Week 29: Almost Didn't Make It!

texture

I left it to the last minute again this week...but I have an excuse.  Have you noticed the freaking heat!?!?  Who can move in this weather?  Not me, that's for sure.  Every day I checked the forecast and it always said the heat would break the day after tomorrow.  Then tomorrow I checked again and the heat was to break the day after tomorrow again!  It never broke!  Okay, you might have noticed that I am using a lot of exclamation points so I guess my point is made...I do not like the heat.  Why then, you might ask, are you going to South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana?  Good question.  Yesterday the temperature in the Badlands was 39 degrees!  I think we might have to put all of our gear in the tent and sleep in the car with the air conditioner on.  Well, it appears that my point about the heat is not yet made.  Please Mother Nature, send us a cold snap.

Anyway, about the last minute photography again.  We got home at about 8:00 this evening and since it had cooled off so nicely from 31 to 28 degrees, I decided to take advantage of the cold evening air (yes, you should read that sarcastically) and wander through the field at the end of our street.  It is full of wildflowers (or weeds, depending on your point of view) so I put on my macro lens and sauntered as slowly as possible (but I still broke a sweat).  There wasn't much light and I had to use a high ISO so there is quite a bit of noise in the photos but that's what you get when you try to finish an assignment at the eleventh hour.

lacy

spiky

delicate

knobbly

stringy

lumpy

varied

layered

Whew...in under the wire.

But I am still sweating :(

Week 28: Shiny Happy People

street photography

I really want to do more of this but it is soooo hard.  I hate pointing my camera at people I know, let alone strangers!  I made Pam take the kids to Rotaryfest last night where she blew $30 in five minutes on two rides and one game each for the kids.  Then today I made her take them to the parade and sit in the hot sun on the concrete...all so I could have company while I snapped photos of strangers.  Pam, although I am sure the kids enjoyed themselves, I do thank you from the bottom of my heart.

In contrast to last week's blog where I had a grand total of five bug photos (two of the same fly!!), tonight I had a hard time narrowing down the ones I wanted to include.  I could easily put as many as I like in the blog (I think) but my internet is slow and as it is, it will probably take an hour to upload the 16 photos I eventually chose.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy some of these.  I certainly enjoyed attending the festival which I haven't been to for several years and I had fun scoping out the sights and people for photo opportunities.

Here is a clown.  I hope none of you have coulrophobia (fear of clowns is a real thing!).

There is some significant level of dedication needed to keep that hairdo looking good

Duncan tried his hand at this game but sadly, he did not come home with a new fish.

I'm going to guess this little cutie likes to dance.

Some kids (okay, not just some kids - Duncan and Danica) enjoying the Scrambler.

Q-tip (Pam's brother's dog) enjoying his popularity.

Before the parade, there was a Colour Blast run and many colourful people ran past us.

This princess was quite speedy.

Moooooom, when is it going to start?

This woman has been the Town Crier for 32 years!

For some reason, this truck really appealed to me...the photo made it past several deleting cuts.

I love the way the leaders of the bands are always so serious.

Is is just me or is that young guy in back definitely related to the older guy in front.  Or maybe it's just the facial exertion required to blow those pipes.

The Indian Friendship Centre Avatar float won best something-or-other.  They went all out with the costumes and looked great.

I can't remember what float this cutie was part of.

I've been considering the physics involved in tossing up and catching your drum sticks while moving.  This guy didn't seem to care about the vectors involved.

And that's a wrap.

Week 27: Bugs, Books and Blah

a bug

I didn't have as much luck with my bugs this year (last year I had some beautiful ones).  I tried early morning and late evening but the bugs just didn't cooperate.  And again, I have been unable to find a monarch caterpillar despite weekly pilgrimages to the milkweed. 

I am a week late posting week 27 (although the photos were taken at the right time) because last weekend was filled with books.  The Animal Assistance Group had a fundraiser book sale and since I had organized it, I ended up spending much of three days there.  Following the sale, the heatwave set in and I don't know about you but I DO NOT LIKE THE HEAT.  This is where the blah part of the title comes in...how I felt until the heat broke on Thursday.

Well, without further ado, here are the few, rather boring bugs I was able to find.

That's all for this one.  I'll go have a look at my photos for this week now.

Week 26: Goin' Rogue!

I didn't pay any attention to my list

It has been another lazy photography week.  I'm not sure why because the weather was nice and I didn't have a whole lot of extra things to do this week.  Just going through a lull I guess.  I wasn't worried though because I knew that yesterday would be a day of photography.  It was our annual games night day at Kathy's camp.  

