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..
cactus & sunrise…
when I was a way I liked to take a walk every morning…I spotted this gigantic cactus plant on my first walk…it is huge…Marco Island
it was so spread out I the photo above is the left side and below is the right…
this photo was taken on Sunday, the last day of the drive home…between Windsor, Ontario and London, Ontario…a nice beginning to the day…again taken through the windshield of my vehicle.
I’m around…
I thought I should do a post to let anyone who happens to stop by that I’m away…left February 15th returning March 17th. with the exception of answering emails, I’ve not been online…I will visit and post when I have the time…below are photos from Florida…
this fellow is having breakfast in Dunedin…
Lake Dora, Tavares, 
part of the Clearwater Beach skyline…
these are the first photos taken with my “new to me” Nikon DSLR camera…I’m having fun experimenting with it…after only a few days I realize already I need a macro lens, possibly a stronger zoom lens? will see after a bit more working with it…
Sunset Park…
I took a few photos yesterday at Sunset Park, before venturing over to the Radar Runs…it was such a beautiful day yesterday…today is pretty good as well…sunny and relative warm for a winter day! -2C but 28F for those using Fahrenheit. the photo below is looking out onto Lake Nipissing…to the west. I rather like this one below, something about the trees that always appeals to me…think I’ll do a bit of experimenting with it in a few days…
the next two photos are looking north west along the Lake Nipissing shore line….
radar run…
today was a beautiful day…sunny, no wind to speak of and not terribly cold! I saw in the paper the snowmobile Radar Runs were taking place today at Sunset Park,Lake Nipissing, so I decided to take a few minutes and take a look…I used to love going to these events when I was younger…driving a snowmobile was very high on my list of a good time…I managed to get a few photos, but I have to say the lack of attendance surprised me…there were a large number of participants but very few spectators…years ago when I attended it was wall to wall people, it was difficult to get a good viewing spot for each event…
the photo below should be to the left of the photo above…didn’t know how to pan with the camera so did it in two shots…regardless of the lack of spectators the participants to enjoyed themselves…if you look very closely at the top photo you can see the track just left of centre in the photo…
just finished his races…
looking for heat…
today is one of those days when I’m thinking of Florida…so I’m posting three photos from there…
this is one of the beaches at Naples, at the end of 5th Avenue…there was a person laying on the sand that was rather close so I used the cloning brush and brushed him out…kind of a cool process…this was my first attempt…I think it is rather visible but I’m sure my technique will improve over time…
this is the same beach but if you look way down on the right you will see the white of the condos/high rises farther down…again I used the cloning tool to eliminate a body I didn’t want in the photo…very nice beach and not busy at all!!!
a US Navel ship docked at Fort Zachary, Key West…
more snow photos…
the weather here has been so strange…tons of snow…bitter cold, warm and rain, now back to bitter cold today…makes it difficult to walk! which I miss, can’t take photos…the photos below were taken back on Feb. 13th…
I liked the snow on the pole like this, with the blue sky and branches in the back ground…
the next two photos are of the same bush/hedge, the first is of course head on… 
it amazes me how these branches can hold up with all the snow on them, as they look very delicate, as branches go… 
what a differnce a season makes!
the photos below are of the same tree, take frnm slightly different angels & of course taken at different times of the year…I added the double photo below as it was something I was trying with PhotoScape…turned out alright but it cuts off the original photo…would have to take the time to crop the photos to fit…the individual photos are below this one…
this tree is in Champlain Park, in North Bay…we are very fortunate here to have such a beautiful lake…the sad thing is this park has very little use…when I was a teenager I used to visit this park all the time…it was crazy busy then.
now the park sees very few visitors, except a few people walking their dogs or people bringing children to play, or those who use the boat ramp off of Lavasse River…rather sad when you think of such a beautiful area not being used to its potential…
do you know why?
I found this photo of a Key West sunset and it is rather pretty but there is a very large halo above the sun…can anyone tell me why this happened? did I have the flash on? I’ve also had photos with circles in them…again not sure why this happens…
for those of you who enjoy the snow photos here is one of a tree that pretty much obliterates the house with the snow on it!
baby it’s cold outside!!!
enough said about the temperature! but it is freezing…
I’ve two photos of a gorgeous blue sky with white fluffy clouds, that I took the last day I was taking photos, the day I took all the snow photos…feels like a long time ago! these photos are soft, delicate and fluffy… 😉 I love to watch the sky/clouds, there is always something wonderful to see…
this is one of the public accesses I like to stop at on my walks…this was taken November 13, 2012, on a blustery day…Lake Nipissing is famous for being calm one minute and gale force winds the next, which has led to some rather frightening times on the lake, when I was younger…not gale force this day but windy non the less…
this is the exact same location…a bit broader photo, you see more of the trees on the left. this exactly one month later…December 13, 2012…looks more calm and serene this day!
clear skies and ocean…except one!
I have many more snow photos but I thought maybe I should show you something else…we did get some snow last evening…not sure how much…enough to need to shovel!
this is in new town in Key West…it is not far from where you come on to the island…pretty but I prefer old town, it is much more quaint!
