This is another of my favorite photos from last weekend. I like the composition with the trees and the buildings, and the stark white of the undisturbed snow. A wide angle lens makes even the most mundane things look interesting.

This is probably the most interesting photo I took on my trip to the Experimental Farm last weekend. The wide angle lens gives things a different perspective... I was actually standing mere steps from the yellow house, although through a 14mm lens, it looks far away. This photo also contains something that has been rare since I moved to Ontario - an interesting sky! I really miss the vibrant prairie skies. My brother-in-law recently visited and made the comment that the sky always looks the same in Ottawa. He's right. It's always bright white, or a uniform grey... very drab and dull for a photographer. Last weekend I was rewarded (however briefly) with some amazing color and light.

This is my last icy tree photo from the Experimental Farm. It's also my favorite. I call it "Cold Comfort". I like the shapes made by the frosty branches and tree trunk against the sky.

I'm stuck in a deep and seemingly endless rut where my work schedule won't allow me to see sunlight or eat, much less spend time with my husband, cats or camera. I'm afraid there won't be any new photos until the weekend unless something unexpected happens... It's not unheard of, but I won't hold my breath.

Here's another icy tree photo from our cold and wet excursion to the Experimental Farm. There was moss growing on this tree. I was hoping that the greens and yellows would be more vivid, but as it stands the moss was barely visible in the photo. This one actually ended up looking better in monochrome.

Today is a special day. Not only is it New Year's Eve, it is also the 1 year anniversary of the day I bought my DSLR. One year and ~13700 shutter clicks later, I hope I'm a better photographer. If nothing else, it has been fun.

It snowed all day today... not really a blizzard, just fat flakes falling relentlessly. I had to wrap the camera in my toque to avoid getting it wet between shots. We walked to the Experimental Farm, where I took quite a few photos this fall. Different seasons bring different subject matter. In the fall, about 90% of my Experimental Farm photos were taken with the 50mm lens, and the other 10% split between the macro and the Lensbaby. Today I put the 50mm on the camera and brought the new 70-200mm zoom in case there were any birds to be photographed. As it turns out, I spent much of the day wishing for the wide angle and the macro. There was too much distracting background material in the fall to take wide angle shots... now the trees have lost their leaves and the corn fields have been replaced by a clean blanket of white snow. Everything is much more open. The trees are encrusted in ice and snow - perfect fodder for the macro lens. Nonetheless, the best lens is the one that you have with you and know how to use... and the 50 is a versatile little gem. Here is one of the icy trees I managed to photograph. I might return later on this week with a different selection of lenses, weather and life permitting.

The experimental farm is surrounded by barbed wire. When I took this photo, I liked the green and gold colors in the background with the barbed wire crisp in the foreground. The photo reminds me of a flag... albeit the flag of a country with an oppressive government!

When I walked through the Experimental Farm on my way to the botanical garden, I saw a couple of ears of corn poking out just waiting to be harvested. To be honest, I was strongly tempted to steal an ear of corn. I have no idea why... in fact, I had corn on the cob sitting in my fridge at home waiting to be eaten. The sun was shining on the corn making it glow temptingly, and I debated for a long time before deciding not to take a cob. A guy in a Government of Canada jeep had, after all, driven up just as I had decided to go take photos in the middle of the corn field on my previous trip... Who knows... maybe stealing government corn is a federal offense. Being an "experimental" farm, who knows what they are doing to the corn? Besides... my camera bag is jam-packed with gear. There is no room for corn cobs! I decided to capture the corn with my camera rather than stealing it. On the way home, I didn't have to worry about temptation. The birds had beaten me to the corn cobs, which were lying on the ground, half-eaten.

I didn't have time for a long photo journey today, but I did go to the Experimental Farm. The farm is very close to my house, and every time I pass it, it seems odd to see fields of crops growing right in the middle of the city. As soon as I moved here, I made a mental note to myself to photograph the corn one day. I was hoping for a dark, ominous sky in the background, and today I got exactly that!

I wandered around a bit and took lots of photos of the fall scenery. The light was very good despite the thick clouds. I'll be posting more photos in the coming days. The farm is surrounded by barbed wire fence. I found a break in the fence and thought it might be nice to wander into the midst of the corn and take some photos from there... perhaps even take some photos looking up at the sky while laying on my back in the corn field. Unfortunately someone who drove up in a Government of Canada truck just then thought otherwise.

It's good that I didn't have time to venture too far, because the skies tore open suddenly and down came the rain. I actually took my jacket off and wrapped the camera in it to keep it dry while I ran home.

Back in February, I was thinking to myself that it's not a real photo journey if you don't arrive home shivering and soaked. I guess that makes today's trip a bonafide photo journey, even though it was brief.