Fences/ CDP Theme Day

 Fences around blue barn at sunrise

November 1st and it's City Daily Photo Theme Day. And the theme is FENCES.

Vertical view

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Skeletons/ Our World

 Seen at artist Viktor Tinkl's home, Sunderland, Ontario

Some of us have skeletons in our closets but Viktor Tinkl has them on his house and in various places around the property he owns with his wife, Judith.  Tinkl's figures are made of cement so are permanent -- not just for Halloween.

On the side of his workshop

Menacing? No! Tinkl's art is more humourous than scary.

Do you feel the joie de vivre here?

Okay, the photo above is NOT of a skeleton, but don't you agree that the figures here look like they are having FUN?

 Another skeleton but created in a different style

Have you also noticed that Tinkl uses recycled materials as well as cement?

Click HERE to see tons more photos celebrating Our World.

Spooky/ Creative Exchange

 Collingwood, Ontario

Strange things have been known to happen at the end of October! And this is spooky, for sure - but not created by anything supernatural. This is "planet photography" following the tutorial found at Dirk's Photo Blog HERE.

 Meaford, Ontario

Farm south of Collingwood

Happy Halloween!

I am  Linking to The Creative Exchange HERE.

The Lake/ SOOC

A few weeks ago in Muskoka Lakes, Ontario

To see more photos straight out of the camera, visit Jan's  SOOC at Murietta365.

Wanna Play?/ Camera Critters

Talk my owner into unhooking my leash and we can PLAY!

To join in the fun, visit Misty Dawn at CAMERA CRITTERS 

Boathouse/ Weekend Reflections

Boathouse in Ontario's Cottage Country

The trees are bare or nearly so now but we can reflect on what it looked like back in early October.

To see reflections from around the world, visit James at Weekend Reflections HERE

Pumpkins/ Sky Watch

Pumpkins for sale, East Gwillimbury

It was a dark and stormy night...Boo! Are you ready for Halloween?

To see tons of beautiful skies from around the world, visit

  Sky Watch

Scarecrow Invasion/ Alphabe-Thursday

 Scarecrows hanging from a lamp post

Alphabe-Thursday is celebrating a second week of non-alphabet posts, this week "anything autumn."

And here we have representatives from the 2011 Scarecrow Invasion held in Meaford, Ontario - an annual family event that has been held for 15 years.

Just hanging around

Culture Days were held a few weekends ago (September 30 through October 2) but many scarecrows were still hanging in there two weeks later when I took these photos.

Hanging together

And in spite of rain and wind, they were in pretty good condition.

Hanging in there

I am linking to Jenny Matlock at Alphabe-Thursday HERE

October 26/ Nature Notes

It's still garden season!

We've experienced a couple of mild frosts but some flowers still continue to bloom in my gardens. I took these photos on Sunday. We have had a few days of overcast skies and rain with ONE sunny day in between.

Largest square: flower fly on toad lily (Tricyris). Moving clockwise: Hydrangea 'Limelight' . yellow butterfly bush (Buddleia), barberry (Berberis 'Rosy Glow), phlox, and seedheads of grass (Miscanthis).

Please visit Michelle at Rambling Woods for more NATURE NOTES.

Georgian Bay/ NF Waters

South shore of Georgian Bay near Collingwood, Ontario

Nine days ago, the day alternated between overcast with drizzle and sunshine with puffy clouds.  The wind was quite blustery the whole time, though!

I am linking to Watery Wednesday where you can find many more watery photos.

and I am linking to NFWaters HERE.

End of Season/ Our World

Crane lifting a boat out of the water

Eight days ago marked the end of the boating season for many boaters in Thornbury on Georgian Bay. Here you see a crane that had just hoisted this boat out of the harbour and was slowing swinging it over over two other boats to its stand where it will stay for the winter.

Straps that hold the boat

When the boat was still in the water, these straps were slowly positioned under the boat.

Moving to over the boat stand

The boats owners and a couple of workers are watching. If you look carefully, you can see that one of the the workers in brown has one end of a rope and is guiding the bow of the boat into position before it's  lowered onto the stand.

Setting the boat into its stand

Now that the boat is on its stand, the owners can check out the boat's hull to see if it needs work before next spring when it will be hoisted up and over and back into the water.

Click HERE to see tons more photos about Our World.

Planet Photography/ Creative Exchange

 Windy, eh?

Yes, I have been playing in Photoshop Elements again!

This is "planet photography" following the tutorial found at Dirk's Photo Blog HERE plus some added "shadows" that I hope makes this photo look like it's twirling like the blades on a wind turbine.

FYI: This photo is not pro or anti wind turbines.

