For Your Funny Bone

I thought for sure that I had posted this image here when I posted it on FB way back in June, but apparently I didn't.  What I thought this was going to be an update is now something new for you, although I am sure that you've seen something similar.

I found it on Twit*** one day, probably the same day that I posted in on FB, which was June 13. I find it difficult to share T stuff on FB, so I just copied the image from one social medium and pasted it to the other.

The point is that it had 5K shares as of last week. I kept on getting notification after notification of re-shares for about two months. I think they've finally stopped now or almost.

I hope you enjoy them.

Sunday Morning Fog

It was not my intention to rise early on Sunday morning. Not at all.

But when I got up at 4 to go to you know where, I saw that it was foggy out.

Says I to myself, "Hmm, there may be a photo op here."

Although I lay my bod back down for a few minutes, the game was up, and so was I.

But where to go?

I decided on the little bridge and the adjacent trail bridge.

Looking up the little bridge.

I decided to try a selfie. I can connect my phone to my camera and fire from there.

I tried a few others but found that the connection wasn't reliable, at least not at any distance. I had hoped to get a photo from this viewpoint of me on that bridge, but it was a bridge too far. heh heh

So, I crossed back over the bridge to the other side of that building in the background above and took the shot that I first visualized after parking the car over there. But I didn't have my wide angle lens on at that point. Now, I took the time to put it on. I guess this is the best photo of the morning although it won't win any prizes.

Next, I decided to go up onto the trail bridge. Once again the lens was wrong, so I trooped back to the car to put on my longer lens. There were fishers in the fog. I like the first photo somewhat; it is probably my second favourite photo of the morning.

Just for the heck of it, as a parting shot, I decided to get a quick pic of spider webs on the bridge. Why not, eh?

It was still foggy, and I could have gone to another location, but I hadn't been perky to begin with that morning, so home went I.

AC the Mad Snapper

Just a little hubris for you this morning. I thought that I would post some pics of me taking pics. Most are Sue's phone shots.

But first, one of me not taking pics, but Sue is in the frame. It was also taken with her phone, but I can't remember by whom.

Early one morning, when I went out to shoot from the bridge by town hall, Nick was out also shooting, and he got this one. What impresses me about this shot was how he moved me to the spot that he wanted in order to get a good composition — see how he has framed me amongst the foliage and next to Roy Brown, the local hero credited with shooting down the Red Baron. Mostly, I and others just grab the shot ad hoc as the opportunity presents itself, but Nick really has the eye.

At Blakeney Rapids, where we took the kids for a little water play, I wandered about, and Sue spotted me. Partly, I was shooting the kids from a different angle, but I was also partly looking for other photo ops that I could return to in better light. I didn't find many.

When we visited The Mill for Tea on the Lawn, we wandered around a bit, and Sue got me taking a photo from the bridge.

Then at the sunflower field, Sue took two more photos.

That evening when Bob and I returned for the sunset shoot, Bob took this fine photo.

Being the one with the camera, I don't see many shots of myself, but Sue gets some with her phone, and I'm glad that both Nick and Bob chipped in.

Back Again in the Morning

Somewhat late evening, Bob texted me, wondering if I would like to go back to the sunflowers for sunrise. I wasn't sure and told him that I would text him in the morning if I was all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

In preparation, I did gather my stuff, and I set my alarm for the usual 4:15. It turned out that I didn't need it as I arose at 4 on my own. This is good as it doesn't break Sue's sleep.

It wasn't so much the sunflowers that were our prime objective, but we thought that we might get a good sunrise over the farmstead and adjacent cornfields. In point of fact, we didn't turn out that way, for as the sun got closer to rising the few clouds that had been there earlier just disappeared. We did get a glow, however, and it was nice enough. (There are a few clouds in the two earlier photos but none in the second pair.)

But there was a lagniappe awaiting us. The full moon was still up in the opposite direction. Moons are tricky business, especially if you're trying to get them in context, but I managed to some degree. What I did was take my best moon photo of the lot and paste it into the correct position in the other shots.

Perhaps, my favourite shot of the morning was the last-minute one sans tripod. Go figure.

Bob says that he wants to try for sunrise one more time if possible with clouds.

Yes! We Did!

Yes! We did return to the sunflower fields that evening. Left on my own, I would have skipped it because I was tired, and it jsut seemed like so much work to get my gear together and get out there again.

But I had made a date with Bob, and he was driving, so in not the greatest of moods, I got myself ready.

It was great.

When we first arrived, the backlight on the flowers was quite something, and I took close-ups.

And then the sun began to set, so I switched to the wider view.

When I have heard other photographers say that it was worth the effort just for the experience whether they got a photo or not, I have been rather skeptical. But on that evening, I understood.

As it happened, I did get a few photos that I like.

The earlier close-ups with backlight.

Later sunset photos.

Tea on the Lawn

The not-too-distant Mill of Kintail hosts a Tea on the Lawn on two afternoons a week through the summer months. We generally manage one visit each season. We also usually do coffee with Barb and Bob on most weeks but discovered that they had never done this tea event. That, of course, had to be rectified.

I took these two photos of Sue as we waited.

A bus from the seniors residence pulled in, so the tea was more attended than usual. I snapped this on the way out, For some reason it isn't in focus, but it gives you an idea of the scene. It'a all rather old-fashioned and quaint, but it is also quite beckoning.

We walked down the trail. it was thoughtful of Bob to wear red. 😊

I took another photo of Sue and her fine parasol as we ambled about.

We also paid a quick visit to the museum, which is the former residence of the Robert Tait McKenzie family. The ladies had been upstairs to visit McKenzie's sculptures.

There is a cloister, really an open chapel, on the grounds. It is often used for summer weddings.

Upon leaving we paid a quick visit to not-too-distant sunflower fields.

Bob and I determined to return at sunset with tripods. But did we?

Two Days With the Kids

We had the kids for two days this week before they head off to Prince Edward Island for a week.

Day One was pretty well a reprise of their previous visit: a bike ride that included a stop at the bridge and shawarmas in the plaza behind town hall.

The main activity of Day Two was a trip to the Blakeney Rapids. The water is low now, but the kids were able to have a bit of fun.

Other than those outings, JJ busied himself working on a dragon version of the zodiac. He would find an image of the computer. I would print it out, and he would trace the outline.

Danica did some weaving of friendship bracelets.

She also spent a lot of time entering her pedigree (ancestry) into a database. She did mine too. I have done this twice in the past but lost both versions due to one software change and one computer death. Here's a screenshot of mine that it too tiny to read, but you can zoom in when you are in the actual program. I am the slightly bolder blue box in the bottom third; my ancestors are above and my descendants below. I think they lay it out really well.

It is a free online service at https://www.familyecho.com/ if you're interested.