Memories fade

Looking beyond the fence
Arva, ON
October 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The muddy grey skies are beginning to spit rain as I approach the fence surrounding the church cemetery.

Motorists on the adjacent country road are slowing down, looking through streaked windshields at the weird guy sizing up the headstones through the ornate fence. I’m sure at least a couple of them consider calling 911 before they hit the gas and continue on their way.

I’ve been here before. In fact, I’ve been returning to places like this for almost as long as I’ve been a photographer. There’s a certain poignancy to them, to the stories of the now-ended lives that are marked here, and the families that visit them. Or don’t.

I get that some folks think it’s an odd thing to do. Who, after all, would want to shoot pictures in a graveyard?

But part of me likes to linger over the emptiness of these spaces, where the living look the other way as they pass by, unwilling to give more thought to a place that speaks of death. It’s human nature to not want to talk about any of this.

Which is why I feel compelled to point my lens toward something others would ignore. Because while not every story is a comfortable one, we still owe it to ourselves not to look away, and allow it to be told.

#ldnont #london #arva #ontario #canada #church #graveyard #cemetery #cemeteryphotography #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

Once there was life here, October 2020

Life in an old cemetery, August 2020

Monumental memories, June 2020

Scene from a cemetery... November 2019

Remember me, February 2018

The tree of life, June 2013

When it's over... January 2011

Remembering why, November 2008

Remembering the dead, February 2007

Sunset over a church graveyard, December 2006

Tower 1 stands empty

Always watching
Port Stanley, ON
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I was lucky enough to have been a lifeguard during my teenaged years, and it turned out to be a pretty decent launching pad into what’s become a fascinating life.

(Note to parents: encourage your kids. It’s a phenomenal experience, with lifelong benefits.)

To this day, I pay close attention to the guards and their equipment whenever I find myself at a pool or a beach, and Tower 1 at Port Stanley was no exception when we visited this past September.

The season was over. The swimmers were long gone, and the staff here had all gone back to their regular lives. Yet the equipment remained, a kind of silent sentry for the knots of visitors strolling the sand on this brilliantly sunlit autumn afternoon.

The vibrant red against an equally intense blue sky caught my eye, and I stood under it for what seemed like an age as I reflected on my own time, long ago, above the crowds, watching for anything amiss.

I was reminded of the quote by the late, incredibly great Fred Rogers:

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”

Mr. Rogers was - and is, and always will be - right: We all need more helpers in our lives. We could also be helpers ourselves. On the beach, or anywhere else.

#portstanley #beach #ldnont #ontario #canada #great #lake #erie #blue #sky #red #lifeguard #tower #bird #gulls #flight #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

After the crowds have gone, December 2022

Baywatch North, July 2021

A day at the (frozen) beach, March 2021

We stand on guard for thee, January 2013

The ex-lifeguard interview, July 2013

Wordless Wednesday - The bird of Tower 8, February 2009

Guard duty, February 2008

Ex-Cell-O prepares to say goodbye

The clock ticks faster
London, ON
October 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

This scene will be gone before long, as the derelict building inside the perimeter of this fence will soon be demolished.

So it feels somewhat appropriate to quietly wander around the surrounding streets and peer in here and there. None of this is earth-shattering, but it is a snapshot in time, a grittily poignant reflection of what used to be here, and where it ended up before someone decided to make the long-overdue decision to end one chapter and begin another.

As I slowly walk beside the fence, I can’t help but notice how the vine wraps tightly around the rusted steel and barbed wire, as if Mother Nature is serving notice that she will always prevail over whatever we choose to build.

Indeed, not far from here, wild growth has already begun to burst through crumbling mortar and brick, and if left to its own devices for a long enough time, will manage to level what the giant machines will take care of in just a few short days.

Time. It seems to move at different rates.

For decades, it almost stood still as this once-vibrant structure slowly, quietly, degraded into the ruinporn hulk it is today.

Then the decision was made to end it for good and give the space back to the surrounding neighborhood. And suddenly the clock began to tick more quickly.

