It's been a while ..

 

 For sometime now i have been considering reviving my blog.

A great deal has happened since I last posted in ..2016? 

I retired from my business, sold the house and made a new life in Nova Scotia with my 'new' partner Karen.

We live in a rural area that is surrounded by natural beauty in the small artistic town of Parrsboro.

So come along for a journey as we explore our new world, our new life here in paradise :-)

Once again the pine-tree sung:—

'Speak not thy speech my boughs among;

Put off thy years, wash in the breeze;

My hours are peaceful centuries...'

~Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Woodnotes, II"

First Light Challenge 2016

 https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/23521088944/in/dateposted-public/


2016 already, my how time does fly, time for another challenge..

I started the "First Light Challenge" a long time ago way back in 2006 or 2007.
My friend Doug was the first to take up the gauntlet and has been completing the challenge since 2008. For the last few years Doug has been 'Up North' separated by distance but not by time.


http://djenglandphotography.blogspot.ca/2016/01/first-light-2016.html

The challenge is simple 'record an image in the first light of the new year'.
It's the doing that can be the real challenge, to get out of a warm bed and hit the streets. Usually the only ones around are the party stragglers or those who have to work and th eoccasional crazy photographer.

So here is this years effort from a windy, snowy (very snowy) morning -4c and the clock ticking towards dawn which one again was a lightening of the gray overcast more than a sunrise.

Then out through the gates of the midnight—
      The door of the past was ajar—
      His robe like a shroud wrapped around him,
      The Old Year vanished afar.
And as morn with her soft rosy fingers
      Flung open the gates of the East,
      The New Year looked out from its chambers
      With a smile and a blessing of peace.
~Eliza A. Wetherby Otis (1833–1904), "The Old and the New," December 1873

On a frosty morning ..

See it large here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/23294264202/in/dateposted-public/

Because it needs to be seen large ;-)

A walk in the crisp morning air, along familiar trails with good company, what better way to spend a Saturday morning?

This old tree has seen and survived so many winters, you can see them all in his countenance.
That's why I love old tree's and Winter. 

"The shed of leaves became a cascade of red and gold and after a time the trees stood skeletal against a sky of weathered tin. The land lay bled of its colors. The nights lengthened, went darker, brightened in their clustered stars. The chilled air smelled of woodsmoke, of distances and passing time. Frost glimmered on the morning fields. Crows called across the pewter afternoons". ~James Carlos Blake, Wildwood Boys

Is that ... SNOW ??

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/22581800294/in/dateposted-public/

The best camera is the one you have with you!
This is a shot of Ghost and Winter in the first snow early this morning.

Friends of ours were having to take their dog 'Ghost' to the humane society as they can no longer look after him. We asked if we could test drive him for the weekend  to see if he and Winter would get along.
Unfortunately this house belongs to Queen Bee Winter and she was having non of it :-(

So Tomorrow Ghost will be at the Guelph Humane Society awaiting new owners.
If you or someone you know is looking for a big dog Ghost is the most gentle of creatures and would make a great addition to your family.

Good luck Ghost I wish we could have kept you here ...


"I talk to him when I'm lonesome like; and I'm sure he understands. When he looks at me so attentively, and gently licks my hands; then he rubs his nose on my tailored clothes, but I never say naught thereat. For the good Lord knows I can buy more clothes, but never a friend like that". ~W. Dayton Wedgefarth

Revisiting the Grinstone Marsh Trails ..

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/22617093817/in/dateposted-public/

Despite the wind and threat of snow it was a great day for a walk along the Royal Botanical Gardens Grindstone Marsh trails.

Down in the valley and in the tree's the road noise all but disappeared along with the wind resulting in a pleasant walk.
Grant and I spent several hours wandering, then sat for a while watching and attempting to photograph the local wildlife that was arriving in droves for a handful of seeds.

Bird photography isn't easy, the damn things don't sit still for more than a fraction of a second.

Landscapes however are a different story ;-)

Upon our arrival I was struck by how green everything was, more like Spring than late Autumn.

The scene before me was a juxtaposition of bare tree's standing guard over the lush greenery giving an almost surreal aspect to the landscape.

"Lady Autumn, Queen of the Harvest,
I have seen You in the setting Sun
with Your long auburn tresses...
You sit upon Your throne and watch
the dying fires of the setting Sun
shine forth its final colors in the sky...
Lady Autumn, You are here at last..."

~Deirdre Akins

Fletchers Creek .. across the pit..

.. through the lens of my Fuji x100s

Some have said "it's a camera that doesn't get in the way".

Well the more I use it the less intrusive it becomes, take its black and white engine, combine it with its jpeg engine add a red filter (digitally) and here is the result ..

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/22864764481/in/dateposted-public/

It was a morning of scudding clouds; sunshine one minute, shade the next and it was the clouds I wanted to capture.

"Spring's wakening bugle long is hushed,
Long dimm'd is Summer's splendour;
October yields her easel bright
To "black and white" November"!
~James Rigg, "November," Wild Flower Lyrics and Other Poems, 1897

Autumn's Showcase ..

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/22483839710/in/dateposted-public/

Autumn's colours are fading fast but there are still signs of it lingering on.

Yesterday while walking Winter along a local trail I spotted this maple stubbornly holding on to its leaves, framing the long dead teasel heads that will provide next years flowers..

As the wheel turns once more..

"Magnificent Autumn! He comes not like a pilgrim, clad in russet weeds. He comes not like a hermit, clad in gray. But he comes like a warrior, with the stain of blood upon his brazen mail. His crimson scarf is rent.... The wind.... wafts to us the odor of forest leaves, that hang wilted on the dripping branches, or drop into the stream. Their gorgeous tints are gone, as if the autumnal rains had washed them out. Orange, yellow, and scarlet, all are changed to one melancholy russet hue.... There is a melancholy and continual roar in the tops of the tall pines.... It is the funeral anthem of the dying year". 

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow