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Recently Adobe released a beta version of the Reflection Removal tool, through Adobe Camera Raw (ACR). As an early release, there are some limitations, but overall the tool is both easy to use and effective, given the right photo conditions. Read on to learn more.

This is article #15 in my series on Practical Generative AI for Photographers. You can find more related content in my Generative AI section on my Behance page. Read on to learn about a couple of challenges photographers can run into when it comes to naturally occurring distractions, and how I used Lightroom's Generative remove to realistically and seamlessly mitigate those issues.

As a landscape photographer who generally prefers images without people or evidence of modern civilization, the new additions to Lightroom and Photoshop are a godsend. Thanks to Generative Remove in Lightroom, I can easily and realistically eliminate distractions like tourists, sign posts etc from my scenes.  Read on to see examples and learn more about these amazing AI-based tools in Photoshop and LIghtroom. We will also see where Generative AI works well and where it can fail.

While perhaps not so dramatic as my title may imply, these photos are from the last few weeks of the 2024 cottage season at the #fortressofmoderatesolitude. This time of year at the cottage is always bittersweet; I love the autumn, its colors, quietude and cooler nights, but it's also a reminder that cottage season is coming to a close. To help stretch the time left (and to reduce the stress of packing and closing up the cottage), I've started taking the final week of October as holidays, so we can enjoy the last bit of the season more and pack up at a less frantic pace. Please enjoy these final views from and around the #fortressofmoderatesolitude in the kawarthas.

Each year, I set up a Halloween village and then later in the year a Christmas village in our home.  Sometimes I’ll shoot a video of the completed display. This year's Halloween display was captured all on my smartphone. As an experiment, I cut this video together using the new Adobe Express iPad beta. There were some challenges but overall, it worked out and I’m pleased with the result. 

Lately, we've been having large shifts in temperature between day and night, often more than 10 degrees Celsius, which can make for some stunning scenes in the early morning. It's one of the things I love about this time of year; that temperature differential creates ground mist and the even more dramatic, low-lying fog.  While great for photography, it can be treacherous when driving country roads, as you can suddenly end up in near zero visibility situations. Fortunately for me, I never lost sight of the road ahead, and in the span of just over an hour, I was given many opportunities for beautiful captures.

It was a pretty low key weekend, photographically speaking, at the #fortressofmoderatesolitude; rainy and quite chilly overall. However, I still got out there with my camera (and - occasionally - my iPhone) to make some captures.

It’s that time of year. The soybean fields transform from a deep forest green to yellow-gold. I love catching these fields as they transition from summer to autumn color, when you can see the entire rich range of colors.

We've all got that photo. The one with that really annoying element - a fence post, traffic sign, bright spot, even a person - that makes the image less impactful. Heck, we probably all have many of those photos. I know I do. Sometimes you can recompose to get rid of that element, but sometimes not. Sometimes it's  a photobomb - intentional or not - and then the moment is gone and there is no way to recapture that moment. In the "modern" past, we relied on simple cropping when possible or Photoshop tools like the Clone Stamp, Patch tool, Dodge and Burn and then amazing AI features like Content Aware Fill or Content Aware Move. But there are times when those tools aren't up to the job; the area that requires fixing can't be seamlessly blended with other existing pixels, or it's time-prohibitive to try and make it work. Read on to learn more about how both the Standard Remove tool and its Gen AI-powered option can change and even improve an existing image.

I made a promise to myself that I would get up in time for sunrise at least once this past weekend and - as usual - I'm glad I kept the promise. Sunrise on Rice Lake was magical once again. and the texture of farm fields was accentuated by the sidelight of the sunrise.

I visited with my Scottish bovine friends at Red Farm Lane! I got some very nice captures from my time there today.

I am fascinated by the distinct lines created by farm equipment as these machines navigate through fields of wheat, hay, canola and soy and the evenly distributed rows of crops like corn. The link between man and man-managed nature is very apparent, especially when the sun is closer to the horizon. Depth and texture are accentuated.

Some very exciting updates came to the Lightroom ecosystem this May (2024). Arguably, the most evolutionary of these updates was the introduction of Adobe Firefly into Lightroom, in the form of Generative Remove. Available as an Early Access feature in Lightroom Classic, Lightroom Desktop (CC), Lightroom Mobile and even Lightroom Web, Generative Remove uses Adobe Firefly to replace visual distractions in images at a very high level of realism, and with no input other than a brush-based selection. And it does a pretty good job! Read on to get my first impressions - and see the results - of Generative Remove.

