https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/16331088476/

Photographic outings with others can be both stimulating and distracting, both in a good way!

When I go out with friends I find the way I see things changes, not only for the moment for for several days after.

We all have differing points of view which on their own define a persons 'style' but allowing your mind to open up to other possibilities and by stepping out of your comfort zone you might just find a new 'style' a blend of your own and another.

A case in point:

Recently I have been influenced by two of my friends to the point of creating an 'Homage' photograph.

The first was not deliberate, it just happened.

The second was deliberately chosen to reflect someone's 'style'.

Yes I may tease them but it is more than that, it is an admission of a style that I am impressed and altered by.

So here is the homage to two fine photographers who's work I have tried to emulate in recent weeks:

Vartkes

https://www.flickr.com/photos/the_armenian/16051533402/

Patrick

https://www.flickr.com/photos/50144691@N02/15683822505/

Classic defining photographs from each of them.

And in seeing their work I have been changed, hopefully for the better!

“The goal is not to change your subjects, but for the subject to change the photographer”. ~Author Unknown

Dawn ...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/15679208554/

I've always been a morning person.

Watching the sun rise on a new day is deeply satisfying.

To do it 'out there', in a frozen field of a meadow full of flowers is even more satisfying.

Now most would disagree but that's OK I like the wild places to be empty.

Around here, within a half hour drive, we have so many choices for an early morning walk.

“Blessed” is the word I guess.

Yesterday was one such morning, Fletchers Creek was the location. 20 min from home and a bit of a walk as the sky lightened we found a spot and watched the sun crest the distant tree's painting the sky with an ever changing palette.

In about 5 minutes it was all over but what a five minutes !

“I’ll tell you how the Sun rose—
A Ribbon at a time....”
~Emily Dickinson, c.1860

The season of the mind ..

 https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/15627623713/

The season of the mind ..

Cold out?

It's all in your head!

You see, if you look at the forecast or the thermometer you would not go out until Spring.

But if you bundle up in layers, add an extra pair of socks and your warmest gloves it can be invigorating!

Yesterday the 'mercury' dipped to -17c and the windchill took that down to -27c.

Was I home by the fire ?

No I was out with other like-minded friends wandering through Rockwood Conservation Area admittedly staying in the tree shrouded hollows away from the wind, but out non-the-less.

What an invigorating morning!

We wandered together and apart for several hours marveling at Winters handiwork and then on the Ridge Trail Patrick spotted a shape in a tree .. “is that an owl'?

Then it took off, yes an owl!

What a treat!

You see only moments before we had been discussing the Great Horned Owl that Doug had heard recently nr Tobermory and there he was! 

 

People think that the woods are full of wildlife but to see an owl is special.

Actually to see anything other than a squirrel or a or a chickadee is always special!

Often heard but not always visible the creatures of the great outdoors chatter back and forth in a tongue we cannot understand but it is a joy to listen in..

“What nutriment can I extract from these bare twigs? Starvation stares me in the face. "Nay, nay," said a nuthatch, making its way, head downward, about a bare hickory close by, "The nearer the bone, the sweeter the meat.... If at any time the weather is too bleak and cold for you, keep the sunny side of the trunk, for a wholesome and inspiring warmth is there, such as the summer never afforded...." "Hear! hear!" screamed the jay from a neighboring tree, where I had heard a tittering for some time, "winter has a concentrated and nutty kernel, if you know where to look for it."... [A] red squirrel... came running down a slanting bough, and as he stopped twirling a nut, called out rather impudently, "Look here! just get a snug-fitting fur coat and a pair of fur gloves like mine, and you may laugh at a northeast storm."” ~Henry David Thoreau, Nov. 8, 1858

First Light 2015

  https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/16163868141/

Here at least, the New Year arrived with a growl or was it the old years departing shot?

The gauntlet of the 'First Light Challenge” was picked up by a few hardy souls who ventured out in the pre-dawn light of a new year to be faced with high winds and cloud from Hamilton to Tobermory.

So much for inspiration..

After standing on a windswept dock in LaSalle Park my little group happily agreed to head out to find somewhere that might be open at 9:00 am on this morning.

Bacon, eggs and tea/coffee served somewhere warm!

We found an oasis in AJ's in Waterdown were the smiles were as warming as the tea.

Thank you ladies for being there and thank you my friends old and new for taking up my silly challenge and braving the new dawn with me.

A New Years wish for one and all..

“And ye, who have met with Adversity's blast,
And been bow'd to the earth by its fury;
To whom the Twelve Months, that have recently pass'd
Were as harsh as a prejudiced jury -
Still, fill to the Future! and join in our chime,
The regrets of remembrance to cozen,
And having obtained a New Trial of Time,
Shout in hopes of a kindlier dozen”.
~Thomas Hood