Usually we have this day in August but when we sat down to pick a date, we discovered that between the five of us, the only day all summer that we were all available was yesterday!  So off we headed with our food and bathing suits and Hermione.  The forecast wasn't great - it wasn't supposed to be warm - but at least it wasn't going to rain.  We ended up chasing the sun around the yard all day then eventually we gave up and ended up inside where Kathy's dad had a fire going.  It was, as always, a fantastic day with food, fun and friends and some of the kids even swam.  It was also, my easy way out for photos this week.

Here, in no particular order, are some images from Pine Island.

Hundreds of dragonflies were flitting around.

We must save the bees.

It was Canada Day after all...

The Dools have the most beautiful property with golf green grass and many many gorgeous gardens.

Gimli and Fergus had a ball.  Here they are happy to share.

And the kids...

Levi is two-fisting the chip bowls.

Taryn searches for digging tools in the toy box.

I sense a modelling career in Danica's future.

Poor Duncan is wearing a splint for two weeks to make sure his dislocated radius is healed.  The plastic bag isn't pretty but it did the trick.

Tyler had to take allergy medication so he could play with the dogs.

That's it for this week.  Happy July!

Week 25: Family Matters

mom and dad

I guess I didn't really ask my parents if I could do this topic.  I certainly didn't check with them when I put it on the list and I am not entirely sure if I made it clear they would be front and center on the blog this week when I pointed my camera at them on Father's Day.

What is it they say?  It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission?

Regardless of the state of my permission (or lack thereof), I love this photograph of my mom and dad.  They have been married for 53 years (in August), they raised four awesome kids (if I do say so myself), they have been loving grandparents to four amazing grandchildren and countless grandcats and a couple of granddogs.  I have been lucky enough to be part of their love and laughter my entire life.

I have had the privilege of living, as an adult, in the same city as my parents for the past 25 years but that is coming to an end.  As I write this, mom and dad are probably at the apartment packing up some stuff (or maybe they are taking a break and relaxing at the trailer instead) because later this summer, they are moving to Windsor to live with my sister.  I truly believe it is a good move for them, not least because Anne's new house (which she bought to have room for them all) has a pool!  Levi has said that next summer he might just move in with Aunt Anne and find a job in Windsor for the summer.  Wait a minute...there seems to be a bit of a trend here.  Seriously though, although Levi and I will miss our easy access to Grandma and Grandpa, I wish them all the best.  And we look forward to the summers that will still be spent at Mark's Bay.

Here they are, Gene and Elayne.

And I have been negligent again...not much else done with the camera this week.  

Last Sunday when we arrived at the trailer, a friend of my dad's was there with his dog Lily.  She was so cute, I had to get out the camera.

Today we headed up the highway for a drive and some hikes.  It was supposed to be hot and sunny.  It was hot, yes, but not sunny so I didn't feel like taking any scenery photos.

This is Levi at the Pictographs.  I never go out there.

And here is a frog at Katherine cove.

Soon after we left Katherine Cove, thunder rumbled and the first few drops of what would turn out to be a torrential rain started to fall.  We drove home from Old Woman Bay with the windshield wipers flapping like crazy while listening to the latest Rick Riordan book.  All in all, a good (but not photographic) day.

Week 24: Just What Makes That Little Old Ant...

an ant's perspective

He's got high-igh-igh hopes!  Now is everyone singing along with me?

Well, I am not happy with my effort this week.  I was doing well for the past several weeks; thinking of ideas, getting out and trying them and I was generally happy with the results.  This week...not so much.  I didn't even load the photos on the computer until today and when I looked at them, I realized that all my photos are very similar in composition and subject matter.  Oh well, tomorrow begins another week (hopefully a week that is a little less hot and muggy).

This topic came from a book I read years ago (I am going to make a fairly confident guess that it was one of my Bryan Peterson books).  The idea is to change your perspective and shoot from down low...very low.  That's where I got the idea for the tulips a few weeks ago.  

Let's begin with the ant himself.  He is helping my peony bloom.

If he was able to crawl all the way to Hiawatha, this is what he might see.

Then I think he might find some folks having a picnic and invite himself along.  Thanks for the idea, Pam...it was too hot to spend much time on it today so it isn't very exciting.  I should have set the table with my picnic stuff and put out some food in the background.  Okay, everyone just picture that yourselves.

Of course any ant in my household would head to Whitefish Island.

And off topic, last night I finally saw some ducklings up close.  Pam and the kids and I enjoyed the cooler evening for a bit at Bellevue Park.

Oops there goes another rubber tree plant.

...and now you're singing it again.