2024.09.1

a toad among nature

I’m a bit behind on my processing of photos, and getting caught up.

Here are a few shots from a walk in High Park in June.

A toad sitting on a rock.

A mixed-use path leading through trees making a natural arch over the path.

A tree arching over a pond and reflected in the water, making an oval shape.

Some stone steps leading slightly to the left below a tree.

The base of a dead tree, eroded over time.

I’d like to keep them coming as I get through my backlog. Thanks for reading!

- dno. ...

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2022.12.17

squirrels of high park

Black and white shot of overcast train tracks.

A few squirrels from a walk in High Park, Toronto’s largest public park.

A black-coloured eastern grey squirrel sitting on a hump in a tree, keeping an eye out.
An eastern grey squirrel sitting on a branch amongst green foliage and munching on his lunch.
A eastern grey squirrel perched on a log among sticks and leaves.

- dno. ...

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2022.12.13

woodland shots and colour grading

A short, naturally-worn length of log lying in a woodland area.

A brownish Eastern gray squirrel clutching the side of a tree and looking at the camera.

A dirt road winding among a wooded area, with sunlight peaking through the trees in a few spots.


I experimented with colour grading on my last batch of photos. The main thing was to try and tame the bright greens of tree leaves (photos were taken in the Summer), which after applying my standard Camera colour profile in Lightroom look a little unnatural. See the shots above to see what they look like with this colour grading applied (click for gallery). It’s not exactly realistic, but I think it looks pretty nice. Not sure if I’ll take it this far again, but it was fun.

- dno. ...

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2022.11.25

great blue heron among reeds

Great Blue Heron walking among reeds in Grenadier Pond, High Park, Toronto, Canada.

I saw this fellow tramping among the reeds along the side of Grenadier Pond in High Park. Got a few shots, but I think these are my favourites.

Great Blue Heron walking among reeds in Grenadier Pond, High Park, Toronto, Canada.

I’ve been trying to take more photos of birds. Not that I want to become a full-fledged bird photographer, but it’s been fun trying to get some good shots.

This kind of started when I went to the Long Branch Tree Festival at Marie Curtis Park. While I was checking out the various booths there with my family, I found one booth was representing the City of Toronto, and they had a pamplet available called “Birding in Toronto”.

Birding in Toronto pamphlet cover

The pamphlet referred to a book put out by the city called “Birds of Toronto”, which it said was available for free in any Toronto Public Library branch. Well, I guess it’s out of print now and you can’t get them anymore, but I was able to borrow one there. It’s also available online as part of the City’s Biodiversity Series:

UntitledImage

It’s a good book, and lists (p. 58) a lot of areas in the city that are great for viewing birds. I’m definitely planning to visit these!

- dno. ...

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2022.11.24

plant growing out of a post

Zoomed in shot of a wooden post sticking out of the water with a plant growing out the top of the post. Bottom half of the plant is red/orange and the top of it is still green.

Took this shot while on a walk in High Park yesterday.

(Click for high-resolution version.)

- dno. ...

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