Original photo cropped so its length is 3 times its height

The Province of Ontario uses wind turbines in the Shelburne area to produce some of its electricity. I took this photo a week ago on our way to visit some waterfalls south of Georgian Bay. Along the way we passed fields and fields of turbines turning in the wind.

We stopped so I could take several photos including this one on farm fields near an old country church. I was fascinated by the old architecture in contrast to the tall, sleek turbines but to me the photo lacked character so I decided to play with it following Dirk's instructions.

Planet Photography

And this is the result.  I was pleased how the wind turbines stood out from the rest of the "planet" but I wanted to add the feeling of movement so in Photoshop Elements I made a pencil sketch and rotated it 90°and 180° to make two copies.

Planet Photography pencil sketch 1

Then in layers, I placed Planet Photography pencil sketch 2 over pencil sketch 1 at 50°% opacity, and then placed the coloured Planet Photographer over all at 75%,

I'm sure this idea can be improved upon.

I am connecting to Creative Exchange HERE.

Autumn Leaves/ SOOC

Colourful maple leaves

To see more photos straight out of the camera, visit Jan's  SOOC at Murietta365.

Attention, Please!/ Camera Critters

Sheep in mid October eager to be photographed

Take a look at this photo and you'll see that 8 out of 9 sheep surveyed think my camera and I are very interesting.

Oh wait!

Make that 7.

To join in the fun, visit Misty Dawn at CAMERA CRITTERS 

Puddle/ Weekend Reflections

Puddle on a country road, East Gwillimbury

This photo was taken down the road apiece from yesterday's Sky Watch photo.

To see reflections from around the world, visit James at Weekend Reflections HERE

Autumn Field/ Sky Watch

Sunset over fenced-in field, East Gwillimbury

  Sky Watch

Autumn Colour

Heading north to Muskola

This week's Alphabe-Thursday challenge is not a letter in the alphabet. Nope, this week our assignment is to post autumn colour.

Some of Ontario's best colour is in Muskoka - part of Ontario's Cottage Country - which is halfway between the Equator and the North Pole (I kid you not) so reds and oranges have already given way to yellows and bare branches.

The red bulb marks Bracebridge on latitude 45°N

Rosseau River

But fear not! We chose a delightful, bright sunny day in early October for our road trip/ photo shoot.

Reflections in unknown lake

I am linking to Jenny Matlock at Alphabe-Thursday HERE

Oct 19/ Nature Notes

This week in south-central Ontario

The largest square: In some places the trees are bare and leaves line the ground below. Moving clockwise: asters are still in bloom; red haws hang on their branches; witch hazel swing in the breeze; fox grapes are ready to be eaten by wildlife; and many trees are still showing colour

Please visit Michelle at Rambling Woods for more NATURE NOTES.

Dee Bank/ NFWater

Colour at Dee Bank Falls near Windemere, Ontario

Although small, Dee Bank Falls is natural and very pretty.

Below the falls in the first photo

I am linking to NF Waters HERE.

Inglis Falls/ Our World

 Inglis Falls, Owen Sound, Onatrio

On land owned by a conservation authority, this fan-shaped falls is about 18 metres (59 feet)  high, a little taller than a five-storey building.

 Person on rock below the fall

To show you just how high the falls is, a young man is standing on a boulder below the falls. (I think no one is supposed to be climbing on the rocks, but since he was down there I took his photo.)

Same person on rock below the falls

This area was originally owned by Peter Inglis who built a saw mill and grist mill above the falls. Both buildings are long gone.

Inglis Falls is located northwest of Toronto and is just south of the peninsula that separates Georgian Bay from the rest of Lake Huron.

Click HERE to see tons more photos about Our World.

Holey Moly/ Creative Exchange

 Back side of holey old barn

I love old barns and am lucky that I live in a rural area where there are plenty for me to photograph. The more holes the better and this one sure was holey!

I took this photo more than a couple of years ago but was never happy with the photos (I do hope I'm a way better photographer now!) until I decided to try the filter in Photoshop Elements called Pencil Sketch.

 Close up of first photo's left-hand side

In layers, I applied Pencil Sketch, next duplicated the layer and then multiplied the two and merged down.

Next I changed the opacity to somewhere between 70 and 80% and voila! some colour from the original layer came through.

 Foundation on left-hand side

I repeated the process for all four photos and now I am happier with the look.

Holes on front side of barn

I am connecting to Creative Exchange HERE.

Fall Foliage/ SOOC

Autumn in Ontario

To see more photos straight out of the camera, visit Jan's  SOOC at Murietta365.

Too Many Nuts/ Camera Critters

 I think I ate too many peanuts

I need a rest

To join in the fun, visit Misty Dawn at CAMERA CRITTERS