A selection of my favorite bird photos from over the years.

The Victoria Day long weekend, more colloquially known as the May 2-4 (pronounced, May two four) weekend. marks the official start of summer in Canada. And while we've been at the cottage since the beginning of the month, it's kind of the official start to cottage season, too. Read on to see my long weekend of photography in the Kawartha region.

What to do when you handhold a series of exposures with the intent of focus -stacking them later in Photoshop? This could be an issue, but luckily, Adobe Firefly and other AI-powered Photoshop tools can help. Read on to learn more.

The second weekend of May, 2024, marked a visually dramatic celestial event. For the first time in approximately 20 yers, the Aurora Borealis was quite visible far from the earth's poles. It could even be captured in large city centres like Toronto, Ontario! At the cottage, we had off and on clouds through the evening, and I didn't hold out much hope to see the Northern Lights at all. In fact, visual inspections of the sky after sunset didn't appear to show any signs of the aurora, although as it got darker, I did see some stars peeking out from behind the veil.

The beginning of May also marked the beginning of cottage season for us. We had two beautiful sunny days (Friday and Saturday) and we made the most of it, between bouts of unpacking the cottage.

I dabble in bird photography and have even invested in equipment to improve my results. Yet, capturing birds poses a challenge, given their swift movements. Even minor movements by the photographer (like breathing) can significantly affect the composition, especially when using a long lens. Consequently, there have been instances where my subjects ended up too close to the frame's edge or were inadvertently clipped. Clipping a wing or a tail is not ideal, and if your feathered subject is too close to the edge of the frame, it could prove difficult to crop or print the image. Sometimes you just need a little more headroom, or space for the subject in which to "move." Thanks to an improved Image Generation model (Firefly 3) in the Adobe Photoshop beta, combined with the new ability to enhance detail in generated content, those near misses could be a thing of the past, visually, if not practically. Read on to learn more.

I remember the trepidation and excitement I experienced when I purchased my first superzoom for my Olympus camera, the Zuiko 100-400mm. I worried that it would be too heavy, or that I might not get as much use out of it as I had envisioned. At the same point, I was optimistic about being able to photograph the local cottage wildlife from a more magnified field of view. Fast forward to early 2023, when I went through a similar experience, having made the decision to trade in a significant amount of gear (including my 100-400mm)  to trade up to the OM Systems OM1 Mark II camera and the Zuiko 150-600mm zoom lens.   There are several in-depth reviews of this lens online, listing the pros, cons and rumors about its manufacturing provenance. My goal here is to provide a personal perspective on the lens, after shooting with it for about 6 weeks.   Read on to see examples and get my take on my newest lens. Abridged perspective: I really love the lens!

I am a photographer who is also a frustrated illustrator; simply put, I can't draw my way out of a paper bag. I have great respect for those who can make amazing photographs and paint or draw beautiful artwork, like Victoria White. So, when the new Structure Reference feature went live in Adobe Firefly, I was bolstered by the content I saw others creating, even from simple pencil sketches or line art. What does it do? Well, it helps you create new imagery based on your own imagery as the baseline, generative matching, if you will. Read on to learn how using a simple slider, you control how closely Firefly matches your original image as it riffs off variations based on your text prompt.

I was up with the birds this morning. And it was worth it! 

If you follow me on Behance or Instagram, you know my professional background in and personal passion for photography. I love to write, as well.  There have also been many times when I wished I had the discipline or innate skill to draw or paint, to create something visual from nothing. While that talent has eluded me, the introduction of Generative AI technology has opened creative doors for me that I had always thought closed. Presented in this article are a few recent projects made in conjunction with Adobe Firefly, then further enhanced or altered to suit my needs. It's important to remember that Firefly and other Generative AI tools are just that...tools. Unlike humans, who create when inspired, bored, or driven to make, Generative AI makes nothing without our active engagement. Firefly doesn't sit back when it's bored and starts making things up on its own, just for fun. It patiently waits for us to invoke it into action. Read on to learn more.

Very recently - as in the day before writing this article, recently - I made a substantial upgrade to my camera gear. For the first time, I purchased a flagship camera body - the new OM1- Mark II - and a seriously powerful 150mm-600mm zoom. Read on for my first impressions and see some example photos from my first couple of days with this new gear.

