this year, taken from the passenger side window…the architecture of the old Cincinnati narrow buildings fascinates me but I don’t think I got a photo that is descent, so I’ll show this…
the next two are the Gardner Expressway in Toronto, of course from the vehicle…the first is sepia…the other black & white…cropped differently.
a grand old lady!
this grand old lady, the Chief Commanda, once took passengers on cruises of Lake Nipissing and the French River from 1947 to 1974. The original ship was named after Raymond Commanda, the local chief who drowned in the French River in 1944, three years before the Chief Commanda 1 was launched. This location is at the Government Dock, and is now a restaurant in the summers months. Once the Chief Commanda 11 is launched I will take a few photos to post…in order they are black & white, color and sepia all have adjustments to them…
one of each…
I must say, I”m liking the black & white more and more, maybe because I’m finding photos that work? This ship is at Key West…near Fort Zachary Park…for the last few years there was an older Naval vessel docked there, one that was used as a museum… this year the Coast Guard claimed the spot.
There you have it, black & white, sepia, and the original…I’m actually liking the sepia that has been desaturated slightly.
to sepia or not to sepia?
here is a not so great photo(in color) of the sunset at Key West…I’ve done it in black & white then tried sepia, which I de-saturated…not sure if I did the desaturation correctly as it looks very much like grey scale, or is this the way it is supposed to look?
this is the grey scale…
this is sepia, without desaturation…I went too far on the first sepia I did…wasn’t sure what to do with it? this one is rather interesting…a warmer tone in comparison….
and this is sepia, completely desaturated…
black & white & color
I saw this old barn on the drive home from Florida this winter… in Kentucky I think. The photos was taken from the vehicle out of the passenger side window. The roof has seen better days…thought I’d try it in both color and black & white…do you have a preference?
these of course are more of the gnarly bent trees…
things I like…
emerald green moss…it looks and feels like velvet at this stage…
gnarly wood used as a top layer for a railing on the deck on a wharf…
and of course ocean, beach, water…
black & white
I’ve always liked black & white photos…it is amazing the change in a photo when it is converted from colour to B & W…if you’ve visited before you know I drawn to gnarly trees…soon they will be covered with leaves…
community waterfront friends pergola!
this pergola is used as a fundraiser for the Community Waterfront Friends, they are raising funds to complete the North Bay Waterfront Park, which is a work in progress…the pergola allows for 2,500 stainless steel numbered leaves at $500.00 per leaf. the idea is these are “leaves of inspiration” as they are engraved with the names of those individuals, family, children, parents, or non-profit organizations which have been an inspiration to others…with the purchase of each leaf the Community Waterfront Friends be one step closer to completing the North Bay Waterfront Park.
jm
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something different…
the Pro Cathedral of the Assumption, Roman Catholic Church, built in 1904, with a foundation built from North Bay granite an white limestone from Longford…
below is Discovery North Bay Museum, since 1973… the permanent home is the former CPR train station…
I’m sure most people would think this photo was taken in the country somewhere…but what is on the other side of the red roof buildings is Lakeshore Drive, a busy road in North Bay…there are many areas along Lake Nipissing that look like this…this was taken from Sunset Park looking east…while the bay is open there is a very thing layer of ice on the water…
I know this is a rather simple photo of pussy willows, but I have to say this was a huge surprise to me…the tree had to be 8 or 9 feet tall…very scraggly with only the buds you see in this photo…I didn’t know they grew that tall…
anyone who visited in the winter time saw my post regarding the snowmobile “drag races”, well this is what is left of the drag race track…you can still see the banks on either side, showing the location of the track…
experimenting…
I visit a number of photography blogs and every now and then I’m inspired to try something different with the processing of the photos. I’m limited to some extent with the programs I have, Photoscape, and Picasa…I also have gimp but I’ve not taken the time to get into it. recently I”ve seen a few blogs who are using some form of HDR effect, which I rather like so I checked Picasa and it has a setting called HDR-ish…so I gave it a try with a couple of my photos…if you’ve been visiting for awhile you will know I’ve a thing for gnarly, naked trees…the waterfront on Lake Nipissing offers a few great ones due to the very high winds blowing regularly in the area…below is the original photo.
