A Song for Ireland...

May Your Blessings
Outnumber
The Shamrocks
That Grow
And May Trouble
Avoid You
Wherever You Go.

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everybody...

Hot Winters' Day...

Another "winter" scene from the shores of Lake St. Clair beside Riverside Drive, Windsor. This young lady is catching a few rays as our City is hit with some very mild weather indeed. It is hard to believe that this is only March Break yet, and if one were to look 180 degrees from this scene, you would see little kids in their shorts splashing about in the lake. Somehow they don't seem to feel the cold like most adults do. The weather network says that from the looks of things, the temperatures will be in the high teens or low 20's for the next couple of weeks. The bike will certainly not sit idle this year, as most of the home projects and renos are done now.....

March Break 2012

This shot is for John in North Bay. Apparently it has been quite warm there also, and there have been some film crews about town taking advantage of the mild winter weather. Today, Frank and I went for quite a lengthy bike ride...well it was for me as it was my first one this year. Yup, that's my "Harley" in the foreground. We eventually found our way down to the park beside Lake St. Clair just where it empties into the Detroit River. It was about 4:30 pm when I shot this and it was about +24 C at the time. The thing about Windsor is that the seasons change literally overnight sometimes, and I am still trying to get used to the temperatures actually rising during the night time hours. I guess it is due to "lake effects" weather here, although a lot of people will give global warming the credit for it. It really gives my wife and I a big chuckle when we hear local folks talk about they can't wait to go to Florida to escape the cold winters here.....It was a great bike ride on this March winters' day!

A "Blanket" of Snow...

It has been such a hard winter in a lot of the country this year, and in other places like here in Windsor, winter was a non event. This is a shot of my neighbours car that caught my eye recently after a "wicked" snowfall of about 2 inches. It gave me a chuckle as I remembered the days when I would have to climb up on the roof of our home in the North, and use the snow scoop to remove the waist high snow to prevent the roof from caving in... Don't miss that at all, and my back is enjoying the "break" also.

Zeus has Departed......

This is a repost of this handsome fellow. He departed yesterday, and we are all so very sad. He was a real character, and had a spirit that was a joy to behold. We will miss you big fella....

For Rebekah....

Tonight I thought I'd post a couple of images applying the same type or style of photo editing to see what sort of effect I could come up with. However, I thought that I'd use it to welcome Rebekah to my blog. Rebekah is a REAL artist. She has also just taken up photography as well, and I am more than a little impressed with the images she posted on her new blog herself. She has hopes to be working in animation one day, and I have absolutely no doubt that she will indeed realize that dream. It is fun for me to fumble around in the various photo editing softwares and come up with the images that I post on here. Big deal eh? So it is with utmost humility that I offer it to Rebekah. Keep up the good work kiddo! You are right, Nothing is Impossible

Afterward......

This is my first posting in quite a while. It seems that I had become preoccupied with other things that had taken over.....like hitting a wall after finishing the kitchen project. So tonight I thought I'd make a feeble effort to get back into the swing of things again. This is a shot from a bike ride that I took last summer with my buddy Frank. I wanted to make a print of it but the blue sky was all washed out to the left of the building. This sort of prompted me to try doing something else with it, and this is the result. I only have a vague idea of what I did, and probably couldn't duplicate it again. The end result is sort of what I have in mind of what the "end of time" will look like. That's supposed to happen on winter solstice of 2012....however I have a strong feeling that things will continue long after that date. Take it for what it is and I hope you enjoy it.

Red Rose of December...

'Tis a dull dreary rainy day here in Windsor, and John, this one is in response to your request. I finished sending off the parcel and then took time out to slip over to our neighbors, Terri's and Henry's front yard. This rose bush has been blooming forever it seems, and I keep wondering when it will stop and decide that it is winter after all. So, while my wife puts the finishing touches of paint on the baseboards of the kitchen, I put my #2 closeup filter on my 75 ~ 300 mm lens, and took this shot. Yup! Roses are still blooming here in Windsor in the middle of December. We are just a week away from Winter Solstice, and I never dreamed I could ever do this. Strange Wah? While everyone else is photographing Poinsettias , I am still photographing roses.....no ice on the river yet.

