Cottage Closing Weekend

No sense driving up north on Friday due to rain, we left home in the rain Saturday morning.  The weather soon dried up but as we were pulling off the highway to the cottage road, the skies opened up again.  What to do?  Chill a couple of hours.  The rain stopped and the wind dried everything quickly.  This morning the sky was clear and the sun was warm.  Beautiful day like this made it difficult to close the cottage for the season.

Early Morning Garden

Today we had the chance to revisit Charlie's garden.  When you walk through the pathways you wonder just how much time Charlie must spend keeping everything so tidy and fresh.  All I know is I would never be able to do it.

Tall trees line his property's eastern boundary.  The sun this morning was strong and the trees caused the light to enter the back yard in streams.

Johnson Barn

A year ago I tried out my then new SONY NEX 6 camera in this barn.  That was a warm and sunny fall day.

Today, with my newer SONY camera, a return trip to the barn but the weather was not nearly as cooperative.  Dark and cold.   Rainy and windy.

But the lighting and objects still never end.

Would you believe this was a brick house?

Probably one of south western Ontario's most photographed abandoned houses.  With a "Keep Out" sign clearly posted, I kept to the right side of the line but got some nice shots in the early morning light.

Some Six Mile Lake morning shots

Aylmer Walkabout

I went walking around "downtown" Aylmer and came away with these images.  It's funny how in mental preparation for this shoot, I had ideas about what to target.  None of these subjects were a target.

Below, I liked the colours in the brick and the blue tones in the window.  Neither of those were what caught my eye.  I was shooting the reflection of the window arches in the window panes.

In the back loading area of some shop, the strong morning sun lit up the iron and wood nicely.

Again, I was shooting the reflection but in post, I liked the detail and grit that contrasts the smooth wavy reflections.

This chinese restaurant has now been closed for years.  Looking inside you can see booths and counters that take you back in time.

LEMONADE

OK, I do like to play with post production programs.  On a day like today, they helped make lemonade.

Last night we had about 6 hours of rain.  Following that we received a little less than an inch of snow.  Meeting some friends at Archie Coulter Conservation Area for sunrise with temperatures about freezing, delivered deep gray skies.  No sun, no sunrise, no blue sky, no shadows.

All these shots needed lots of help.  Software to the rescue.


Fence line

Probably my favourite of the day.  Remember, I said less than an inch of snow?  That snow clung to every branch and wire.  In Lightroom, I reduced the clarity of all the background parts and increased the clarity of the fence post.  Increasing the exposure overall (even though I did over expose in camera) gave this a very soft, white result.

Tree tops

Remember, I said no sun, no blue sky?  This is an HDR image.  Back in Lightroom I increased the blue colour saturation and luminance.  If you look closely, you will see the snow on the branches.  It's not a "tell" of HDR as the white is not on the bottom of the branches.

Catfish Creek

 Here, the lack of sun or shadow worked well in monochrome.  Lots of playing with getting the level of detail and balance of whites and blacks just right.

And yes, Ron and Charon, I did these while watching TV.

Return Visit to House and Barn

Our first visit here was in October.  I remember thinking how cold it felt that morning.  Wow, that day had nothing on this January morning.  Fortunately there were lots of walls to hide behind to avoid the bitterly cold winds.  No matter how well dressed, the cold penetrated.  The house was made with mud walls about a metre thick.  Out of the wind but still sub-zero temperatures in the house left my fingers numb in short order.  Even still I was almost the last person to pack up my gear.

Boats on Ropes

Port Stanley, Ontario is known more for suntans and volleyball than as a destination for photographers in January.  However, while there this morning our group met a second group, both groups looking for interesting subject matter.  We all had the same problem - a very dim, grey sky.  No distinct shadows.

Abandoned Barn & House

Note the moon.

Shed

Sunrise.

Inside the dining room looking into the living room.

Living room

Inside a bedroom