Kawagama Lake Getaway

We had our first cottage escape this past weekend! Friends have a cottage on an island in Kawagama Lake, which is quite a drive north, but it's worth it to be on water and get away from it all. We went up on the Friday which was grey, overcast and rainy, but we kept our fingers crossed for nicer weather for the rest of the weekend.

View of the dump through a wet car window

Window reflection revealing inside and out

Grey day

Boathouse colours

Cold lake, warm interior

Good night bunky

Well, the crossing of the fingers seemed to work, because the next day was beautiful! Other friends came up later in the day and we enjoyed drinks down on the dock, and I did my usual water frolicking throughout the day.  There was good food, lots of bevies and interesting and entertaining chit-chat.

Blue Bunkie close-up

Our delightful hostess in the chair of truth

DBP in silhouette

Boathouse

Yours truly doing jumping jacks - 1 second exposure!

Sunset - ahhhh!

CC and sunset

Cozy cottage interior

We didn't spend too long at the cottage on Sunday as we had to head home, but it was a lovely, relaxing visit and kicked off the summer with style.

Aberfoyle

The weather has not been great for most of this summer - lots of rain.  We usually visit the Aberfoyle antique market a few times throughout the summer, but didn't feel like traipsing around in the damp.  The other weekend, however, was gorgeous, so we zipped down and joined the other keen shoppers (window- or otherwise) to see what was available.

As usual, I'm drawn to some of the more colourful and worn-out pieces, especially when they are juxtaposed with different colours, sizes and styles of other pieces.

There is always something that is a popular sales item, and this time it was cameras and accessories. I liked the irony of pointing a camera at other cameras, especially when most of them were old-fashioned film cameras, and I was capturing them digitally.

Morning Shoot

The day after my Toronto visit, I decided to get up early to take some photos down at the convergence of the Speed and Eramosa Rivers.  I had noticed on my bus rides into work that there was always mist present on the water in the early morning and wanted to try some longer exposures to capture the morning light.

Early Reflection

Speed River Ducks

Speed River Sunburst

The latter is my favourite as the sun shone through the trees creating a sunburst effect that was reflected on the water.  The mist also showed up well and you can see the sun dappling parts of it.

Toronto Tourist

Even though I work in the big smoke five days a week, I took a Friday off and went in early a few weeks ago to meet a friend for lunch.  I also took my camera and tripod in to take some pictures. I'll share a few of the better ones here.

Urban Silhouette

This picture of an almost completed new, interestingly-shaped building was taken through a gap in a sculpture, with the morning sun situated at the top of the crane.  I liked the effect of the silhouettes with the sun rays streaming along the side of the sculpture.

Harbourfront silhouette

I walked along the lake at Harbourfront and took a shot of the life-saving equipment at the shoreline, with the Toronto Island ferry and the Islands in the background.  The tree silhouette created some softness and organic shape to the picture.

Harbourfront view

 Along the shoreline, there's an interesting concrete sphere that has been there for years, but has unknown function.  Sculpture perhaps? It made an interesting foreground to the urban background that included the omnipresent CN Tower.

Colourful boats

 This was also taken along the Harbourfront shoreline.  They rent canoes and kayaks, and I like the colours of the stacked hulls and the abstract reflection they made on the dark water.  In the distance, is the old Canada Malting Company building.

University Avenue fountain

 There are a couple of them and they are situated in front of the court house. I liked how the sun back-lit the water.  If you look closely, you can see the trail from a plane in the sky, just below the sun.

Harbourfront Panorama

 I used the Panorama function on my iPhone to capture this vista. The Queen's Quay building can be seen on the far right and left of the photo.

Monument

 I have always loved this old modern building and liked the juxtaposition of the top of the monument on University Avenue with it.

Tunnel

A walkway under a building with the distant green park visible.