Sun set with a twist…
One of my all time favorite places to be…photo taken with my iPhone
These stark, yet vibrant photos are some of my favorite to capture…take from a moving vehicle with my iPhone…
Another photo taken while driving with my iPhone…of course I wasn’t driving. I enjoy this type of landscape, barren but every once in a while something cool pops up!
Another photo taken on the drive home of two of my favorite subjects, clouds and trees…
all in a row…
If you know me at all you know I love trees, especially “naked trees”…without leaves of course! This was taken while driving on the way home from Florida…fyi…I wasn’t driving! A crisp cold morning, brrrr. There is a bit of dirty windshield showing up on the right hand side but I really liked this so excuse the dirt!
see you later Alligator…
These are such cool fellows…I’ve seen a couple outside the zoo one in particular up close and personal.
serenity…
This photo was taken a couple of years ago, while on our Friday early morning drive to the Rosseau Market. I was not driving, hence the photo! It is a tad blurry but I like the photo non the less!
Chief Commanda I
I’ve posted photos of the Chief Commanda previously…it was launched in 1946, and served Lake Nipissing until 1975 when it was replaced by Cheif Commanda II. Chief I is now a restaurant on the waterfront.
sunset & silhouettes…
This is the sunset I posted last week, taken as I approached the beach…I like the silhouette of the trees on either side.
Saw this fellow and his companion last year…you could tell they were used to people being around as they didn’t appear to be the least bit concerned.
Hope to see you again…
I’ve been absent for awhile now, life happens…I hope to be around now!
I’m trying out a new theme, but not sure it is what I want as I can’t seem to make the photos larger to fill more of the page? Will be playing around for the next little while so if you come by and see something unusual it is because I’m playing.
When I went out a couple of weeks ago it was just as the sun had set and the sky was awash with the most vibrant colors, I’d gotten out of the habit of keeping my camera in my vehicle but my trusty iPhone did the trick I think…
how to paint a sail boat!
Certainly an interesting undertaking…with a crane involved I’m sure expensive as well!
these photos where taken off the beach at Fort Zachery Taylor Historical Park…boat traffic was somewhat heavy that day! It is an awesome view…
http://www.fortzacharytaylor.com/home.html
washed up…
Saw many pieces of coral like this washed up on the shoreline. It was windy & wavey for the first few days, which meant the beach was covered in sea shells. A bit farther down the beach from our location it was soft sand, so our area is a bit of a catch all when windy…we knew this from last year.
tranquility…
I was looking through the hundreds of photos I took while away and realized 95% of them are of my granddaughter! The other 4% are of family with her and 1% is of sites while away! I didn’t realize I did this…was always taking a photo so thought there would be many to post but it turns out there isn’t…
Here is a simplistic one, but one that speaks to my heart!!! While I don’t/can’t sail, I love the water…
more sunsets…
It is interesting how I’ve not seen the sunset for months and recently I’ve been able to capture it three times..awesome! This one wasn’t as intense as some, but then it was just setting, I find the colors more vibrant a short while after the setting…didn’t stay around to see what happened that night as I wasn’t dressed warm enough!
This photo was taken a few weeks ago right after a warmers spell…you can see the ridges of ice that built up due to the winds and then colder temperatures…makes for dangerous snowmobiling and walking…
perfect spot…
Monday was a hot, humid, hazy day, which you can see in the distance of the photo…but as I drove past the waterfront I decided to stop…saw this…perfect spot to sit, relax, and read a book!
Saturday at the North Bay Farmers’ Market
I’ve not posted photos of our local Market before but a first time for everything I guess…
Saturday not long after opening, before the crowds…you can see the RE/MAX balloon in the distance…they were offering free rides, but were accepting donations for the North Bay Habitat for Humanity
Mid morning, this is the west entrance of the Market, it is diffiuclt to tell but, there are a total of 46 vendors.
a closer look at the RE/MAX hot air Balloon, if you look closely you can see that it is tied to the ground…it goes up and down but not away!
treasures of the sea???
It all depends on how you look at things, what you see…right? I’m sure many see these as nothing of importance or worthy of a second look. To me these are interesting finds…especially the beautiful empty intact shell! Just look at the Nacre, or Mother of Pearl as it is known in the jewelry world… it is smooth, an even color, without damage. For those who aren’t familiar, Nacre is the white inner lining of the shell, the outer layer of pearls is also Nacre. This would make a beautiful piece of jewelry if you were into making something from raw materials such as this…
look what was washed up on shore after a windy day…
.
gray scale sunset…
when I take a photo of the sunset, sometimes the colors look right to me and sometimes they don’t…when they don’t I try the grayscale…I rather like it!
would you give it a try?