below I’ve used the HDR-ish setting…
of course this one is a simple black and white…more dramatic…
this one is black & white with HDR-ish used…
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reflection, Mallard, floating
I went back to Sunset Park yesterday…I wanted to see if there were any changes since Sunday…not much really, with the exception of more snow piled up on the small islands off the shores of Sunset Park. I rather liked this piece of ice floating along…
on my way home I stopped at the Eva Wardlaw Conservation area…the creek flows into Lake Nipissing…it was like glass yesterday…allowing for interesting reflections…
saw this Mallard Duck come out of the culvert and swim along towards Lake Nipissing…he didn’t appear to care that I was there, although he did make sure to stay close to the opposite bank…I saw a number of Mallards at Sunset Park but they didn’t like me around and quickly flew away…
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spring is working on it!
here are a couple more of the ice breaking up…all were taken on Sunday. this is facing the area/bay where I grew up, if you look closely you will see a water tower above the tree line on the left just past the clump of trees in the foreground. my home as a child is to the left of that…I know you can’t see anything but this may help visitors understand why I love the water so much!
I like the dark and light of the pieces of ice…some pieces are more saturated with water than others…I heard on the news last evening there is a possibility of flooding on Lake Nipissing…they feel it could reach flood levels by the weekend…
some of you may remember I shot a photo from a similiar angle in the winter…looks different…I’ll take another when the grass is green…
Sunset Park…
Sunday afternoon I ventured over to Sunset Park…the last photos I showed from here were during the snowmobile drag races…well this day was all about the ice beginning to break up…this is facing the sw shore…I’ve more ice shots and will post them once I’ve had a chance to look through them all…I should make an effort to go back in the next day or so as the temperature has been around 58F yesterday and today which will to soften the ice.
more winter photos…
this was taken yesterday…the wind was bitterly cold, but when I first went out it was somewhat sunny..I’ve been meaning to take a photo of this tree since last fall and just got around to it yesterday…I took the shot at the wrong angle because it is difficult to tell that it is leaning right over the beach area…I should have taken it from the side…another day. this is looking west out over Lake Nipissing…still frozen solid, but it is starting to open up at the shore line and it is a good sign when we see dark areas in the ice…
below is some of the ice as it begins to move at the Waterfront, Lake Nipissing…I’ve got some really interesting shots from Sunset Park this afternoon of the ice movement…haven’t had time to process them yet, hopefully tomorrow
this is the nw side of Sunset Park…the water is down right now but not nearly as low as it usually is…the sand that is visible is usually covered with water in the summer time.
moon, spider & kitty
I was looking through some of my older photos for something specific…I didn’t find what I was looking for but found these three…the moon I took in 2010, looks to me as though it was one of my “from the vehicle” shots…not sure where though?
this next one is of a spider I saw on my back deck…I’m not afraid of spiders, but this one was huge, at least in my mind it was…2012
2012… the last one is of “Kitty”…she loves to lay on her back on the deck sunning herself
grayscale…
a blogging friend did a bit of black & white recently and I rather liked the look so decided to do something other than what is usual for me…I found three shots I and did them in grayscale…as is expected it changes the look considerably…it is good to step outside the norm on occasion…
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bud n mary’s…cocoa beach
today was dreary, it drizzled, rained and darn well poured…hard…all day long, so that means today is another beach/water day on the blog…always makes me happy. the photo directly below was taken on the way back from Key West…in the Keys, but not sure which one…I don’t know Bud n Mary, but I liked that they named their Marina that way…this was taken from my moving vehicle so not the greatest shot…I played around with this one a bit…was interesting to see what I could achieve with the colour…
the two photos below are in Cocoa Beach…the sky was very strange this day, ranging from white fluffy clouds to wispy nothings and the colour of the sky was unusual as well…pretty but different… this is a long shot of the beach facing the Pier…it is a great place…people fish of it near the end but the main attraction are the 4 restaurants there, ranging bars type establishments to a classy type place…
the photo below was the day before the one above…confusing I know…I was surprised at the number of people who tried their hand as surfing on this shore line…I watched them on and off most of the day…looked like fun!
my view…
on the way back from Key West, we stopped so I could take photos of the old rail bridge on Bahia Honda Key,
I post them another day…but when I looked behind me I thought that view deserved a couple of photos as well…but then that is just me and my love of the water…both views are looking back towards Key West…
the shore line wasn’t great here, but then it isn’t in some places in the Keys…not a big deal for me…
if I wanted a beach I would be going to the Caribbean… not Key West.
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more of Lake Nipissing
I took these yesterday, the first two are looking in the opposite direction of yesterdays photos…it will most likely be another two weeks before the ice is completely off the lake. Of course that all depends on how much wind and rain we have as both of these contribute to the ice break up.
What I was trying to show in the photo below is there are buds on this tree…on a few trees I noticed…I couldn’t zoom in as the trees are very mature and much taller than I at 5ft 4in…but…if you squint, you can see the buds…:) Spring is officially here!
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beautiful day…
today is gorgeous…a blue, blue sky, which I absolutely love, sunny, a bit windy, but 49F which is none to shabby at this point! I managed to snap a few shots on my walk at one of the public access for Lake Nipissing. The whole lake is still completely frozen, but it is beginning to open at the shore, at least it is a start…there is already a small amount of debris on the shoreline, always is in the spring. It is from the people who ice fish out on the lake in the winter, they are supposed to cart their garbage/debris home with them and most do…if you look closely at the second and third photo you will see the debris…it will eventually get washed up on shore and be cleaned up.
FYI…these photos were taken with my iPhone 5…
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Green Parrot…
it isn’t what you think…the Green Parrot is a bar in Key West, on the corner of Whitehead and Southard Streets, where everyone and anyone stops in to enjoy great music and a beverage…it is so busy it is almost impossible to get a seat on Friday or Saturday evening…serving locals and tourists alike since 1890…
as you can see the bicycle is a popular mode of transportation in Key West…
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the hand…
I love old gnarly naked trees, they have such amazing texture and detail…if you look closely there is so much to see. Key West has some of the most wonderful trees, old, very gnarly, bent in unusual shapes for who knows why, not to forget the lush colours…this one is one of my favourites,I call it the “hand”…the second photo gives you a better idea of why…
a vision…
today we are having what amounts to a mini snow storm…I know it won’t last long and the snow won’t stay, but it is one of those beach photo days folks…here is a long shot of Cocoa Beach…stopped there on the way back from Key West before going to my Mother’s place in Leesburge…I liked it, there, it reminded me of a mini Daytona Beach when it was thriving…I didn’t realize that Cocoa Beach was a surfing destination, in fact there was some kind of tournament happening during my stay…didn’t venture there but managed to get a few photos from the beach…
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US Navy…
at the end of Southard St., Key West, is a docking area, used by both the US Coast Guard and the US Navy…
the building below has been in disrepair for the last three years I’ve been in that area…
I have no idea of what it was used for or why it was abandoned like this…but it is a very large piece of
property that could be put to good use on on the waters edge like this…below shows the front of the build,
along with what looks like some kind of old artillery, past its prime? The only protection is the blue/grey
tarps and the yellow caution tape…both of which have seen better days…
beauty & gnarly…
here is one of my favourite bushes…Bougainvillea……so vibrantly colourful
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before, during & after…
on any given night you will see many boats off the coast of Key West waiting for the sunset…it is definitly a favourite pastime for anyone visiting…the first two boats are heading out to wait for the sun to set, the third photo is as the sun is setting, I thought the gray scale added an interesting touch to the sunset and the final one is sometime after the sunset..
sap is running…Mr. Woodpecker has visited!
last week on my walk I spotted a couple of things that I’d not see before…keep in mind this is a residential street I’m walking on and generally I walk down the street in one direction, no special reason other than I’m a creature of habit…this particular day I decided to be “wild & crazy” and walk from the opposite direction…pays to change directions…below is a photo of maple trees with pails hanging from them collecting sap…something I’ve never seen before in this location…but coming from the opposite direction I wouldn’t…in this photo you can only see two pails, look closely…but there had to be at least 8…
something else I spotted was this tree above, where Mr. Woodpecker has been very busy for sometime now…
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because it snowed!