Backlit Leaves

About an hour ago, I returned from a walk along the river and about the park there. I could not believe the warm temperature today. We had to remove our outer jackets, and sweaters, as we were getting too uncomfortable. As we passed along a path I noticed these leaves that were backlit by the sun, and took a couple of shots. Backlighting is sometimes referred to as "sweet light" and it is used to separate people or objects from blending into a dark background. Of course a shallow depth of focus helps accomplish this as well. In a few weeks time, the trees will be bare once more, and then they will become a more graphic element in photos. It's all good......

Trick or Treat...!

You just never know who is going to show up on Halloween night. It has been a busy time lately, and I had not put much time or effort into doing something for my blog for Halloween. Then this character shows up at the door! I had no idea just who it was at first. He had two beer cans on his hard hat which had flashing LED lights on the front, and carried a stop sign. He stood over 6 feet tall, and had this red rubber nose. At least it didn't glow, and that would have been all the wrong festive occasion..LOL! Upon looking closer, I finally recognized my friend Frank! What a guy! He is always good for a gut splitting laugh, and I ran for the camera. I finally had something funny for my blog tonight....Thanks Frank! Happy Halloween everyone....be safe.

A Hardy Rose...

This very lovely sprig of roses showed up on our window ledge a couple of days ago, and my wife told me that our neighbour Terri had brought it over for us. Thank you Ma'am! Of course I had to get out the camera and see what I could do with it. I decided to shoot it off center and use the picture for my desktop image, as most of the icons are aligned on the left side, with a few on the right. It worked out well for that purpose, and since the world has gone to bed, and I am enjoying the quiet time, I decided to use it for this blog. I played with it in Photoshop, PhotoImpact, and Corel before I was finally satisfied with the results. To have roses still blooming in October is a real treat, and they seem to be much more hardy than the delicate blossoms would appear.

Tilden Lake Evening

This is another shot from my last trip North. I have spent all of about 10 minutes maximum this fall taking Autumn scenes, and they were all done here while we stopped for lunch beside Tilden Lake, just North of North Bay. It has been a busy time, and time has become a rapidly moving thing. There never seems to be enough of it to get everything done. My wife says that I spend too much of it blogging etc.. Anyway, this is my little offering today. The quietness of this scene beside the lake feels right for a Sunday evening post. Hope you like it also.

First Oil Painting....

A couple of days ago while I was mucking around in some old boxes of negatives, I came across this one. It is a shot of this young lady's first attempt at oil painting. It would appear that I got a little carried away with the back lighting, but when you are shooting film, you don't know what the results are until you get it back from the lab. However, I had to make the artist just as important as the artwork she had created. Since the art is framed with a white border, that presents an extremely strong graphical element within the negative. This would tend to pull the eye away from the lovely young artist. So what to do? Well, frame the artist with light seemed to be the only logical thing to do, so as to draw the eye back to her. In any photo, the eye goes to the light areas, and in this case it helped divert attention back from the white rectangle surrounding the art, to the artist who painted it. I could probably have toned it down a little and still achieved the desired result...Oh well....It is what it is...

All is Quiet on Tilden Lake

About a week ago, we took a trip North to visit family and do a little visiting with old friends. We decided that it was time for a quick meal and stopped at the little park in Tilden Lake on Hwy. 11N. about 20 minutes north of North Bay, Ont.. It was while I was eating my sandwich that I realized that....no, I do not miss the blackflies, or the bitter cold of Northern Ontario winters, and a few other things that I'll not mention. However, I do miss these little quiet places that are to be found in the North. The little bench in the lower right of the picture was so very inviting, but unfortunately it was still soaking wet from a recent rain. Otherwise, I probably would have stayed a little longer to reflect and enjoy the quiet. This one is for Mike, John, Ed and the rest of my old photo buddies as well. Pretty soon there will be ice fishermen out there, and snowmobiles roaring all over. I prefer to remember this place as it is here. Hope you enjoy it also, and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.....

A Monarch is Born...

