Say Cheese

Another outing with the club. This time to take pictures of waterfalls in Grey County. It was a lovely morning in April, clear skies etc. We left from Fred’s place about - well - shortly after 7. Got to Flesherton at around 9:30 or so. We had breakfast at a lovely spot, South Grey Inn and Restaurant. Nice rustic atmosphere. There were about 20 of us.

For April 19 it sure got hot. 82F, at one point. Walking up and down the stairs by the falls while carrying my gear, was tough. At one point I sat on a rock and got my posterior wet. Oh what we won’t do for “that” picture.

Had lunch at Kettle’s Restaurant around Chatsworth.  Had their enormous lunch.  It was great.  Fries and all.  Then we headed out again.

Didn’t get home till after 7PM. Boy, was I tired.

Here in Southern Ontario, we see plenty of Canada Geese.  We watch them fly north in the Spring and fly south in the Fall.  That distinctive Vee formation pointing South always makes us sad.  It’s the end of summer and our feathered friends are leaving for warmer climes. 

Same thing with the Monarch Butterfly.  Before they fly to Mexico for the winter, they flutter all over the place.  The first time I noticed them gathering was driving along the Gardner Expressway.  At first I thought that someone was burning something and large flakes were floating around.  Then I realized they were Monarch Butterflies getting ready for their big journey to Mexico.  Isn’t Nature wonderful?

Back to the Canada Goose.  Last May I was in James Gardens one Sunday morning.  After parking my car and getting my gear out of the trunk, I was alerted by that distinctive honking the geese do.  This one seemed different somehow.  Louder.  Almost alarming.  I followed the sound.  It became louder the closer I got to the Humber River.  I looked and looked and finally raised my head to look in the trees and there he was, high on one of the limbs, making the world’s greatest racket.

I have no idea what was troubling him.  Was he looking for a mate or his mate?  I’ll never know but since I had never seen or heard of a Canada Goose in a tree, I took his picture - first with my 17-55mm lens and then with my 70-300mm lens for a better close-up.  Here they are.

Yesterday was a beautiful warm and bright spring day.  The foliage is just starting to appear.  A week from now will be much better, I’m sure.  But, I brought my photography gear and proceeded to take pictures of things that amused me. 

I made so many booboos, I can’t believe it. So many of my photos were blurry.  I guess I should have kept the settings at auto-fucus but I had it on manual.  Looks like a lot of times, I did not check the focus before taking the picture.  I can’t believe I could be so stupid.

Some pics turned out surprisingly well - like the tree fungus and the patch of blue flowers.  Maybe I am starting to understand depth of field.  Well, understand is one thing - remembering to check it - is another.  As soon as I’m finished working on my pictures, I’ll post them.

Several years back, I lived in the Eglinton/Royal York area.  In that area is a very nice park donated by a generous benefactor, several decades earlier.  I love that park.  It runs by the Humber River and is so very peaceful.  Well, it’s peaceful off season and during weekdays but not weekends.  It seems everybody comes to have a look at the plantings and to just be there and enjoy.

All sorts of cyclists were out last Saturday.  One group talked in German as they passed me - probably Austrian, judging by their accents. It was a glorious day - sunny and warm but not hot or humid.

I walked around for hours, taking pictures. Here are some:

By way of explanation, the goose was in a tree.  I’d never seen that before.  He was squawking loudly.  Could he have been calling for a mate?  Wasn’t he even going to buy dinner first?  What a cad.

What a lovely weekend this was.  The air was clear and bright - not a cloud in the sky.  Temperatures in the high 60’sF.  It was heavenly.  We were heading to Ottawa’s tulip festival.  What a city.  They have festivals just about every month of the year.  Charlie was going to Kingston for a meeting the following day, so Arthur very graciously offered to take me around the city so I could take my pictures.  But what he didn’t know was that I needed to be up at 5AM and hopefully be out of the house by 5:30, so as to get the sweet light.