When I looked out the window this morning it was snowing…I wasn’t happy as most of our snow was gone…I know it won’t last long, in fact a great deal of it is gone already…to counter act the snow affect, I thought I’d post things that make me happy…pretty flowers and part of the side garden path to condos in Truman Annex, Key West…
experimenting with filters…
I was looking through photos for a post and began playing with the different filters available in Photoscape…while this isn’t an extensive software it does offer a few interesting filters…the original photo is below, then in order, water painting, two different swirl filters, reflection filter, embossing filter, with colour added and one of my favourite filters the reverse black & white
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duval street & a rooster
Duval Street is always busy, more so when cruise ships are in, which is almost every day…I think this year there was only one day out of seven without a ship…that makes for lots of people scurrying around trying to see everything in a few hours…below is Duval Street facing north, not terribly busy when I took this…the second one is facing south…
anyone who has been to Key West knows there are chickens & roosters everywhere…not usually on Duval Street as it is too busy but, on most side streets you will find them…I think the fellow below is a resident of Truman Annex…he isn’t as colourful or shiny as some I’ve seen, but attractive just the same…not the friendliest fellow though…he let me take a few photos, never looking at me…then decided that was enough and let me know…
sunrise…sunset!
for the most part I don’t see the sunrise…I don’t have a clear view so I don’t bother…besides, for the most part I’m not up then! this sunrise was captured through the vehicle window as we were driving home…between Windsor & London…I rather like the silhouette of the trees…
the next two are sunsets from Key West…a bit dark…I had trouble with the first one in particular…couldn’t get it right! 
this one is somewhat better…
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full moon rising…
the sky was beautiful last night…crystal clear, no clouds that I could see and a huge bright, full moon…I took a few photos from my yard, at dusk, as the moon was rising, before it got dark. while these aren’t great photos they are ok…better than my first attempt at shooting the moon a couple of months ago…I deleted those ones!
I did the one below in grey scale for something different
I also tried it out in reverse black & white…
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a gift to myself…
I love flowers, I usually have a bouquet of some kind in the house all the time, I love white flowers almost as much as I do shades of purple, while I enjoy all colours of flowers I prefer to stay with white for in the house, and ad accents, such as mauve & purple, or lime green, love lime green with white…I find those colours soothing to look at…I had a large bouquet this time so I put four in a tall bud vase…I know some would say there should be three or five, but four worked for me that day…
this isn’t were they generally sit but I was trying to find a good light…this was the best I came up with at that time of the day, I see if I have time to experiment with the light before these flowers wilt. this wasn’t the right angle either for the vase but that’s fine for now…I know something is wrong with brightness of this one as well but not sure what to do to change it, is missing something??? hmmm…not my favourite photo
again a different background and different light…I also used the bloom setting on this one, which I’ve not used before…gives an interesting look.
fishing…
fishing used to be a favourite thing to do at one time…not anymore…I spotted these people on Cocoa Beach…enjoying the sun, and a day of fishing! doesn’t this look relaxing?
that same day I spotted a number of small birds…not sure what they are…they wouldn’t let me get close enough to them to get a good close up, there were a couple of different types…they never flew away just ran…it was rather funny to watch their tiny legs go…
this photo was taken on the way to Key West…I didn’t like the colour so I did it in grey scale not sure what they were fishing for…most likely just doing manoeuvres…7 mile bridge…
some of you will know Key West is a place where I like to spend some time in the winter. to get there you have to travel the Overseas Highway U.S.1 from Homestead, Florida, through the individual Keys…an amazing drive. I love being so close to the water on the highway…of course I’ve been fortunate to travel during good weather…I don’t know if I would enjoy it as much in rainy/windy weather. the old Seven Mile Bridge was considered one of the 7 wonders of the world back in 1912…
this bridge links Marathon, Florida, Middle Keys to Little Duck Key, Lower Keys…beginning at mile marker 47 on U.S. 1. the original bridge was closed to traffic in 1982… locals & travellers us it now to fish from, bike ride, or simply walk along it, which I’ve done.
the old and the new…
it was originally used as a rail road…after the hurricane in 1935 it was widened and the tracks were cemented over…it became part of the Overseas Highway U.S. 1 in 1938
the old bridge is in need of repairs…in order to continue to allow it to be used in the same manner work will have to done on it in the coming years…
it truly was an amazing display of architecture for the time!
Heather Cote... 