It's that time of year again! The Spark Photo Festival is returning to the Kawartha region this April and I'm excited to once again be exhibiting with my cousin and fellow photographer, Stephanie Lake. Our theme this year is The Creative Drive, and we've painstakingly curated our work to a maximum number of 8 prints each. This year, we've opted to go bigger than usual (16x24) and to print everything on canvas, for a more seamless, blended look to the exhibition. The larger size and limited number of images promise to result in more visual impact, while still being portable enough that an interested buyer could make a purchase and pop it in the car on their way home.  The limited number of prints will also (we hope) encourage users to take the time to look deep into the scenes and - accompanied by our story cards - give the viewer more insight into the creative drive of each photographer.

Welcome to another practical photography/Gen AI project! If this is your first taste of these articles, my goal is share and show how Generative AI can be used as a tool in your photography without undermining your own creative efforts or skills; Generative AI in Photoshop is a great tool to assist in removing distractions, or enhancing the story of your photo, not a creative replacement for your original work. This project covers three major topics; a basic outline of my post-processing protocol, my how-to for using Generative Fill in Photoshop and a deep-dive into Content Credentials and their importance in this age of Gen AI. Read on to see how I tackle a problematic compositional decision.

2023. The year that felt more normal than any since the pandemic hit. I got out more with my camera, I believe. I decided to be very tough on myself for this curation; with only 1 exception, I chose a single image from each month of the year. Much like last year, My approach was a combination of initial visual impact, followed by emotional impact. Keep reading and let me know what you think of my "top 12."

or nearly as long as I've held a camera, I've been fascinated with how a still image can represent motion. In the early days, shooting film, I had to trust my knowledge of the exposure triangle (ISO, aperture and shutter speed) to capture the image and then wait days or longer to see the physical results in film and prints. While I no longer have to wait to see my captures, that awareness of the exposure triangle - especially that of shutter speed - still pays off when it comes to capturing motion.  Join me on this blurred trip down memory lane and hopefully become inspired to test out long-exposure photography for yourself.

As a Christmas present to ourselves, we treated each other to an overnight stay at the Pillar and Post hotel, in charming Niagara on the Lake. Before arriving, we stopped for a little shopping excursion at the Outlet Collection mall, and then lunch at our favorite spot, the Watering Can.

In the past, I have illustrated my Christmas story with images from Adobe Stock and composites created in Photoshop; I've also converted it to an audio podcast, complete with music and sound effects. And I've shared my process for creating both versions through articles on Behance. This year, I've turned to Adobe Firefly to generate most of the storytelling imagery. As I've done in the past, I want to break down my process for you. Much like other recent creative projects and articles I've written on Generative AI (specifically, Adobe Firefly), I will share how this new technology fits into my creative workflow, assisting me in making my dream a reality, not replacing my creativity.

I completed a successful proof of concept earlier this year; using Adobe Firefly to realistically expand a landscape photo. The original image was captured in August of 2008. The second image was reimagined in June of 2023 - nearly 15 YEARS LATER.   Read on to learn more about this project.

This past weekend was Canadian Thanksgiving. Aside from blossoming fall color, we got our first taste of fall weather; cold, rainy, windy and overcast. But I still found time to make photos! Read on for a taste of fall in the Kawartha region

I've been writing about my adventures and experiments in Generative AI lately, with an expected bias towards Adobe Firefly. Prior articles of mine have talked about practical uses for Firefly/Generative Fill and Generative Expand. But they've been more exploratory than true project application. The Art of the Possible, if you will. Well, this week, I have had the opportunity to do more than muse about the possibilities. This week, I needed Firefly to speed up my workflow and do things I likely

It's been just over 2 months since my OM Systems OM-5 camera arrived. While it looks very much like my Olympus EM-5 Mark III on the outside, there have been some significant improvements under the hood in terms of the processor and computational photography features. Read on to learn more about my favorite features.

If you follow my work on Behance, you'll know I recently revisited a local lavender farm up near the cottage. On that visit, I also shot some footage of the fields along with my stills, with the intention of adding the footage to my Adobe Stock Library. As I was viewing/editing the clips, I decided I would make a short video using Adobe Rush. I was very pleased with the result, but a week later I got to wondering how the Adobe Express Beta would be able to handle this type of short film project. Here, for comparison, are both versions of my film.