To backtrack a bit, we left around 10AM on Friday and headed East.  Around Kingston, we took the road that runs along the St. Lawrence.  Since I am crazy over the rocks in the Canadian Shield, I wanted to take our time and stop along the way to take pictures. 

At the first place we stopped we had to climb over a low, rusty fence and smash down some undergrowth in order to set up the tripod so as to get a clear shot of the rocks.  Well, I found it awkward what with the camera around my neck and the camera bag on my back.  I had to ask Charlie for help to get me over the fence.  We got the tripod set up and I was having a great time shooting when a police cruiser pulled up and a nice, young man came towards us.

“Maam. Sir.  Please come away from there”

“Why?” we asked.

“The hydro pole is on fire” (for those not familiar with the term, that is the pole that carries the electrical wire.  Maybe you call it power pole or something.)

“Huh?”

“You’d better make it quick.  The transformer could blow”

We looked up and, sure enough, the top of the pole was smoking and flames were licking the sides.  I grabbed the camera from the tripod and took a flying leap over the rusty fence and kept running, all the while screaming “Charlie! Hurry up!” I needed no help clearing the fence, this time.

Charlie came with tripod in hand.  Since we were parked near the pole, it was a panic to collapse the tripod legs and get it in the trunk.  The cops looked worried - we weren’t moving fast enough.  Finally, but not until our seat belts were fastened (didn’t want a ticket) did we head out.  Whew!

We made several more stops without incident and got to Ottawa just before 5:00PM.  Arthur was such a pet and had dinner cooking and drinks at the ready.  We put our things away and hung out to talk. 

He’d made paella for dinner.  It was very good.  After dinner I had a shower, washed my hair and put it in rollers.  That way, I’d be ready to go the next day.  Arthur had a good laugh at my “Sputnik” head.  Later, the men watched a movie and I went to bed. Read more…

Of all things to stick in a kid’s mind.  I remember being at Webster’s Falls located in Spencer’s Gorge, when I was about 11.  Needless to say, that was a long time ago.  I remember it being quite awe inspiring the way things of nature usually are.  Sunday, we did a return visit.  It was still awe inspiring.

What I didn’t remember were the steep stairs.  They went straight down and down and down.  Then came the stone steps and still we went further down.  When we finally reached bottom I noticed that the picture I wanted to take would require some more fancy footwork on wet river stones so as to get to the large granite rocks.  I was smart and decided to walk along the river first.  Got some pretty shots, then backtracked towards the large granites.  Got some pretty good shots then decided it was time to head back.

As I was maneuvering the wet stones I slipped and, since my expensive camera was hanging around my neck and I didn’t want it smashing against the rocks, I fell on my knees.  Oh, did that hurt.  I let out a yelp and some curses. I just sat in the water not wanting to get up.  I was afraid to get up in case I had done some serious damage.  My husband and a German tourist got me on my feet.  I’m happy to say I was able to walk and, except for serious injury to my pride and torn jeans at the knees, I was relatively unscathed.  My knees hurt that’s all.

Since I have asthma, I tend to start wheezing during exertion.  You should have heard me.  Oh well, all is well that ends well.  Now, here are the pics I took.

What a lovely weekend this was.  The air was clear and bright - not a cloud in the sky.  Temperatures in the high 60’sF.  It was heavenly.  We were heading to Ottawa’s tulip festival.  What a city.  They have festivals just about every month of the year.  Charlie was going to Kingston for a meeting the following day, so Arthur very graciously offered to take me around the city so I could take my pictures.  But what he didn’t know was that I needed to be up at 5AM and hopefully be out of the house by 5:30, so as to get the sweet light.

To backtrack a bit, we left around 10AM on Friday and headed East.  Around Kingston, we took the road that runs along the St. Lawrence.  Since I am crazy over the rocks in the Canadian Shield, I wanted to take our time and stop along the way to take pictures. 