This city is filled with countless buildings just like this, victims of a demolition-by-neglect culture that our civic leaders seem both unwilling and unable to resolve.

So we gently record what it looks and feels like in the hope that future generations won’t repeat the mistakes of the past.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #weston #factory #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #ruinporn #urban #city #120weston #windows #autumn #color #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

#10YearsOn - downtown destruction, November 2022

No car for you, August 2021

City held hostage, December 2020

Same building. Better view. February 2020

Stark brick against a brilliant sky, August 2019

Where I almost get beaten up for the shot, July 2019

Introverts invade the forest

Not all is ever as it seems
London, ON
October 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We were raised to believe we always needed to stand out.

Yet as I stare at the singularly brilliant orange tree screaming its presence from clear across the water, all I can think about are the relatively muted yellow and green and stripped bare trees standing beside it.

They don’t scream so much as whisper, yet they’re the ones I can’t stop looking at.

I bring this up because I’m an introvert. I get laughed at whenever I mention it. Folks figure because I spend time in front of mics and cameras that I just love me a good crowd scene.

Sorry, no.

Crowds are hard for me. I have to work myself up to making a phone call or leading a meeting. I overprepare beforehand, then need to recharge after I’m done.

Parties aren’t my jam. Sure, I’ll attend if I have to, and I’ll smile and laugh and dance. But I’ll collapse in relief when I’m done. I cherish quiet moments - on long walks, on the bike, in an isolated corner of the house - to slow everything down and allow my brain to catch up.

I’m keenly aware of the fact that our world seems to value things that stand out, that are big, loud, bright.

For most of us it starts early, in primary school, where we’re trained, Pavlov-like, to raise our hands and compete for attention as a way of validating our knowledge. Too bad for you if that’s not your thing.

So, the trees. Orange grabs the eye first and most strongly. But allow your gaze to settle for a bit and the so-called lesser lights eventually take their place on the stage. It takes time, but those quieter elements will tell their stories if we allow them to.

Trees. People. Whatever.

Maybe we’ve been looking at things the wrong way. Maybe raising our hands and hoping our teachers notice us isn’t the answer. Maybe we all just have our own way of interacting with those around us. Maybe those definitions need a bit of an update.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #westminsterponds #tree #trees #leaves #autumn #texture #color #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

When milk runs take a turn, October 2022

When colors fade, October 2022

Trees under a farm country sunset, August 2022

Leaves in the fading light, August 2020

Why I stare at changing leaves, September 2019

Shades of orangeish, October 2011

Just before the demolition

One last look
London, ON
October 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

17 years ago, I got off my bike in a once-industrial neighborhood and took a photo of a decaying, ancient factory.

The shattered windows reflected the sunlight just so, and I figured the building would soon be demolished.

For reasons known only to time, the hulking building found something of a second life, with part of it converted into a beach volleyball facility while the rest of it languished.

Eventually even the volleyball thing came to an end.

So when I found myself nearby while running errands last week, I took a walk to see what was up.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, time has clearly not been kind to this place. The windows were even more shattered than I had remembered, with chunks of the facade now completely open to the elements.

Yet wisps of autumn color still crept along the ruined brickwork, defiantly planting the seeds of life in a place seemingly hostile to it.

As I quietly snapped away, a gentleman in a hard hat and reflective vest approached and asked if this used to be a bakery. I said I wasn’t sure, but I thought it was originally some kind of machinery-making factory.

We chatted for a bit about how they don’t make them like this anymore, and when I told him I was glad it was still standing, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “Not for long.”

Turns out he was part of the demolition team, and they had just arrived to begin the painstaking process of bringing the entire building down.

He had no idea what came next for this site, but I couldn’t help but shudder at the timing. Maybe I was meant to return here before it disappeared. Maybe old buildings aren’t as lifeless as we once might have thought.