Key West marina…there is a nice boardwalk, with restaurants, in case you need to keep your strength up…
this is Lake Nipissing when the water has been drawn down, the left hand point is called Cheery Point…they draw down the water every fall to avoid flooding in the spring…I used to live to the right of the photo…we had a huge sand bar, often similiar to this, most falls…in the twenty years we lived there I remember a couple of times we had flooding in some areas along the shore line…we had damage done to our break wall and water came up very close to the house…I moved from this house in 2010…
more snow coming…maybe!
these photos were taken two days ago…I’ve a few more, but will wait awhile before I post more…as I don’t want to over do it with snow! Having said that we have a snow squall watch for later today with possible low visibility… I ‘d like a mild spell before more snow thanks 😉
both the photo above and below is a house I walk past almost daily…the trees and shrubs are gorgeous any season of the year but extra specially pretty when laden with snow…
this tree is just up the street from the photo above…you see I take photos of what I see when I’m walking…my intention is to go for a drive and take photos of something other than where I live but I haven’t gotten around to it yet…one day! I must say the two photos above have only been re-sized/cropped nothing else…the one below was back-lit as I thought it brought out the branches more, while leaving the sky alone…
snow day!
the scenery today was amazing…we had fresh snow over night and this morning it looked like a “winter wonderland”…as much as I’m not a fan of winter I have to admit days like today are so beautiful, especially when it is sunny as it was today! today I used the Sony camera my son lent me and I think the shots turned out much nicer…the whites are much nicer, whiter and brighter!
this is my favourite photo I think…all I did with this photo was add the copyright symbol and resize it…
see how delicate these branches are, yet they are able to carry such a heavy load!
went for my walker later today just in time for the beginning of what ended up being a stunning sunset, saw part of the final performance but wasn’t able to photograph it as I had an appointment but this is one of the photos I managed to get…the sky and sunset colouring is relatively accurate but as you can see the snow is blue…I managed to get the snow close to white in my photo program but then the sunset was way off…so I chose to leave the snow blue…as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before I’m a complete beginner so I did a bit of research and as most of you will know it has to do with the “white balance”…my son lent me his Sony camera to experiment with, his camera has a setting with one for a “whitish scene with high brightness” which I think should help? I’ll give it a try and see what happens…
beautiful sky…
what a glorious day for a walk…it is warm today, sunny and smells like spring…what more could I want? I know the warm spring like weather is only just for a day or so but will enjoy it while I can…the sky was that strikingly beautiful blue with some fluffy, powder puff type clouds…I live in a small city so it was very difficult to get any photos of the sky with out trees…now don’t get me wrong, trees are one of my very favourite items in nature to photograph…but today was about the sky! I’m going to have to take some time and go for a drive outside the city…
I captured some descent tree shots, but was very disappointed with some of the lake nipissing shots, not sure what happened…when I took the photos into the sun the sky was close to natural but with the sun behind me the whole photo is terrible? Oh well…another day to try…
sad island…
this tiny island is at the end of champlain park…to the left is the lavasse river…looks rather sad with the water out and the leaves off the trees, grass all brown…
fort zachary park beach…key west
key west doesn’t have wonderful sandy beaches as they are all man made…this one… if you look closely you can see the beach is small pebbles…very hard on the feet…walking in sandals or water shoes is a must…as mentioned before I don’t go there for the beaches…having said that south beach has a much nicer sandy beach, although very small…there is also higgs beach, which I don’t have any photos of, rather small but the sand is better there & smathers beach, the couple of times I ventured there I found the shore line littered with weeds…
south beach…key west
this is as you can see a tiny beach at the southern end of Key West…I’ve stopped by and took a few photos, but never actually sat down for the day…in all honesty, in my opinion, Key West isn’t the spot to go for a fabulous beach…although this one is not bad…I enjoy Key West for the smallness, the sun, & the friendliness of the “natives”…having said that it isn’t a place for everyone…I think you will enjoy it if you are somewhat of a “hippy” at heart…or a bit artsy… :~)
partially frozen…lake nipissing
this photo is from a few weeks ago…just before we had the 10 inches of snow, I haven’t been able to get any new shots at the access as the snow plows have pushed up mountains of snow, blocking my path..have to say I’m past climbing up mountains of snow!
Leesburg waterway to Lake Harris
Love sitting at the small uniquely interesting outdoor “bar/cafe” that is to the left of this photo…it is usually peaceful, now and then a boat will pass by, would be a great place to sit and read!. When I’m there this winter I will take a photo of the bar/cafe…it is old, and run down, in terrible shape really, I’m sure it hasn’t been updated in years but I like it regardless…
second half…
I’ve begun using my son’s Sony camera and I don’t know if it has a panorama setting, so I took this photo in two sections, I can do a panorama shot with my iPhone but it was too cold for it that day…the sun was setting behind me giving the sky a beautiful look!
Heather Cote... 