Bruce Peninsula

The waters of Georgian Bay are cold but clean and clear

I spent the last few days exploring the Bruce Peninsula, one of the most scenic parts of Ontario. This blog post will share some of the visual highlights of the journey.

Inside the Grotto

The Grotto is a sea cave with an underwater opening to the lake that lets the blue light come flooding in.

It's tricky to climb down to, but great to jump into for a swim!

The iconic 'flowerpot' of Flowerpot Island

We took a tour boat to Flowerpot Island. Everyone on board seemed to be a new Canadian or a tourist from some other part of the world. Thank goodness for them! They keep our tourism businesses flourishing.

A lively group of Persian-speaking tourists on Flowerpot Island

Seeing underwater shipwrecks were part of the boat tour

A non-poisonous water snake swims among the rocks

At the end of the day I enjoyed a beer with the pirates of Tobermory

Decew Falls

I had a swim under Decew Falls yesterday. It's one of the few waterfalls along the Niagara Escarpment that flows full all summer long. The climb down to the bottom is steep but worth the effort: a roaring water-world awaits. Thanks Alex Gadamer for telling me about it!

Norm Jary

I had the opportunity to sit and talk with former Guelph Mayor Norm Jary yesterday. The occasion was the 35th Annual Norm Jary Golf Tournament, which has raised over $700,000 for Community Living Guelph Wellington since its inception.

Norm receives a Certificate of Appreciation from MPP Liz Sandals, with event chair Jim Scannell

Norm was a Guelph City Councillor for 37 years and Mayor for 15 years. He was a local radio broadcaster and sportscaster. He still has a commanding voice and is a great storyteller. The punch line of his speech last night was that Gordie Howe once promoted LSD. "Everyone should try a little LSD: Love, Sacrifice & Devotion".

Canada Day 2012

I attended Canada Day celebrations at Guelph's McCrae House and Riverside Park yesterday. Here are some of my favourite shots, plus one of me with Doug Larson and the Guelph Guitar, taken by Gail.

Red Admiral

Canada experienced a butterfly invasion a couple of months ago and many of the migrants were red admirals, a small fast-flying butterfly. They soon got busy laying their eggs on stinging nettles, their host plant.

I found a patch of nettles along Bronte Creek recently and collected a few caterpillars that soon turned themselves into chrysalises, edged in gold.

Yesterday a couple of red admiral butterflies emerged from their sleep, allowing me to capture these photos before they flew off to find a mate and begin the cycle once again.

Belly Blush 2012

Last Friday evening, I was invited to be the official photographer at Belly Blush, the annual belly dancing recital, performed by Invoketress Dance in Guelph. I had enjoyed  covering the event for SNAP in the past, so it was a pleasure to attend once again.

Ishra

Cassandra

  

These women really know how to shake it up!

 

Mary

Minerva

 Congratulations, Ladies, on another great show.

Trevor Bell B.Sc.

I attended my son Trevor's graduation in Montreal on Monday. He received his Bachelor of Science in Environmental Geography from Concordia University in a three-hour ceremony at Place des Arts.

Congratulations, Trevor! You've made your mother and me very proud.

Kingston Workshop

Kingston Town Hall

Welcome to Central PS

I traveled to the lovely town of Kingston this week to lead a photography workshop with FON and 8-80 Cities.

We took a grade five class from Central Public School to Breakwater Park to get their visual impressions of what could be improved in the park to make it be more people friendly.

Their ideas were great, ranging from "more sand" to "less litter & pollution".

I was impressed. Kids are so environmentally aware today!

students exploring Breakwater Park

Fellow FON volunteers Caitlyn, Shirley & Bill

Kira gets a shot in the park

Sir John Eh! was everywhere to be seen

A view of Kingston Harbour from near our hotel

3D Family Portrait

anaglyph 3D photo by Jeff Kelly

All my children were in Toronto this week, so it was a good opportunity to get a Bell Family Portrait done.  Heather invited her friend Jeff Kelly to drop by my ex-wife Ellen's home to take a few shots of us. But I couldn't resist the urge to ask Jeff to use my 3D camera as well for a couple of quick shots. As you can see, Daniel, Heather, Trevor and Ellen are all well versed in getting the most out of a stereo image!

The image below is formatted for cross-viewing. Just cross your eyes until a third image appears in the middle. Don't worry, it won't hurt!

Berczy Park

fellow volunteer Bill Schuett guides a student

Berczy Park is like an old friend to me: familiar as the place I used to eat my lunch when working downtown, but looking a bit worse for wear now, as I revisit with a group of school children from the local Downtown Alternative School on a field trip with Focus on Nature and 8-80 Cities.

We asked the students to use their cameras to do nature studies, plus express what they liked and didn't like about the place: how the park makes them feel.

photo by Saskia

photo by Rinad

photo by Sam

These young photographers were really great. They zoomed in on the pigeons, pine cones and flowers, while ignoring the drab concrete and rusty benches. They found beauty in nature even where there was little to be had. Nice work, Guys!

Stereoscopic Fun at the Museum

Hannah & Sadie - my FON friends. Use red/blue glasses to see this in 3D.

I had a great time at my open house party at the Guelph Civic Museum last night. Over one hundred friends, and friends-of-friends, came to see my exhibit Spring Ephemerals: a stereoscopic exploration of Ontario's native wildflowers.

I was bowled over by the expressions of appreciation I received. And I sold six prints! Thank you all for coming out and showing your support. It was very encouraging. The show will be up till the end of August.

with Jan & Katherine

with Lawrence & Paul

with Carol & John

with Paul & Marianne

from Tom Bochsler

from Tom Bochsler

Here are few snapshots taken during the evening by Gail & Tom.

Click on them to enlarge.

from Tom Bochsler

from Tom Bochsler

Titan Arum

I saw the largest flower in the world today. It's produced by the Titan Arum plant which was flowering at the Floral Showhouse in Niagara Falls.


The bloom can be 10 feet tall but only lasts for a day or so. Though it is native to Sumatra, it is related to the arums of Ontario such as Skunk Cabbage and Jack-in-the-Pulpit.

pollen inside the flower

Though the flower was a day old, it had already started to wilt. It also had a strong smell of rotting flesh!