I first visited Rocky Meadows Lavender Farm back in early July of 2021 with my wife and niece. I spent a lot of time making photos on that visit. I always intended to revisit the farm and finally made the time in late July of 2023.  I was so impressed at how well the field was doing. Read on to check out the farm for yourself.

Luck favours the prepared, as they say (I think). and this was such a case. When we arrived at a local Trent Hills cheese shop, the view past the parking lot was this gorgeous tapestry of wheat. Having my camera with me, I was ready to go, even with the slight rain shower  coming down. The rain, in my opinion, just slightly darkened the crop and added a bit more contrast and separation. Post-processing in Lightroom did the rest. Had it been a bright sunny day, this field would have look very different at 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

I've been diving into Text-to-image AI, with a specific focus on Adobe Firefly and Generative Fill in the Photoshop beta. In general, I'm quite impressed; I don't know whether to be anxious or in awe of what these tools can do, but I grow increasingly more excited to test them out in my own work. Read on to see a series of before and after images/projects. Some include subtle changes, and some - well - are NOT so subtle. I've also included some nifty tips on getting better results, curated by Adobe's Gen AI experts.

Inspired by a video tutorial from PSDesires, I thought I would try out this technique of using a reduced-intensity selection from an alpha channel to turn my photographs into painterly artwork. I'm very pleased with the overall results and enjoyed applying this technique to more than 1 photo. Read on to learn more.

Confession: I have been trying to write a new article about Firefly (Adobe's Generative AI set of tools) for a few weeks now. However, every time I sat down to start this piece, the wizards at Adobe released something new! Case in point... have you heard the news? It's all over town...people talkin... Adobe announced May 23, 2023 that Generative AI is now part of the current public Photoshop beta. That's right... Adobe Firefly is now integrated right inside of Photoshop! Just as the recently-released AI masking was the biggest thing to happen to Adobe Lightroom in more than a decade, Generative Fill is the biggest thing to happen to Photoshop since the introduction of layers.​

One of the current downsides to AI-generated imagery is the image resolution that these tools produce. The desire to increase the resolution of these assets is not new; it's been around likely since the first Gen AI image was created. And there are plenty of videos on Youtube offering a variety of methods to upscale your AI images. So... why am I writing this? Simply put, my focus will be on using Adobe tools to perform these functions, from start to finish. Read on to learn more.

Fern Gulley. I went for a stroll in the light rain this afternoon . Perfect time of year to catch the new ferns pushing out of the ground.

This month (April, 2023) Adobe dropped a new update for the Lightroom ecosystem. This capability will be a boon to photographers shooting with smaller sensor cameras like Micro 4/3 and APSC-sized sensors, including yours. There are many reviews on Youtube about the new AI DeNoise feature available in Lightroom Desktop (cloud) and Lightroom Classic, so, rather than just repeating what's already been said, I thought I'd share my own unscientific testing with my own images. Read on to see some real-world examples and read my thoughts on this latest advancement in Lightroom.

I published this article for a recent presentation, using Adobe Express. With all the recent updates and news about AI magic at Adobe, I've updated it and thought I would share it here as well. We're seeing the rise of the Creative Co-pilot, in my opinion. And that's not a bad thing.

A curated collection of images from around the Buckhorn and Burleigh Falls area.

2022. The year when the world began to truly reopen - for better or worse.  As pandemic restrictions lifted and people cautiously - or excitedly - returned to the office, or started gathering together socially - heck, even just going to the movies - I we…

The fire bushes in our backyard always put on a glorious show in the fall, but this year they almost seem to glow with their own inner light.

An unseasonably warm November weekend found me wandering around the backyard with my camera and later the two of us taking a walk in the park at the Guild Inn Park and Gardens. ​​​​​​​

Despite an overly-enthusiastic dog and his inconsiderate owner, I was still able to make some decent images early this morning, including some long exposure shots.

A recent Twitter post by the Ontario Provincial Police (and subsequent news story from Global News and other local outlets) brought to light a serious issue in Ontario’s rural areas; agricultural trespassing. I had never considered this term before - but since have also never considered walking into a field crop to get a great photo, either. There are many things you can do to capture a magical image, that don’t involve trespassing and/or damaging a food crop in the process. Read on for my suggestions. Reading the news story, I was shocked by the lack of consideration of these people in search of the “perfect selfie.” I say this because I photograph many rural landscapes around my cottage and other Ontario locations and not once have I ever stepped into a farm field to make a photo, unless I had permission to do so. I have always stayed on the road, or shot from the road side edge of the fence or field to capture these beautiful vistas.

