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The Silhoutte: Intersecting Art & Photography

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Branching off (no pun intended) of my correlations between art and photography, I captured this silhouetted moment at Princess Point of a squirrel climbing in the trees. Although the squirrel was quite silhouetted in reality due to the clouded lighting, making it hard to spot out the exact species, I believe it is a black Eastern Gray Squirrel. The original image was not too far off from this, I brought up the white value and down the blacks so that the silhouette was bolder. Further, I cropped it so that the squirrel took up more of the frame and so that the branch along the bottom which the squirrel climbs upwards on is the focal point. It was in this editing process that, as I cropped the image, I began to view the branch as a skeletal hand, the small branches stemming from it as the fingers. The form reminded me of the Other Mother’s fragile hand in the film Coraline . The squirrel climbing upwards begins to form a story of adventure and escape from one tree to the next. Having the...
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American Robins at Princess Point

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On the morning of November 15, I drove to Princess Point with the hopes of seeing some wildlife to photograph during their morning routines. I was left quite let down as I wasn’t seeing much within the first half an hour that I was there. I could hear the birds above me, but none were low enough on the branches for me to capture. I walked up to a higher elevation point (which led to the trail area along the houses). It was on my venture here that 3 American robins took turns flying around this tree branch with berries on it. The backdrop to this was a perfect mix of orange and rosewood, the last of the fall colours still lingering.  While I failed to get a shot of all of the robins together, I managed to capture these paused instances where the robin would stop from grabbing berries and look in my direction. As with my previous photography walks, there was absolutely nobody else on the trail path, so aside from the breeze, there remained a sense of stillness. Although they are quit...
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White Breasted Nuthatch

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During my visit to Cherry Hill in October, one of the more playful bird interactions that I had was with this White Breasted Nuthatch. I came across it soon after walking up the wooden staircase which takes you to the trail’s higher part. It was quite peaceful as my family was really the only people who were occupying the space at the time that I watched the nuthatch bounce from tree to tree. It looked as though it was gathering seeds it was finding, or being fed by others, to store away. Naturally, I reached my hand out to feed it and it was no surprise that it took the seeds and fluttered off. As it landed on a branch in front of me, I knew I had to get a photo of it with the seed still in its beak. It remained on the branch for some time, allowing me to step around it at a few different angles for photos before it flew off again.  The fact that the nuthatch came to me so easily and took the seed without hesitation got me thinking about human interaction with birds, specifically ...
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Ring Billed Gulls at Christie Lake

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 Back on October 16, I visited Christie Lake Conservation Area. The fall colours were in full vibrancy, reflecting off of the lake with beautiful orange, red and yellow hues. While there was little wildlife to be seen that evening, when I first arrived at the lake, I found it to be a resting spot for tens of ring billed gulls. With the fall toned trees in the background, I knew that it’d make an exciting backdrop for the birds. I had to squat down in order to be level with gulls, some of which were swimming away further out in the lake as I got my gear out while others continued to walk around. Crouched down to their height, I felt as though I was a part of their colony. Usually when I see gulls I’m at a crowded beach in the summertime, where they are soaring low trying to scavenge for food. This setting, however, was very different. There was little wind that night, the sun was setting, and there was nobody else on the beach. Such peaceful nature allowed me to breathe and spend ti...
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Northern Cardinal at Cherry Hill Gate

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Over the McMaster reading week, I wanted to take advantage of the nice, fall weather, hoping that the climate would be ideal for birds and wildlife. On October 14, I went with my family to the Hendrie Valley Sanctuary (Cherry Hill Gate) at the Royal Botanical Gardens, a favored spot in our family over the years to go and interact with various forms of life from birds to squirrels and chipmunks.  Photographing animals throughout the day, I noticed that I often had to escape to quieter areas and allow life to come to me. This seems like an obvious task to take, but it’s something that can easily get lost when you are eager to be taking photos of whatever you immediately see. It is in these silent moments, away from the yelling kids and loud families who were sharing the trail that day, that I actually became exposed to the greatest number of birds. Patience, here, was the key. Normally when I go to Cherry Hill, I am also consistently trying to feed the wildlife, to get the birds to c...
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the Swan: my thoughts on portrait photography

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Is it bad that I can’t remember when I first started taking pictures of wildlife? For as long as I know I have always been captivated by animals - their presence, aura, beauty, difference. As an artist, first and foremost, drawing and painting animals has been a frequent task of mine ever since I was little. Going to zoos, visiting parks and trails, or even just going into a pet store are all simple day to day actions that have fulfilled my love for animals. Because of this, my close attention to wildlife has never not been constant, and perhaps that is why I don’t exactly remember when I really started to undertake wildlife and animal photography as a hobby.  While I do appreciate capturing wildlife in their environment, my photography practice has definitely had a focus on portraiture, trying to capture the true details and essence of an animal in a cropped, close-up frame. The saying that the ‘eyes are the window to the soul’ sounds cliche, but it is true! I try to capture the e...
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