This is something I would like to do but won’t…my body would rebel! I always thought it looked like fun though. We saw boat drawn para-gliders each day, but only this motorized para-glider …as in the second photo, during the two weeks there.
fascinating clouds…
Our condo in Marco Island faced west, so of course I saw my share of sunsets…I do have to say the most beautiful sunsets were when there was some interesting cloud formations! The Gulf of Mexico sky does seem to offer strikingly beautiful clouds!
different…
this vacation was much different from what I’ve done for the past eight or so years…I’ve not stayed at the ocean for two weeks, nor in a anything higher than the first floor, for that long…we generally rent a condo in Key West in a complex which is only two stories, and always choose the ground floor. Last year in Marco we rented a house, so being on the 5th floor was different…it was so awesome to sit on the deck and look around, watch the people, the water and the sky. So much to see from one view point. I do have to say I’m not a fan of highrises…but that was the only option if we wanted to be on the beach…
this is looking right/north off the balcony, it looks like a short walk, but in reality it is much longer than it appears…
this was our first day, a bit cooler for some, around 18c I think, but for us it was fabulous
this is looking left/south of our balcony…the beach ends there as a rock formation which would make it difficult to walk on.
Photos weren’t taken on the same day as you can tell from the sky…
fishin buddies…
From my balcony I watched a man fishing, he stopped by a few times, never saw him catch anything but I’m sure he enjoyed himself…it really wasn’t the gentleman that caught my eye but these two fellows…his fishin buddies! These two weren’t concerned about people walking by, I’m sure they were just hoping the man would leave something…the man completely ignored them, I’m sure he was used to them hanging around.
sunset…
Boring name I know, but I don’t really have a way with words! I had a difficult time while away trying to capture the sunsets…our condo faced west so I saw one most evenings, but was rarely happy with the photos. Not sure why, someone said I should have used a tripod and a longer exposure and I’m sure he was correct, I honestly don’t know enough about my camera, at this point, I’m enjoying taking photos but not yet feeling like I want to jump head first into the workings of the camera. I couldn’t bring my tripod on the plane, too much to carry…I was with my daughter so I wasn’t about to take the time to begin reading to find out what to do!
These are the same photos of course…but the colors in the colored are not accurate! I’m showing one B & W along with its color counterpart simply because even though the color isn’t accurate I like the photo!!!
more frosty birch trees…
it was a bit windy the day this was taken…if you look closely, especially on the top left side you can see the snow blowing off the trees…
forgot…
This photo is one of a few I took the beginning of November… I was looking for a photo to post that didn’t have snow and icicles in it and it!
selective cutting…
This post is all about trees…I love trees, they make the neighborhoods colorful, they attract birds, provide shade, in some cases privacy, short ones tall ones, I love the look of trees, especially in the fall when the leaves have dropped. The neighborhoods with out trees look rather barren to me…having said that I do understand the logic in pruning, cutting back large branches or even cutting the tree down when necessary. The reason I’m talking about this is North Bay Hydro, our local hydro company, pays a local company in town to do this so no branches are closer than 9 meters (29.5ft) to a hydro line…my surrounding neighborhood was chosen this fall to have this done…while I understand the logic of why it must be done, it saddens me to see how spindly some of the trees now look. Many of the large stately deciduous trees are fine as only a few branches have been taken but for some trees, in particular the coniferous trees, the whole side facing the wire is gone! The clump of trees in the center of this photo looks fine…it is large enough to handle a few limbs cut, but check out the tree to the right…
on the tree below, all the branches below the wire are in tact, so it is much like the tree on the right above…half a tree from the wire up!
it is difficult to tell in the tree below, but when the leaves are in full bloom they will be to the left of the cutting, the other branches are from another tree…
again, all the branches are gone on the one side of the tree…
sun bathing…
I took this photo of the Chief Commanda, the restaurant, last Saturday…I liked how it looked bathed in the light of the setting sun!
makes me smile…
the last couple of days have been cold, very wet and windy…typical fall days…but I decided I’d rather look at something else…the beach at Fort Zachary State Park, Key West! The sand is very pebbly and hard on the feet…definitely need flip flops. All three photos were taken in the winter of 2011 with my iPhone…
early morning snack…
Saw these fellows at 6:45am Saturday morning…as I slowly tried to get close to them they turned their backs to me and began walking away from me, was rather funny actually. I was a long way from them but instinctively they knew I was heading towards them and they didn’t want to be friendly!
more of Callander Bay…
The day I stopped by Callander Bay was very hot, humid and hazy…I found some of the photos showed the haze, which is why I opted for b & w. you can see the haze in both photos. This section of the Callander dock is going to be repaired eventually…I just heard something about it this week…a section of it was removed from the dock so no one could use it right now…
this island is at the end of the section of dock above…
both…
this is a building I see on the way to and from Rosseau every Friday…couldn’t decide whether I preferred the color or the b & w…
definitly not serious!
if you visit on occasion you will know clouds are a favorite of mine…I rather liked the placement of the ones below!
clouds and light…something that attracted me, nothing more!
some of the last of the season…the growing time is short!
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…
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…
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
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.
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…
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…
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…
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!
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…
Heather Cote... 
