Christmas

The weather has been either rainy or bitter cold. Which has had a significant effect on my desire to go out and photograph.

But now that my Christmas decorations are up I can play with indoor shots.

if you look close you can see me in the green one

Playing with Bokeh. I strongly suspect that this may be my
Christmas Card next year

Barns

The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada (and other commonwealth countries). It is a day that we honour those who have served in the military. There are ceremonies everywhere and it always is on Nov 11 at 11 a.m. This was chosen as special significance because this was the end of hostilities for WW1.

There is a strong military history in our family: my two grandfathers, two uncles, my father all served. Now my son is at the Royal Military College. When he graduates he will be an officer and an engineer.

Two years ago I did a sight and sound essay of photos I took during the ceremony to enter in a competition at my photo club. It did quite well. Last year I didn't attend the ceremonies because the weather was atrocious. Instead I watched on TV. However, today was sunny and beautiful so Ed and I headed to the Cenotaph. There was a huge crowd. I decided to put together another sight and sound essay for the photos that I took but this time only for my pleasure, not for competition.

It's approximately 2 minutes long. The song is 'City Birds' by Jim Cuddy.

I am fortunate that it is extremely unlikely that I will ever know the hardships of war at my doorstep. But that doesn't mean that I don't appreciate those who offer so much.

Journeys

This is another shot of the Barque Picton Castle before she headed out to sea later that morning. I liked how she was pointing the way. Being in a reflective frame of mind this shot got me to thinking. We make so many plans and try to control what's going to happen. To a certain extent that does work. But like this ship we have no way to fully control the what's going to happen. All we can do is try to adapt to the situation.

Old MacDonald Had a Farm

Some of the animals I saw at Ross Farm. Excuse the humour.....

Peek a Moo

Brad Pitt has nothin' on me

suddenly they realized that there was a stranger among them

that's our water bowl you idiot

And. is there anything cuter than a pile of piglets?

Fancy Lake

When I drive up to the highway from my house I drive by Lake Fancy. It's a beautiful lake most of the time. On this morning it was particularly lovely

Barque Picton Castle

The Picton Castle sailed from Lunenburg today. I understand that she won't be back for approximately 3 years. Her departure was delayed due to Sandy. I was happy that it was delayed until a day that I could be there.

I, of course, took lots and lots of pictures. :) Here are some

sitting at the dock a few hours before the departure

sailing into the horizon

A Day at Ross Farm

My photo club had a field trip to Ross Farm. It's a heritage farm in New Ross, Nova Scotia. If you ever in the neighbourhood it's worth the trip.

It was a beautiful fall day. I'm glad that we went last weekend because with the storm heading our way I doubt that there will be any leaves left.

Serenity

Fall is here and every where you look there is a feast of colour. Except on weekends. It's rained every.single.weekend.

However, I take my camera with me most days and I had to pull over on my way to work to take these shots.

Keep your eyes on the center

Flower Power

So I love flowers. I take lots of pictures of flowers. My problem is that they always end up looking like, well, like pictures of flowers. I've spent the past week bringing flowers inside and trying various still-life studies of flowers- trying to convey more than just 'here's a pretty flower'. Not sure how well I succeeded. But it's been fun and educational.

Feel free to comment on any of them. :)

You are cordially invited

Our photo club is having an exhibit at a local Museum. If you are in the area, drop in and have a look at some photos. I was thrilled to have my photo chosen for the promotional material. :)

A Doggy Tale....

sorry I've been  a bit on a dog kick lately. I came across this and couldn't resist. It is not staged but discovered on our most recent hike in the woods

My Kids at the Beach

The weather has been hot and sunny all summer but I haven't made it to the beach. The other day I decided that it was time to rectify this. I grabbed my leashes and the dogs we headed to Beach Meadows. It's a beach I've heard good things about but haven't been there yet. It's a beautiful beach. There is a dog on leash rule, which I agree with. However, I was able to take them to the far end where there was no one and let them off for a swim.

come on in, the water is fine! 

Hey! That dog has a stick too!

We aren't ready to go home yet!

Butterflies and Bugs

A Walk in the Woods

I took the dogs for a walk in the woods. Well actually a stroll, it's been so hot and humid that any exertion results in excessive sweating.

The Path

I loved the colour of this one

to be honest I was afraid to caption this

Being a Tourist

a few weeks ago I had a much needed week off. I was excited that I wasn't going anywhere. The plan was to wake up, feed the horses, drink a coffee on the deck and decide what to do for the day. One of my plans was to drive the Aspotogan Peninsula. It's not far from where we live but I've never done the drive. A dear friend accompanied me on this journey. It took most of the morning and we stopped for lunch in Chester. If you are interested here is some more info: http://www.aspotoganpeninsula.com/

Here are some of the shots I took of dories:

Lunenburg

This is approximately 6 shots taken in portrait orientation and then stitched using Hugin (a free program you can download).

and this is also why you should visit Lunenburg, Nova Scotia!