Or maybe they deserve one last chance to say goodbye.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #weston #factory #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #ruinporn #urban #city #120weston #windows #autumn #color #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

Emptiness at the edge of suburbia, May 2022

Sunny ruinporn, April 2022

Same building, again, painted by the sun, July 2021

Standing under crumbling brick, December 2020

Tim is still dead, February 2020

Shattered windows on a quiet street, August 2006

Why Matthew Perry's light still shines

How many tomorrows?
London, ON
October 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

If Annie the orphan got it right all those years ago, the sun will indeed come out tomorrow. Which means we’ll get another chance to have our breath taken away as it finds new ways to paint the sky.

It’s been doing it for 4.5 billion years or so, so there’s always another chance to take it in, right?

Actually, wrong. We’re only here for a fraction of that, eligible for only a set number of showings before we run out of tomorrows. We kick the wow moments to tomorrow at our peril, because even if it’s a certainty that the sun will come out tomorrow, there are no guarantees that we’ll still be here to greet it.

I normally don’t comment on celebrity culture, but I’ll make a rare exception this time, as Matthew Perry was 54, and his sudden loss seems like a particularly cruel example of how the universe seems to work.

He battled back from addiction, his gifts of supernatural comedic timing and broadly recognized kindness not only intact, but still brilliant. He brought light to the lives of countless people, many of whom now mourn him despite the fact that they never met him.

We honour his life, and the lives of others like him, by making sure our own light continues to shine, no matter how many times the sun may or may not come out for each of us.

It’s what we do. Or at least that’s how I think all of this is supposed to work.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #sun #sunset #sky #tree #trees #cloud #clouds #cloudspotting #weather #wx #optimistpark #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #friends #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

Sunrise, sunset, November 2020

Sunsets depend on sunrises, don't they? July 2019

Sunset from a parking lot on a hill, December 2017

As the day slips below the horizon, October 2014

Reflective sky, September 2010

Fire across the water, June 2009

Reflecting on old, memorable glass

Still lit after all these years
London, ON
October 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Among my many odd habits is this one: I don’t have the heart to sell or otherwise dispose of my old cameras once I’ve moved onto newer ones.

I suppose it’s because a camera isn’t just some meaningless piece of hardware to me. Over the years that I use it, I come to appreciate its unique quirks, its heft and balance, the way it feels in my hand, or even its sounds as I work through the controls.

Use any inanimate object for long enough and you’ll develop a certain degree of muscle memory, an innate ability to make it come alive without actually looking at it.

Besides, by the time I’m done with a camera, it’s got enough shutter clicks and dings in it that whatever I might get for it would fall far short of the sentimental value it holds for me. I feel cameras deserve to be out there, used and loved and marked up from the places they’ve been and the stories they’ve helped us tell.

So I keep them lined up on a shelf in my office, and they often attract attention from folks on Zoom calls or anyone who catches me in an interview or segment. Or I’ll just stare over at them every once in a while and muse about the chapters of my family’s life that each one got to help tell.

A camera is a fairly simple machine: a box with a shutter that lets light in - light that helps us tell stories and freeze memories in time. But over the years where it goes from a pristine wondermachine to a used up relic, it ends up becoming an integral part of the stories - our stories- that flow through the glass.

So it feels like the right thing to do to freeze these memory-makers in time, as well, to pay silent tribute to each chapter of our unfolding life.

It isn’t the actual object that we covet, after all. It’s what we choose to do with it along the way, and how it makes us feel.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #random #homeoffice #roguesgallery #nikon #canon #glass #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Grades and shades of ivy

One last colourful dance
London, ON
October 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I can’t identify plant matter to save my life. So if I’m mistaken in calling this ivy, please accept my apologies.

Whatever this is, it inspires me.

On a cold, cracked concrete wall in the shadows of four lanes of high-speed traffic, it clings to life despite everything this harsh environment throws at it.

All summer long, it ducks in between countless rounds of graffiti, followed by just as many rounds of graffiti removal. Yet still it grows, seemingly oblivious to the forces intent on killing it.

