Needing some exercise I went down by the river – this is looking north-east along the St-Lawrence into Baie-D’Urfé with the temperature just a couple of degrees above zero and the very slow start of a very slow thaw. Willows along the shore are shining with their late winter golden bark.
It will a few weeks yet, the buds of the Magnolia tree that is touchable from the front door step will release huge flowers come spring. Even now, in a quiet way, they are enjoyable to look at.
Out this morning doing birdy things at -20C windchill. Mad, yes perhaps but we enjoy it. This tree is on the entrance road to the Arboretum and I have photographed it several times over the years but this is the best, I think. Nothing wrong with my older cameras, nothing at all, but this new one finds colours and details the others can’t really manage. Great 3-D effect too.
I am currently preparing a daily sequence of elder tree leaf buds opening … this is a sample; day 6 of the series
Canadian Elder … or whatever common name happens to be used in the area you happen to be
** For anyone interested in photography, this image was composed from seven separate photographs at different stacked focus planes to achieve without any out of focus features. Some of the new computer tools are simply remarkable.
Two days later Day (1 April, but this is real) – welcome to Canadian spring
Sparking sunlight glancing off ice-coated branches
Sometimes there is a hawk perched in this tree so it’s always worth checking – not today though. Just admire the tree for its own sake.
St-Lawrence River