Today I got to digging around in an old box of negatives, and came across this one. It was shot with my old Minolta XK body with a 50mm macro lens using KODAK Portra 400 VC film. It looked like it was somewhat worthwhile, so I scanned it tonight, and came up with this version. I was also giving some new COREL free trial software a workout, to see if it would offer anything new that would be worth the extra dollars for the upgrade. The jury is still out on that one. Anyway, this Monarch butterfly had just emerged from its pupa stage, and would be flying off as soon as its wings were dry from the sunlight on them. I always thought butterflys were mother natures flying flowers, and it always amazed me at the lengthy journey they make down to South America after been born here in the north. This one greeted the world in North Bay a few years ago, and I watched it over a period of about 3 hours until it got to this point. It was indeed fascinating to watch. Hope you enjoy it also.

Fresh Apple Pies.....

Now that the new kitchen is about 95 % finished, my good wife decided it was time for fresh apple pies. We had gone last weekend and picked a couple of bags at Thiessen's Pick Your Own, and now they are being put to good use. Of course, this is the rewards of a lot of hard work, and she has stated that it is an extremely functional kitchen. "Thank you Ma'am". It was something that we had partly designed together, and I partly "made up" as the project progressed. Sooooo glad it's almost over finally, and we can get back to regular living again. BTW, the pies do not look like this anymore.....
"Lard Thunderin' B'y"!..... "Some good eh"?

Hot Rod!

Old vintage cars and Hot Rods were all over Wyandotte St yesterday. It was nice to have a pleasant look back at how it used to be. Polished paint and chrome everywhere. It was hard to take a picture, and not find that you were also doing a self portrait in the process, especially if you were shooting close up. It was a busy day, and I only had about an hour to spare for this event. As a result, I did not shoot nearly as much as I would have liked to. However, there will be other shows for sure, and I hope to go and do a little more shooting.

'84 El Camino

Yesterday there was an old car show just 4 blocks from my home, and I decided to go see what was happening. Well, they sure don't make 'em like that anymore! I have felt for a long time now, that in recent years, the cars all look the same. They all look like giant lozenges, all rounded and wind tunnel designed. It was really great to see these old cars again. There was '60's music blaring from speakers mounted about 10 feet up in the air, and it took you back to yesteryear. This gentleman was obviously very proud to be one of the participants in this show, and agreed to stand by his "baby". It takes an awful lot of work and dedication to restore an old car. It goes without saying that it costs a lot of money also. So, my hat's off to this fellow, and all of the others who put on a really great display of polished paint and chrome from a bygone era.

Something's a Little Weird...

This afternoon, my wife was working in the garden as usual, pruning and weeding, and I heard her call to me to come and see something weird. Well, "what could possibly be weird in a garden" I was mumbling to myself as I went to where she was. She had almost pruned this branch off, but noticed this rosebud that looked a little strange. Upon closer examination, it seems that there is another branch growing out of the center of this rosebud, and another rosebud growing on top but unopened yet. Alright then, which gods have we vexed lately? This was totally unusual, and if there is some name for this anomoly in the plant kingdom, I would appreciate it if someone could clue me in. Until then, it has been suggested that since this rosebush grows about 10 feet away from this room, and the window is opened a lot, maybe I should change my musical repetoire a little when playing my accordion, if the plants are going to react in this way... Heck, maybe I should take up another instrument altogether. Nah! My wife would kill me for sure........

P.S. Our neighbor Terri, came across with her camera and took a couple of great shots of this rosebud. She submitted it to the local TV station, and it was used on the 6:00 pm news a couple of hours later. Good for you girl!

Petunias

This little sprig of Petunias was hanging over the side of some old derelict farm equipment at the Thiessen Pick Your Own Apples Orchard today. The rusted old metal provided a nice background for the colourful blossoms, and I had to stop a minute to grab a couple of shots. I am going to use this little image to welcome aboard my blog paulatorres-96: k_klassen: and Ken Harris. Thanks for your interest folks, and I hope my ramblings on here are, for the most part, to your liking.
It has been very rainy here for the past 3 days or so, and the orchard was full of muddy paths everywhere. Cars had to be left out on the road, but I took a chance and was able to park close to where we would pick apples, and pay for them afterward. Hopefully our new kitchen will soon have the wonderful aroma of apple pies emanating from within. Then there are the preserves, like apple butter, and apple jelly. Ooooh Yeah! You gotta love this time of the year when all of the fruit and produce is fresh and available everywhere.