Then, just before the snows fly, it puts on one last show of colour, a brilliant gradient of sheer defiance before it disappears for good.

Next spring, it’ll be back, proving once again that tenacity beats environment every time. And even a stringy-looking plant can hold lessons for us.

But only if we take the time to stand next to the cracked concrete and ponder what’s possible.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #heritage #forest #tree #trees #red #ivy #leaves #thames #river #stilllife #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

Tenacious twine, March 2022

Creeping along in silence, October 2020

Clinging to life, February 2019

Climbing the walls, March 2018

Ivy bridge to nowhere, April 2013

Looking back in time, October 2009

He's dead, Jim, July 2008

One wet, mysterious leaf

Here for now
London, ON
October 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I’m [this] close to losing my ability to fully comprehend humankind’s ability to dole out cruelty.

So please don’t mind if I revert to sharing soothing photos I’ve taken in the one place where I can fully - if temporarily - escape from the darkness that seems to be enveloping the planet.

It’s a river valley that happens to be a short walk from home, and I’m reasonably sure it keeps me sane these days.

I came across this single maple leaf sitting on the railing of a boardwalk that crosses over a bend in the river. It was randomly covered with water droplets that reflected the brilliant sun spearing through the leafy canopy above.

The winds were strong that day, even this deep in the woods, so I was a little surprised that it held its own and hadn’t been blown into the waters below.

Maybe the universe meant for me to find it.

Maybe this photography thing is more than just the process of assembling pixels.

Maybe I need to keep returning here.

Maybe I should ponder less and spend more time playing with glass.

Maybe this is where l’ll find some of that elusive kindness.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #heritage #forest #leaf #leaves #texture #water #droplet #thames #river #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #stilllife #monochrome #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

Water droplets on green leaves, May 2023

One leaf, after the rain, October 2022

Blink and you'll miss it, September 2015

The source of all life, April 2013

A Bug's Life, April 2013

Rainbows among the leaves

Lessons from high above
London, ON
October 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

If the forest is made stronger by its diversity, then why aren’t we applying similar logic to the rest of the planet?

Sometimes I wonder if humanity is ever going to figure it out.

In the meantime, we have temporary rainbows in our midst. If only they were enough.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #heritage #forest #tree #trees #red #orange #yellow #green #leaves #texture #thames #river #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

When colors fade, October 2022

Traffic comes to the forest, October 2022

Thankful for color and whatever else, October 2022

Find the color...or not, October 2021

Let's start colorfully, November 2020

Reflecting by the water..., October 2019

Relentlessly searching for autumn color

The view from the bridge
London, ON
October 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It’s been a lousy autumn for color, with leaves that have been slow to change, often dropping right from the trees after turning a dreary shade of brown.

Part of me wanted to jump in the car and drive far away, as I’d heard other folks were having more luck further afield. But my eco-conscious conscience got the best of me and I stuck closer to home.

I kept walking over to the nearby woods, revisiting nooks and crannies in the canopy with the faintest hope that they might have something new to share, perhaps a little extra light or color.

It felt like an ongoing mission to find something that seemingly didn’t want to be found, to tease out some brightness from a landscape that had no intention of cooperating.

And as much as I whined about it every time I returned home with bupkis, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. There was something about digging through the murk that made this year’s autumn color search the most enjoyable one I’ve had in a while.

Photography, after all, is never so much about the stories that present themselves to us, without effort. Rather, it’s become about the process of uncovering the hidden, of searching for the invisible, of finding and capturing the unexpected. It’s the search, then, that’s the thing.

In the end I found some color - in places I’ve never looked before. But what sticks with me most isn’t the photos I brought home, but the stories I managed to tell as I stumbled through the woods looking for inspiration.

