Rock Glen Conservation Area near Arkona, Ontario is a lovely place, especially in spring and fall. There is a picturesque waterfall above the stream shown here. This photograph was made on Velvia 50 slide film with a minolta camera and 20mm lens, tripod mounted. The slow film speed and subdued light allowed a longer exposure, lending a misty look to the water reflecting the colorful maples.
During our annual sailing cruise to the North Channel this summer, I was up before sunrise on deck with a coffee when this incredible lighting began to develop. This is Oak Bay north of Hawtham Island where we were anchored with other friends on their boats. The incredibly calm water presented a double impact. I just had to stand there and record the progression with my compact Sony RX100... a great pocket camera that's always easy to keep on hand.
I was able to get a closer shot of a female coyote in our backyard late last week. It was photographed through our living room window with a 480mm equivalent lens and a Sony a77 at 10,000 ISO (it was just before dawn. A couple of raccoons had arrived with what appeared to be part of a roadkill squirrel carcass. They quickly scrambled up a tree when the coyote arrived to claim the prize. She stayed for quite a few minutes.
Mist rises off a partially frozen Lake Huron into frigid air in this image taken early one morning. This is how the lake looks when it is only partially frozen in an extremely cold snap. It was about -27º C on this particular morning if I recall correctly.
A lone coyote makes its way through our wooded backyard this afternoon, likely following the trail of a cottontail. I just had time to grab my camera and fire off a randomly-focused shot through the window, as they move pretty quickly even at a walk. Like others we have seen in the area in recent months, this one looked healthy and well-fed, and not particularly cautious of the urban environment.
Today brings another winter storm, with poor visibility on Southwestern Ontario roads, due to whiteout conditions from blowing snow. This is a view along River Road in Grand Bend from a previous winter's storm.
Lake effect snow flurries soften the edges of the scene at Grand Bend's harbour. A light covering of snow will be welcomed by the organizers of the Village's Winter Carnival this weekend.
Three Bald Eagles fishing from the pack ice, southern Lake Huron off Grand Bend.
Yesterday I was surprised to spot 10 bald eagles, some of them juveniles, from the pier at Grand Bend, Southern Lake Huron. They appeared to be fishing from the pack ice. The Bald Eagle is experiencing a resurgence in Southern Ontario, but I had no idea there were this many in our area. They were too far out on the ice to get good shots of. I photographed this one from a whale-watching boat at Pleasant Bay on the Cabot Trail, Cape Breton in 2009.
These pilings are all that remain of a sawmill that was the anchor for what is now Grand Bend, Ontario. The mill was built around 1830 by Benjamin Brewster and a partner, at a time when the area was only accessible by water. Some local residents thought the dam contributed to flooding in the area, and the mill and dam were destroyed by fire. They were rebuilt but the dam was abandoned when the mill was converted to steam in 1878. This part of the original Ausable River was bypassed in 1892 when a new channel was dug out to the lake to the north, at the point in the river where it made a "grand bend", turning south through what is now Pinery Provincial Park.
Snow falling on the beach dune grasses at Grand Bend. The combination of a fast telephoto (200 f2.8) and shutter speed of 1/250th of a second allowed me to stop the snowflakes in relatively dim light. The resulting shallow depth of field lends a soft quality to the background.
A winter storm and prolonged cold snap has finally begun to freeze the lake over; something we didn't see at all last winter. It's a step in the right direction to slow the evaporation that is contributing, among other things, to historically low water levels on Lake Huron.
We woke to a heavy covering of snow on the trees this morning, similar to this view last winter of the old Ausable River channel near our home. As the winds came up, the snow continued on in its descent to the ground.
Roads across Southwestern Ontario are treacherous in many areas today, forcing many school closures. Increasing winds today and tonight will add to driving problems. Stay warm!
There's a winter storm approaching Southwestern Ontario, expected to bring strong winds and heavy snowfall to some areas. This scene of the harbour in Grand Bend was taken on January 3, 2010 as another storm arrived here. The peaks and ridges of frozen snow and ice in the background are on the North Pier and the lake itself, occasionally obliterated by driving snow that closed several area highways.
The first rays of sunrise catch the top of the Grand Bend Yacht Club clubhouse and clouds over a wintery Southern Lake Huron.
A fresh snowfall on top of very cold temperatures have given the harbour at Grand Bend a new cover.
As Lake Huron begins to freeze over, I can still enjoy memories of sailing our 35' C&C, Respite on warmer days. And look forward to the return of them in 2013!
As temperatures dip below -10ºC overnight this week, Southern Lake Huron is finally starting to freeze outward from the shoreline as freezing spray builds up an ice ridge in 25+ knot west winds. This hardly happened at all in 2012, and we need the ice and snow to start to bring water levels back to average!