Hello all! I'm back to writing and shooting! Below is my latest project, from a weekend visit to a local wetland. It was a great photo walk overall; my 100-400mm zoom lens never came off the camera. You can read the embedded story below (made in Creative Cloud Express Page) or visit the link for the full-screen experience.

Our fireplace and mantle are key features in our living room. In the past, I have used it as a display for my Christmas or Halloween villages. Once, I even created magazine cover shot, here. A couple weeks ago, after missing the chance to catch the actual sun as it streamed across the stone facade, I grabbed one of my Lumecube 2.0 lights on a tiny tripod and did my best to emulate the effect, quickly capturing the shot handheld at ISO 2500. The processed result is the first image. This became one of my Project 365 images. I was so pleased with the photo, I decided to take more time and "do things right." Read on to learn what that means from both photographic and post-production viewpoints.

We may have had a wet Christmas for 2021, but the evening of the first day of 2022 brought the winter weather. After an entire night of light snow, I knew I had to get outside with my camera before things warmed up at all. It was great exercise for me on many levels. I decided to take a walk in the Rouge Park along the Vista Trail. The Rouge National Urban Park is the newest - and first - national urban park in Canada, encompassing nearly 80 square kilometres. It may even still be the largest urban park in North America.

This past weekend, Toronto received its first snowfall of the season. Despite the heavy cloud cover, I decided it was still worth going to capture it at one of my favorite city locations, the Rouge National Urban Park. I was glad I did.

Recently, we travelled to Ottawa for my son's wedding. Other than the cottage, It was our first trip in nearly 2 years. We stayed at the majestic Chateau Laurier and had a beautiful - if not panoramic - view of the Rideau Canal and the Parliament Buildings. I didn't take many photos that weekend, and most of those I did capture were on my iPhone. It still captures a decent image though. Many images were captured through our view from the hotel.

Our cottage is open from May 1 to October 31. I make a lot of photos while we are there - in my opinion, a lot of good photos. By no means is every capture a "keeper", but I thought it would be a fun challenge - and a good exercise in curation - to pick 4 of my favorites from each month and share them here.

We stuck around the cottage this past weekend. Cooler weather has set in. The furnace even kicked in a couple of times at night. But sticking around the cottage doesn't mean there aren't photo opportunities all around me. I walked around the park for an hour or so and captured some great images. With the bright, sunny day that Friday was, it was a perfect opportunity to get some backlit shots.

I understand Nathaniel Hawthorne's sentiment completely. Even when the weather isn't "perfect," I feel the urge to get out there with my camera to document the final days of autumn's splendour. This third weekend of October was no exception.  Although the Kawarthas around Rice Lake was approaching their peak of fall colour, heavy, persistent overnight rain and wind threatened to disrobe the trees quickly. So it was that I found myself wandering the resort as well as the backroads near the cottage, this weekend. Read on to see more...

The ever-changing kaleidoscope of color is a sight to behold, morphing from green to yellow, gold, orange and red. It can be a whirlwind of visual stimulation. This year, the autumn of 2021, however, has sadly not been as spectacular so far. There is definitely color change, but it's often muted or in small patches, when compared to years past. The overall color scheme is yellow-gold, it seems. Check out this project to see what I did capture.

The first official weekend of autumn 2021 is coming to a close, and while l I did get out a couple of times with my camera, autumn is still playing coy with its colour. I did manage to find some, however, and not always in the foliage or on the ground.

I made it down to the lake around 6:30 this morning to see what the sunrise had to offer. While making a composition of my favorite boulders on the shore, I looked up briefly and saw our resident heron by the reeds, immobile as it waited for breakfast to swim by. I managed to get a few shots before he flew off, but this one (the first one) is actually my favorite image. I like the balance of sky vs water.

Catching the right image is often all about timing  - and some luck. If had not forgotten my cell phone at Elmhirst's Resort while setting up my Spark Photo Festival show this morning, I would never have been confronted with this scene and the perfect lighting that made me stop the car and grab my camera.

