Originally from Northern England, Alan Norsworthy has been a photographer since the late 1960's.

He moved to Canada in 1973 and has made Guelph Ontario his home for the last 24 years.

" I remember visiting the CN Tower in the early 70's and the guide said that as far as you could see in any direction is the best farmland in Canada. That comment echoes down the years as I watch subdivisions eat up the landscape."

The area around Guelph offers up a plethora of rural images which Alan captures with his artistic vision. His work covers everything from macro photographs of flowers, sweeping landscapes, historic buildings and old abandoned farms in both colour and Black and White.

"This is where I find my inspiration, I have a need to show people the beauty I see as I walk the woods and fields of Southern Ontario"


Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Forest Floor


Forest Floor
Originally uploaded by Alan Norsworthy

It feels like weeks since I have been out for a relaxing walk in the woods.

This last weekend I visited Sliver Creek Conservation Area / Scotsdale Farm. I have been there once before on a very cold windy day almost a year ago. This trip was in response to a photograph by fellow photographer Patrick, a member of our local critique group.

The day started like any other photo trip with a stop at Tim’s for tea and breakfast. It was only when we hit the trails that time went into overdrive. I had my time/distance logger running on my cell phone and laughed when I realised that in the last hour we had covered 1/2 mile. Not exactly Olympic speeds.

I think the yardstick for measuring how a day out is going is measured this way, when time disappears and the distance covered is minimal.

Think about it, if you were told to stand in the same spot for 10 minutes I wager that boredom would set in pretty quickly. On the other hand stand in the same spot for 10 min while looking at the ground clutter of leaves and branches trying to understand and make sense of the myriad possibilities for a photograph and all the while thinking (and seeing) in black and white, well that 10 min goes by pretty fast.
Wash and repeat a few times and there goes an hour and you haven’t even realised that that amount of time has passed.

Three hours disappeared in the blink of an eye. Disturbing ? No, not really.
The realisation that so much time had gone by only proved just what a grand time I had been having, no cares, no worries, no thoughts of the work-a-day world crept in to disrupt my enjoyment of a perfect late fall day.

To me that is what makes for a perfect day out and I came home refreshed and revitalised with a couple of images that I can enjoy.

Yep, a good day ..

Now is the time to unite the soul and the world. Now is the time to see the sunlight dancing as one with the shadows. ~Rumi

Footnote on today's saying:

I first became aware of Rumi in the book “War and Peace: A Photographer's Journey” by Reza Deghati

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98202970

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