Photography. Life. Kinda the same thing, I think.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #heritage #forest #tree #trees #red #leaves #texture #thames #river #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

Canopy in chaos, October 2023

A tale of two trees, October 2022

When milk runs take a turn, October 2022

Finding the subtle colors within,  March 2021

Dead trees against a blue sky, October 2020

Sun-kissed cathedral

Stand right here
London, ON
October 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The Sun did its best to punch through the canopy, the leaves losing their battle with time as one after another detached in the brisk wind and floated to the forest floor.

Soon enough that battle will be over, the protective cover just a memory, the winter skies free to dump their snows unimpeded. Another season, another reality.

That probably explains why I keep returning to places like this. Because every day here serves up a different story. Because nothing here ever really stays the same. Because you never know how you’ll feel until you walk this path.

Change is the only constant here. Then again, that’s just as true outside the forest as it is within it.

Sometimes we just need a gentle reminder.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #heritage #forest #tree #trees #yellow #leaves #thames #river #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

What's a cathedral shot, anyway? October 2023

The forest stretches skyward, April 2023

The trees that protect us, August 2022

Finding peace in the snowy valley, February 2022

Deep in the wide angle woods, October 2021

Standing in a cathedral of green, October 2019

A cathedral where nobody prays, October 2011

Boop the snoot

Siesta time
London, ON
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

As a matter of fact, no, I will not be sharing my spot on the couch.

We Schnauzers aren’t known much for sharing, but we’re pretty good at hovering pretty close when we sense you need us.

And now is one of those times, right?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #calli #callitheschnauzer #dog #dogs #actofdog #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzergram #schnauzers #dogsofinstagram #instapuppy #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #ınstagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

Dog meets snail, June 2022

The nose always knows, March 2022

A dog's nose always knows, November 2021

Eight dog years, March 2015

A girl and her dog, May 2008

Bent but not broken

Shaped by unseen forces
Arva, ON
October 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We’re all blown by the same winds.

Maybe we look a little different.

Grow up in different places.

End up a little taller (or shorter).

Even sound different from each other.

But we feed from the same earth, breathe the same air, reach for the same sky.

If only more of us realized this simple truth.

Please share this. Let’s start something.

#ldnont #london #arva #ontario #canada #forest #tree #trees #leaves #grasses #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

Long grasses blowing in the wind, December 2022

Grass, snow, and memory, April 2022

Listening to grasses in the wind, March 2022

Returning to the sun-drenched grasses, August 2021

Wheat, chaff and light,  November 2006

Canopy in chaos

So many layers
London, ON
October 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

There’s a lot going on here, a chaotic mixture of colors and textures, random foreground and background elements, a riot of out-of-control growth in various stages of dying before winter.

In other words, it’s a leafy analog to real life, in all its achingly diverse and unfair and painful and tragic and stunning beauty.

Let’s just focus on the good, then. It’s how we best cope.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #heritage #forest #tree #trees #leaves #autumn #texture #color #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

An overdue walk in the woods, October 2023

Pulling out the red paintbrush, October 2022

At least we found some color, November 2021

Let's start colorfully, November 2020

Racing the sun to the horizon, October 2019

Stopping by the river to take in the view, October 2019

Fallen trees aren't really dead

How many years?
London, ON
October 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

All life has its own texture, even after it ends.

Indeed, the story of this fallen tree didn’t stop after the chainsaw that brought it down to the forest floor was powered off. In many respects, its story was only beginning to be told.

I’m just a simple human being, so I’m hardly qualified to talk about the meaning of a tree’s life. Or of any life, for that matter.

But standing beside this decaying giant, I wondered about all the other visitors to this valley who had enjoyed its shade over the years, who listened to the song of its leaves blowing in the wind, or who brought a particularly colourful example home when they finally fell to earth.

Even if they weren’t acutely conscious of it at the time, their lives were touched in some remarkably subtle way by this tree.

Trees, squirrels, people, whatever or whoever. We all brush up against each other as we wander through the forest, and we all leave some kind of impact as we do.

