photography

Promising

Posted by Ellie
A panoramic landscape with the lowest quarter in a deep shadow, field and some trees. The rest is sky with a brilliant orange and cream sunset in a blue background. The very top is a blue.
Red Sky at Night, Sailor’s Delight

With so much uncertainty in the world today, we have to hold on to promises that we’re sure of.

This sunset is one reason to always take my camera when I go for a walk. Because you know that if you don’t, something will be there for you to photograph with something better than a phone. This particular time it was with me. I confess it’s too cold to hold it at the moment and too clumsy with heavy gloves, but it won’t be long until the warmth will start again, and that’s a promise.

My Landscapes are all in this gallery.

Least Sandpipers, Kingsport Beach, NS

Posted by Ellie
4 birds with short necks and long beaks are on a sandy and stony beach. They have white buff breasts and black and brown and white wings and heads.
Sandpipers on a beach

For bird lovers, here is a blast from the past remembering warm sunny days in August on the beach at Kingsport, Nova Scotia, watching the shorebirds going about their business.

We love walking on the beach, watching many small flocks of these little shorebirds forage for food or swooping and dipping over the water. When in the air they keep a tight formation, wheeling and banking so that at times the flash of the underside of their wings makes them invisible against the water behind them. They are approachable, not being frightened particularly, except when the ball or dog lands in their midst.

This was the photograph I got in August 2014. I owe it, in part, to my friend, Linda who walked with me and Joni (and waded with us through the incoming tide that caught us unawares) as, when I hesitated as to whether to bring my camera or not, she said “you always take your camera everywhere”, so I did. And I had chosen the right lens, for once.

My animals gallery, including this image, is here.

Under the Feeder

Posted by Ellie
A red squirrel is sitting sideways on, with sunflower seed hulls scattered about on the ground. She is facing the camera with her front paws holding a seed to her mouth . There is fresh green grass behind her and a few dried old brown autumn leaves.
Under the feeder

We don’t hang bird feeders any longer due to the risk of spreading disease, but in the days when I did, we were visited by opportunistic red squirrels. They joined the mourning doves on the ground, scavanging for dropped seeds, but had the advantage of being able to climb the pole to get direct access. This was taken in April one year. It’s another few months until we see the Spring, but it will come. Have a lovely day, friends! She features on my Wildlife Gallery.

An Un-Anniversary Celebration

Posted by Ellie
An older couple are seated at a round table in a restaurant. They are kissing each other , but slightly smiling as they do so, aware that people are watching. The walls of the restaurant are stone, the table is covered with a check tablecloth and has part of a meal left on it and a bottle of water. They are casually dressed. Both have grey hair.
An Un-Anniversary Celebration – Ellie Kennard 2014

Memories – from 2014 – a fun throwback story if you want to read on…

We are in Quebec city, having a great couple of days on our way home from a bit of a tour around friends and family in Ontario and Quebec. Last night we found a little restaurant, the Café de Paris, not far from the Château Frontenac in the old town and were sitting, waiting for our meal to be served. I was taking pictures of various things in the restaurant when the owner came up and asked if I wanted him to take a photograph of us… Um… Sure, I agreed. He then proceeded to stand on a chair with my camera and tried to zoom in with the lens (he couldn’t as it was my prime 40mm) and then he complained when the lens was moving in and out (trying to focus). I asked him if he knew what he was doing and he said he did. Then he said that the picture was looking blurry. I told him how to focus and all seemed to be well. Suddenly his hand holding the camera dropped and there was a crash! He had dropped a metal cup just to give us a fright. 😀 What a great sense of humour. He was Italian, perhaps that had something to do with it?

For some reason he had decided that it was our wedding anniversary and wanted us to gaze lovingly at each other, then hold hands, then finally we had to kiss and Steve was told to ‘take your time’. So here is the picture. What a clown he was! He then asked us if we wanted an after dinner drink, on the house. That sounded good, so we sat and waited… But those promised drinks never arrived. Eventually we paid the bill and left. Anyway, here we are on our very merry un-anniversary.

We will soon be home, with lots of photos and good memories.