Saturday, April 14, 2007

close to home

My backyard is a rugged boulder-strewn slope that ends at a wall of sheer cliff face. The Bruce Trail meanders along the top of the cliff and offers some great vistas of Colpoys Bay. Weary-eyed, I trekked up there this morning to catch the sunrise. Here are a couple of the shots.






11 comments:

  1. I still can't get my butt out of bed. I have to remedy that.

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  2. Craig, give me a shout if you want to get out one morning. I really need to shoot some stuff around Owen Sound this spring.

    One of the tricks I do when suffering from low photo motivation is make committments to shoot with someone, so I'm obliged to get out. That can kick start you a bit!
    cheers,
    Ethan-

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. I will take you up on that once it warms up a bit.

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  5. Anonymous9:56 AM

    Ethan
    I'm heading to the peninsula this weekend, solo for some hiking with photography ops. The linear hikes are quite questionable as there is no second car. I'm looking for some directions if you don't mind for best vistas. I don't mind at all to get up early to catch the sunrise. For the sunset I was planning to go to the Singing Sands.
    Any ideas/recommendations are welcome.
    Regards,
    Ilya

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  6. Hi Ilya,
    There are a ton of great spots all over, but here are my favs...
    Have a good weekend trip.

    Sunsets:
    Indian Head Cove in Bruce Peninsula National Park

    Lion's Head Harbour

    End of Hwy 6 at Tobermory

    Cabot Head Lighthouse

    Little Cove (Tobermory)

    Barrow Bay (south of Lion's Head)

    Hope Bay (south of Lion's Head)

    Sunrise:
    Halfway Log Dump in Bruce Pen NP

    Jackson's Cove

    Lion's Head Provincial Nature Reserve

    Isthmus Bay (just north of Lion's Head)

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  7. Anonymous11:32 AM

    Ethan
    Thank you for sharing. Saturday looks very good, and some rain on Sunday will hopefully bring some interesting clouds.
    I'm a go,
    Ilya

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  8. Anonymous12:23 PM

    Ethan
    I'm back home after the weekend in BPNP. I went solo. I was completely torn between craving for hiking and photography. I tried to combine both, but it slowed by movement considerably.
    It wasn’t my first time in the area, and I even stayed @ Cyprus lake campground before, but it was before I have taking camera in my hands. I actually come to Tobermory every year, mostly in August, for diving weekend.
    A short trip report:
    - being late for the sunset @ Little Cove on Friday night, but still enjoyed the place very much.
    - not completely freezing in a tent, but feeling not exactly warm
    - hiking from Cyprus lake to 2 km North of Halfway dump point, and back on Saturday. Great vistas, very cold water for swimming (but it didn't stop me), clear air. Have seen a few individuals with cameras having a very recognizable “photographers flames” in their eyes. Nobody was carrying any tripods though, which surprised me. I was having mine on my shoulder, and I didn’t have any discomfort except for a few places I left the trail and ventured on the huge rocks along the shore. At the end of a day, only my knees hurt because of kneeing down on the rocks and roots taking pictures off a low set tripod. Next time I’ll know to bring the knee pads for sure. In retrospect, I think I was better using a full height tripod setting in many cases instead as the viewing angle was skewed, especially near the water. I did use a polarizer to get down to the bottom.
    - going to Dorcas bay to look for some flowers Saturday afternoon, but somehow didn't see the ram heads (though I was told there were out). I did see a few yellow lady sleepers.
    - driving to Tobermory for the sunset, also swinging by Little cove on a way there. There was not much of a sunset at all on Saturday, as the clouds moved in. Playing with some boats reflection in Tobermory (besides having a quick meal and ears full of country music @ crow nest)
    - black flies are truly annoying, as I didn’t feel their bites, but just blood spots. It’s OK though, nothing major.
    - enjoying a warm and dry night as it was raining from midnight till 6 am.
    - driving to Halfway Dump and spending a couple of hours wondering along the rocky beach there in both directions, absolutely enjoying a solitude in the fog. It was quite windy though, and by 10 the fog started to dissipate. I decided against climbing some rocks as it was quite slippery.
    - Went back to Tobermory to new NP center, and climbed up the tower. The view was so-so, I guess I expected more of it. The tower was quite shaking, I don’t know what will be coming out of my attempt to make some panorama shots.
    - Drove back to Syprus lake campground, removed my tent – the fly was still wet.
    - Went to Devil monument and did a short loop hike there. By the time I was finishing the hike, the sun started to get out. But at least it didn’t rain on me. Quite a difference between Saturday hike forest and maple/birch dominated area of the escarpment there. A lot of trillium flowers, which I did not expect seeing there at all; some lady sleepers too.
    - Was hoping to get to Lion’s head area just to have a quick look around for the next time, but decided driving straight home to make it for a family dinner.
    In short summary, it was great. I would do it anytime again, but my wife already made sure I don’t get any wrong ideas. (:o)
    I’ll post a link to my pictures when I get a chance to process them. I’m somewhat anxious to see what will come out, but at the same time I’m quite afraid to be disappointed.
    Thank you for your pointers,
    Ilya

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  9. Anonymous12:26 PM

    Sorry, in a post above meant to say that I reached a point 2 km past Halfway Dump point (which makes it South of it) before turning back.
    Ilya

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  10. Ilya, it sounds like you had a decent trip and hit some of the key spots. The orchids(esp Ram's Head Lady's Slippers) are tough to find... they're small and grow in a few specific spots.

    I find that my best shots are often after visiting a place numerous times... to figure out the light, the best perspectives, and simply where stuff is!

    Hope you got some good shots, I look forward to checking them out.
    cheers,
    Ethan-

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  11. Anonymous8:09 AM

    I definitely plan to return to the area with my camera. I'm getting there for a diving weekend in August, and I might just extend the weekend to have an extra day or two to walk with my camera. We'll see how it pans out.
    I made a very quick post of a few pictures on Flckr yestarday as my friends were pushing me to share.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bright_side/sets/72157600282997294/
    Hopefully I'll have some time this weekend to process more.
    I'll let you know when it's done, but I don't expect to complete it in one sitting.
    Ilya

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