Early on a muggy, heavily overcast Friday morning, I woke up to catch the sunrise. While I was a little too late to catch the pre-dawn color, I was awake, so I decided I would make the drive to Cordova Falls, near Havelock. My wife and I had made the trip once in late June, on a weekend and it was very busy with nowhere to legally park. We only stayed a little while so I could get some photos. I knew back then that I would want to return to this spot. Read on to see what I saw.

After just missing sunrise the past couple of weekends, I finally pulled myself out of bed at 5:30 am to not only catch the early morning sky but to also capture some wonderful pastoral images featuring mist in the lowland farm fields. Come with me on that trip.

The long weekend at the beginning of August was promising be be much cooler than the recent temperatures - and also pretty wet. So, knowing that Friday was looking to be the best day,  I planned to head out in the morning before work to catch the sun as it rose over farm fields on County Road 2, near the cottage. Join me in a short photo tour of Kawartha farmland at sunrise.

When the sun is going down, you have to act quickly. I made these captures all within 25 minutes. I bracketed many compositions so I could create HDR composites afterwards and I'm glad I did. Four of the images in this project ended up being HDR, processed in Lightroom.

My wife loves Scottish thistles, and they are literally everywhere on the road leading into the cottage. So, Sunday morning I decided to photograph some before it got too hot. I had intended to drive most of the length of Villiers Line, but on this morning, I barely got 500 metres past the resort entrance.

I've just recently come off two weeks holidays, most of which were spent at the lakehouse (cottage, cabin, camp, take your pick of terms). We had a great time and I've documented that staycation in the Spark Page you see at the end of this project. But for those of you who prefer to see the pictures without my ramblings getting in the way, I'm sharing the photos here in this Behance project. Enjoy!

Considering it was my first kayak outing of the season, and the maiden voyage of my Zuiko 100-400mm lens, I was very pleased with several of my captures of the loons on Rice Lake. While I'm sure my shots were 70% luck, 10% timing and 20% curious birds, I also think all my dryland practice was worth the effort.

I've spent 20 months with my Olympus EM5 Mark III. Long enough that it's not quite right to call it a "new" camera anymore. I thought I would share some of my favorite photos captured with this camera, to date. To make it more challenging for me - and hopefully more interesting for you - I set one restriction on this collection; I had to limit myself to three photos per month, maximum. I spent a lot of time whittling down to my top three from each month, while also trying to show some variety in content. I hope you like my choices.

It was a chilly, but lovely time at the cottage this past weekend. And while I never woke up early enough for a sunrise, I was able to capture some lovely sunset scenes.

May 1st, 2021 signalled the opening of the cottage, and for the brief time we were allowed due to the pandemic, we spent it making sure the cottage was ship-shape and enjoyed a change of scenery. Of course, even with a reduced time-frame, I still found time to take pictures, even in the rain...

With the purchase of a new lens, I've recently taken up some amateur birding. And one of the best places I've found to hone this new skill is literally right in my own backyard.

New pandemic lockdown measures came into place in Ontario this weekend, but the weather was too nice to stay home all weekend long. So in the spirit of mental and physical health, I visited two locations for my photo walk.  I was blessed - as I hope you will see - with both bright sunshine as well as heavy overcast, diffused lighting, and even some gentle rain.

The weather was pretty cooperative this weekend, and gave me the opportunity to both explore my own backyard as well take a couple short photo walks with my wife. I took the opportunity to work more with my new super zoom, the Zuiko 100-400mm and came away with a few keepers, but in the backyard, I stuck with my 12-50mm kit lens.

It was a beautiful weekend for the first one of spring; blue skies, sunshine, mild temperatures. We had some backyard clean up to do and I also decided to fill the bird feeders, in the hopes that I might be able to practice with my new lens.  I was fortunate enough to not only get the opportunity to photograph some birds, but also one of the feral cats we care for. Read on for the story, including a personal opinion on digital noise!

My Olympus Zuiko 100-400mm arrived on Friday! I took it out for a test drive on the weekend and I was very impressed from both landscape and wildlife perspectives. I need to do more testing hand-held at slower shutter speeds to really see how well the IS holds up for me, but I definitely came away with some shots I'm pleased with. This is by no means an in-depth technical review. There are many of those already out there on YouTube, if you want to get all the specs. What you will get here is my first-hand experience using this new lens, along with some other musings, no doubt.

