Throwing Paint

OK who doesn't want to break the rules.  Mom said to keep clean.  Dad said don't throw things at other people.  Now enter people who want to break those rules and people who want to document it.  Last week I got the opportunity to shoot a paint splash episode.  Four models, two paint throwers, about 10 shooters and a couple of observers.  Long learning curve but I think we all got a few keepers.  Here are some of mine.  There was blue, green, orange, purple, black and white paints thrown but my favourite shots are all with red paint (not blood).

Blue Hour Turns Golden

Today will have been the the latest Sunday sunrise this autumn.  We got to the beach well before sunrise.  Lot's of shots of the lighthouse during "blue hour".  A while later the sun cracked the clouds along the horizon giving us "golden hour".

Hawk Cliff

September wouldn't be complete without a visit from my father and an excursion to Hawk Cliff on the north shore of Lake Erie.  Each autumn, hundreds of thousands of birds fly past this area on their way south.  Earlier in the week some 30,000 birds, mostly Broadwing Hawks, flew by.  Today's winds out of the south blew the birds on a more northerly track.  As a result there were probably more people on the ground than birds in the air.  Fortunately for us there are licensed banders nearby.  Part of their mandate is education.  Today they brought a few birds to us to teach us more about them.  In concert with the bird migration, butterflies also fly south.  I couldn't resist shooting a couple.  A couple of Kestrels flew by but were so high and fast my results were terrible.  Here are a few shots of American Kestrel and a Sharp Shinned Hawk that the banders trapped, banded and released this morning.

Evening shots

Last night we again had the chance to go back to one of my favourite barns.  We got there for sunset.  Then turned our cameras inside towards that great old Oliver.  The results of painting the outside of the barn with light was surprising - the light colour, the clouds and even stars.

Autumn Sunflowers

I guess the sunflowers felt the lack of summer more than I did.  The flowers, now dying, weren't two feet tall.  Their flowers were barely 4-6 inches.  Even in this depressed state, what is it about sunflowers that make you smile?

September's Super Moon

After thinking about how to incorporate September's super moon in the background of something, I gave up and copied last month's composition.  Then while focusing, a bird flew in front of the moon.  too bad I was way out of focus.  Tonight's moon was not clouded over like last month which gave August's super moon a nice warm colour.    You decide which one like better.

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.

August Super Moon

After working in the garage last night, I thought that a swim might be refreshing.  Then I looked up.  Oh ya, the Super Moon.  I quickly forgot about the swim, gathered my camera gear and started shooting.  Almost instantly disappointed due to the haze in the sky I went for that swim.  Later for a few minutes, the clouds broke for an instant and I got this shot.  When I went inside, I had dozens of mosquito bites.  When did they happen?

Haldimand Conservation Area

Got to love getting up late and still being able to shoot some surprising shots.  After our breakfast, a family of Cedar Waxwings came to visit.  I was excited as I spotted two birds.  Then I found several young ones.  I watched, from behind many layers of leaves, as mom or dad fed the young ones some berries.  One of the more dominant juveniles posed for me while he picked, tossed and then swallowed his own berry.



I found the pattern on the back of the spiders so interesting.  To me it looks like a cartoon version of an unhappy cat.  Oh and by the way, the actual size of the spider was about a quarter of an inch.





The flower shots were, I confess, grab shots.  I knew the effect I was going for but didn't know that there were bugs in the one shot until I uploaded the images to my computer. I kind of like the effect and prefer it to the non-bugged shot. What do you think?

Did I mention that our campsite seemed to be in the middle of a wind farm?

Six Mile Lake Scenics

A few random scenic shots.

Six Mile Lake - Some Nature Takes

Some micro-ecosystems are easily understood,  For others one week is not enough time to understand the systems at play on the Lake.

Take for instance this Dragonfly having lunch.  Easy to understand.


But now this poor Bluet.  Sad for it but easy to understand.  Incomprehensible was the attack launched on the larger fly by another Bluet.  The fly gave up the first Bluet!

Now isn't always a thrill to watch a Great Blue Heron fly, land, feed and fly away?  Early July this photo was taken.  The bushes that seem to be laying in the water don't seem to have much to offer or does it?

Turns out that the bushes hid the entrance to a Muskrat lodge.  Two weeks later this mom or dad was gathering all their kittens to save them from anymore becoming a victim of the Great Blue Heron.  Sorry no photos of the Heron's attack.

Again another easy to understand image.  The surprise here was that no other tern or gull challenged for any of the fish.

This Song sparrow came to this little cedar tree late afternoon all week.  The trick here was to get him to sit in the sunshine as the light was going down quickly in this area.

Out one morning for a boat ride this Loon looked at us and dove.  I put the boat in neutral as I expected he was trying to beat us through the narrows we were both approaching.  As expected he surfaced the other side of the narrows but wasn't too concerned about us slowly put-putting towards him.  Shortly after this shot (like 10 seconds later) he dropped down for a bite then surfaced with a fish in his mouth and he was pointed out towards a long stretch of water.  We continued on our way only to have him fly by minutes later.  Loons don't take to the air quickly.  They require long "runways".  In hindsight, I bet he was making his way to this runway upon our first meeting.

 Last week we had the fortune to watch mom and dad teach junior how to eat fish in the water.  They would catch a small fish and bring it to Junior.  However, just as Junior was going to bite the fish, mom or dad put the fish in the water in front of Junior who would then have to "catch" it for itself.
 

Hope you enjoyed the stories and the images.

Some Six Mile Lake morning shots