So before I leave this scene behind, I run my fingertips along the textured rings, silently marking off the years and thinking about the passage of time. Maybe it’s just a dead tree to some, but it still has stories to tell, and lives to touch.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #heritage #forest #tree #trees #leaves #autumn #texture #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #stilllife #monochrome #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

Craggy bark deep in the woods, November 2017

A tree meets its end, September 2016

Look in the trunk, May 2012

Barking up the right tree, July 2010

New beginnings, July 2009

Bark, cubed, November 2006

An overdue walk in the woods

Splattered
London, ON
October 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I needed to hit the pause button for a bit, so I followed the advice of friends and looked for color in an entirely new spot, deep in the corners of a forest I hadn’t recently explored.

Mother Nature was clearly busy here, splattering the canopy with a rainbow of shades and tones as she got ready to tuck the entire valley in for the winter.

I was alone on the leafy path, joined only by the occasional squirrel scurrying through the fallen leaves in search of supplies for the coming cold. The creek that shaped this valley burbled gently nearby, its cooling waters dotted randomly by fallen trees and smooth-worn rocks.

In the end, I spent more time just absorbing the moment than taking pictures of it. Because sometimes memories are quietly held rather than explicitly captured.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #heritage #forest #tree #trees #leaves #autumn #colors #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

The subtle art of finding colour, November 2020

#FindTheLight, Part 1, October 2020

#FindTheLight, Part 2, October 2020

Peering into the woods, October 2020

The ravine gets painted again, October 2019

Autumn color over St. Kevin Avenue, October 2018

The tracks we leave

Who?
London, ON
October 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We all leave tracks in our wake.

Are we ensuring they’re positive ones?

Serious question.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #random #road #street #footprints #texture #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

Theatre in concrete and grass, May 2023

Indeed you are loved, August 2021

Footprints, December 2017

Neil Armstrong was here, August 2013

Where so many others have walked, January 2012

Transience, May 2006

Branched logic to start the week

We're all seeking something
London, ON
October 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Lessons from a branch:

Dig your roots deep into the soil.

Soak up all the goodness you can.

Stretch far into the unknown.

Keep growing despite all the uncertainty that surrounds you.

Make it possible for future generations to pick up where you leave off.

Sounds like a reasonable way to start the week, doesn’t it?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #heritage #forest #tree #trees #leaves #branches #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #bokeh #stilllife #monochrome #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

Branched life, May 2023

It only takes one branch, April 2022

Finding the subtle colors within,  March 2021

Watching ghosts in the forest, February 2021

Red branches on a grey day, February 2018

Temporarily dormant, March 2013

Arches Not-Quite-National Park, May 2012

Red on grey on a windy day

Brilliantly defiant
London, ON
October 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

So I found a little color, after all.

It wasn’t much, just a couple of strands of ivy clinging stubbornly to a worn wooden fence amid a stiff autumn wind intent on getting rid of it. But it was enough to merit some exploration with the lens.

The funny thing is I had just about given up. We were almost home, and the grey sky over the grey landscape reflected our grey mood.

But then we rounded a corner and this was waiting for us, a tiny bolt of color defiantly standing against the relentless monochrome that surrounded it.

I’m sharing it here as a reminder of a few simple truths:

1. Beauty is everywhere, particularly where we least expect it.
2. We should never give up hope even when the evidence is overwhelmingly grey.
3. Life holds on tenaciously even in the harshest of places.

Again, something tells me these reedy little leaves are an analog, but I’ll leave that pondering for another time. For now, the skies are still relentlessly dark, and it’s time to head back into the woods to find the hidden slivers of color that I know are out there.

Today and every day, these tiny exceptions are always out there. We owe it to ourselves and each other to stamp out the overwhelming doubts that now cloud our minds and our hearts, and look harder for them.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #heritage #forest #tree #trees #red #ivy #leaves #thames #river #stilllife #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

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Tenacious twine, March 2022

Creeping along in silence, October 2020

Clinging to life, February 2019

Climbing the walls, March 2018

Ivy bridge to nowhere, April 2013

Looking back in time, October 2009

He's dead, Jim, July 2008