Japan photo industry distupted by tsunami quake....

The recept earth quake and resulting tsunami in Japan has affected the photography industry pretty heavily. I found an interesting article on the subject at Adorama.... http://www.adorama.com/alc/news/Japan-photo-industry-disrupted-by-quake

Happy New Year

Welcome to 2011, and another year of great photography. As I start off the new year with a new camera model, I would love to share with you a sacred moment that I got to share at the Toronto Zoo this past Thursday. While testing out my brand new barely hours old D7000, I got to witness the arctic wolves howling. Apparently this is a common occurance, but rarely happens during visiting hours - only early in the morning, or later in the evening according to zoo staff. I captured the image of this fellow on a hilltop in their enclosure, and as you can see the air was cold enough to show his breath. What a sight! Happy New Year to all.

Algonquin Moose

On Monday September 27th 2010 I trekked up to Algonquin park, coming from Haliburton Forest & Wildlife Reserve where I was staying that weekend. My intention - to shoot Oxtongue Rapids for sunrise, and then venture over to the Opeongo road to see Moose. Well... Moose is exactly what I would see that day, and lots of them!

As the morning proceeded at Opeongo road, I did the usual drive slow up the road and scan left and right looking for any sign of wildlife - like many do every day. Once I reached the lake, it was time to turn around, and then come back the meadow where the new bridge has been built. This would turn out to be the spot of gold. We tracked a bull which appeared to come out suddenly from nowhere. He came to the point in the meadow, and then back towards us to the bridge, then crossing right over the road, and up into the hill where the hydro line was. Obviously he knew this path well, as he had no problem forging his way between a group of photographers and nature watchers that has massed. We would follow this guy for the next couple of hours, as he made another appearance not 20 minutes later into the second meadow. My favourite shot of the day was from his second pose, where he stopped to take a drink of water in the river. The river was nice and calm, and I got the perfect reflection shot - a great nature story ineed! Thank you to the Moose of Algonquin.

Fall Colours Are Coming!

As we approach the end of September, leaves are starting to change all around us! This is my favorite time of the year, with warm days, and cool nights making it wonderful weather for being outdoors. I have also been spending a lot of time on the weekend's this past month up in Haliburton at the Haliburton Forest Wildlife Reserve, where my wife and I lease a campsite, and have a trailer on our site. Last weekend we observed a very nice start to fall colours in the highlands of Haliburton. The forest property borders on Algonquin Park - and from what I observed - I am thinking that the upcoming week will definately be prime time to visit Algonquin park for fall colours.

We may get a nice showing right up until the October 2nd/3rd weekend, but I believe that by Thanksgiving weekend, we may have significant loss of leaves - this is just my prediction - I could be wrong! In any which case --- get outside - and check out the fall colours in your area over the next few weeks - 2010 should be an awesome year for colour.

Have fun, and keep shooting!

July Update

Now that summer is here, and in full swing, I have been spending much more time up north in the Haliburton area. I am developing a series of images from the Haliburton Forest, which I have been shooting for several years. With the 200-400VR in my line-up now, I am also hoping to spend time tracking and shooting wildlife in the forest. August is the perfect month for that, as the mosquitto's retreat, and cooler nights pervail. I am hoping to get a decent Moose image this year -- or at least that is my goal.

Some other project's that I continue to work on include the MILLWORKS project, and I am looking for an exhibition space and/or sponsorship to mount a much larger display of the Millworks images. If you would like to contribute or know someone that I should speak to, please contact me directly. I would love to talk with you. I am also going to be relaunching my self-published Millworks book upcoming in the fall of 2010. Look for more info on that.

As always - you can see some of the latest things I have been shooting at www.flickr.com/lxdesign

Photographers That Inspire!

In a recent issue of Outdoor Photography Canada, I was inspired by a couple of seasoned nature/wildlife photographers. The first was an article titled "Whats in my bag", where a professional wildlife/nature photographer dissects the gear that they carry around. This month was featuring Kelly Funk. I was surprised how closely matched our gear was. He also has the 200-400VR which I recently acquired. His website is www.naturalwonders.ca

The second photographer, of course is Darwin Wigget. I always look at his sunrise or landscape images, with inspiration to achieve a higher standards in my own photography. Darwin is a regular writer for Outdoor Photographer, and I love getting the magazine and seeing what he has to say.

This coming summer and fall, I am going to be concentrating more on my nature/landscape and wildlife work. I will be spending a lot of time at the Haliburton Forest Wildlife Reserve, where my wife and I lease a campsite on Black Lake. I spend many Saturday and Sunday mornings getting up at 5am, and driving up the north road to look for wildlife and/or a nice sunrise spot to shoot at. There are several good locations for sunrise, and I will continue to find more this coming season.

Millworks Lecture / SPOOM Spring Millers Day

Hello Everyone, this is an update as of Thursday June 3rd 2010. There is a lot going on this week!! Starting off with the end of the MILLWORKS II exhibit which was taken down this past Tuesday evening. Thank you to all of those who dropped by to take a look at the images. I received tons of positive feedback. I didn't sell any of the work from the show - so if you are interested in purchasing anything, please feel free to contact me! Keep in mind that I can also do custom sizing, and images.

Secondly, tonight is my presentation to the Beach Photo Club. I will present the body of work that I have spent the last 2 years putting together on the MILLWORKS project. The presentation will run approximately 1.5 hours, and includes a 20 minute slideshow set to classical music. If you are looking for something to do tonight, please feel free to come and listen to the talk. There is a $5 drop in fee for the club - location is St. Aiden's Church - Memorial Hall, 70 Silverbirch Avenue in the Beaches.

Finally, this coming Saturday June 5th is the SPOOM (Society For The Preservation Of Old Mills - Canadian Chapter) Spring millers day! SPOOM will be meeting in the morning at Chaffey's lock/Chaffey's Mill, and the rest of the day will revolve around the Delta Old Stone Mill which celebrates its 200th anniversary this year! At the Spring Millers day, I will be promoting my project, giving out post cards, and talking about the future of the project. I am crossing my fingers that my new post cards arrive in time for Friday.