At the first place we stopped we had to climb over a low, rusty fence and smash down some undergrowth in order to set up the tripod so as to get a clear shot of the rocks.  Well, I found it awkward what with the camera around my neck and the camera bag on my back.  I had to ask Charlie for help to get me over the fence.  We got the tripod set up and I was having a great time shooting when a police cruiser pulled up and a nice, young man came towards us.

“Maam. Sir.  Please come away from there”

“Why?” we asked.

“The hydro pole is on fire” (for those not familiar with the term, that is the pole that carries the electrical wire.  Maybe you call it power pole or something.)

“Huh?”

“You’d better make it quick.  The transformer could blow”

We looked up and, sure enough, the top of the pole was smoking and flames were licking the sides.  I grabbed the camera from the tripod and took a flying leap over the rusty fence and kept running, all the while screaming “Charlie! Hurry up!” I needed no help clearing the fence, this time.

Charlie came with tripod in hand.  Since we were parked near the pole, it was a panic to collapse the tripod legs and get it in the trunk.  The cops looked worried - we weren’t moving fast enough.  Finally, but not until our seat belts were fastened (didn’t want a ticket) did we head out.  Whew!

We made several more stops without incident and got to Ottawa just before 5:00PM.  Arthur was such a pet and had dinner cooking and drinks at the ready.  We put our things away and hung out to talk. 

He’d made paella for dinner.  It was very good.  After dinner I had a shower, washed my hair and put it in rollers.  That way, I’d be ready to go the next day.  Arthur had a good laugh at my “Sputnik” head.  Later, the men watched a movie and I went to bed.

The next day, bright and early at 5, I was up and Arthur was already in the kitchen making coffee.   It didn’t take me any time to get ready (I wore old baggy jeans, a tshirt, knee pads and shoes) and he had breakfast waiting for me.  What a guy.

We headed out and I was at the park before six and, would you believe, I was not the first one?  We arranged to meet by a certain statue at 10AM and Arthur went back to his place.

I had a ball.  Down on my belly.  Trying for the real closeups.  It was fun.  Something I noticed - photographers don’t talk to each other.  They barely look at each other.  Don’t know why.  I had a few discussions with various people.  Lots of Oriental tourists.  They were sweet.  Some of them got a giggle out of my knee pads.  It must have been the paint splatters on them that made them so interesting.

A couple of people asked me to take their picture with their camera, which I gladly did.  The hours flew and I made sure I was at the appointed meeting place.  Arthur was there right on time.

We went back to his place so I could download my pictures to the computer.  I also had to recharge one of my batteries.  We then headed back out. 

He drove me all over the place.  One of the spots I really liked was the waterfall. Then we went into the woods to find trilliums and found a rare red one. 

When I took all the pictures I could, we went to the market.  Ottawa’s market is quite an event.  All of it is geared towards tourists.  There was a stand with all Native items.  The best one was a tshirt with the lettering “Oh Canada.  Your Home On Native Land”  I got the biggest charge out of that.  The native Canadians are finally coming into their own.  We had one of those great ballpark hot dogs and walked around.

After that, we headed out again and stopped at an outdoor café and had a beer.  Then, it was home.

Again, I put my gear away and had a shower and did the hair thing.  I came back downstairs, Arthur was making dinner.  This time, a stir fry.  He had no sooner finished saying “OK Charlie.  You can come any time now” when the door opened and it was Charlie.  Talk about timing.

Later the men watched another shoot-’em-up movie and I dropped into bed and had a blissful sleep.

In the morning, I packed my things.  Charlie took longer to rouse as he had had a late night.  Arthur made a great bacon and egg breakfast.  He makes terrific coffee too.  We ate and drank cup after cup of coffee and finally packed the car.  We were gone by about 9:30. 

Country folk sure are different from city folk.  We stopped in a little hamlet for lunch.  The café was busy with locals who all knew each other.  We found a table in the corner, sat down and proceeded to eavesdrop on their conversations.  Nobody was in a hurry to go anywhere.  They all seemed so relaxed.  It was fun and gave us something to giggle about on our drive home.

As I recall, we got in around 5.