I spent a couple hours at Highland Creek today on the the U of T area north of Old Kingston Road. It was good to feel the sun on my face, and clear some of those February blahs. Read on to see what I saw.

On my birthday weekend, I decided to visit a location I had only seen by train or car: McLaughlin Bay. In fact, I didn't even know the correct name of the location; I thought it was part of Darlington Provincial Park! I remembered seeing the bay from the train as I made my way to Ottawa or Montreal for business trips.

Valentine's Day was a lovely, sunny day, following a light snowfall the night before, so my wife and I decided to get some vitamin D and a little exercise by walking through Rosetta McClain Gardens. I've made photos at this small park fairly often and I was at first reluctant to bring my camera to photograph the same place, yet again. I fought that urge and hopefully, you will see why.

A week ago, temperatures were mild and there was virtually no snow to be seen, except perhaps in deeply shaded areas. Midway through the week, temperatures in Toronto started dropping and we got our first significant snowfall since Christmas. So, on a sunny Saturday afternoon, I decided to revisit East Point Park. Take a walk with me...

Excuse the overly dramatic subheading, but in reality, the walk I took on the East Point Park trail did come very close to the cliff edge on more than one occasion. And while I chose the safety of staying on the right side of the railing, there were more than a couple people who did not, and many blazed foot trails leading into the bushes indicated this was a common practice. Please read on to see more...

I recently learned of a trail in Scarborough that safely leads down to the Lake Ontario Waterfront and provides stunning views of the Scarborough Bluffs. And it's only an 8-minute drive from my house!

There is a time between the last blush of autumn and the first real snowfall when the world is mostly yellows, browns and the occasional green.

I brought a friend along for a photo walk in Highland Creek this past Saturday. It has been roughly been two weeks since the cottage closed up and I needed to get out among the trees. So did my friend. We had a great time for the two hours we were there. Lots of options for monochromatic compositions, as you will soon see.

While I haven't published many projects from the summer, I have definitely been making photographs and sharing them via social media. I thought as things wind down, and we head into what looks to be a Covid-controlled winter, it might be nice to share my autumn with you.

Over the summer months, I have been treated to images from one of my photographer friends Russ Higgins. One area, in particular, is a conservation area known as The Gut, named after a 230-metre long, 30-metre deep gorge on the Crowe River. It's about an hour from the cottage to the turnoff that leads to the Gut, which is somewhat near Apsley, Ontario.

This article talks about a recent sunrise photoshoot I did to build up my AdobeStock portfolio.

Recently in my drives around the Kawartha area near the cottage, I’ve been fortunate to be able to capture not just gorgeous fields of wheat and rye, but also to view the harvesting process. I captured some great images, but quickly realized that to be acceptable for Adobe Stock, I would need to remove branding elements from the machinery. What I didn’t realize at the time, was how far that process would extend.

Over the past 15 weeks, I have kept a weekly journal of images and thoughts. The focus of the journal was inspired by another project of mine, Being Creative in the New Normal. I created the journal using Spark Page as it was easy for me to add content to the journal, regardless of my current device. Well, things are starting to feel a little more normal now, as we enter week 16. I'm once again able to head to the cottage every weekend, and while I wear a mask in stores, at least I can go into many that only a few weeks ago were closed. So, as "shelter in place" seems to be loosening its restrictions, I felt it was tie to close down the journal. I'm sharing it here for those who want to read and see my experiences over the last few months. And while it was mainly about being creative while staying in one place. I think there are elements that will be inspiring regardless of your situation.

As of this writing (May 12, 2020), we've been in work-from-home/shelter-in-place for 11 weeks. I've been keeping myself sane and hoping to inspire others with an ongoing pandemic photo journal, but I thought this little diversion from the end of Week 10 was worth its own project. I was tired of finding my own inspiration in my backyard. Not that I'm complaining; I know how fortunate I am to have some lovely green space to walk through and look at, especially in the city. But I was yearning to look around and not see a fence or wall or window anywhere nearby. 

More than ever, it's important to consider your personal mental health. It's important to take breaks away from your computer screen. Why not use one of those breaks to visually explore the familiar? Stretch your mind and your creative eye using your smartphone? Read on for some tips on being creative at home.

I recently travelled to Lehi, Utah for a team meeting and brought along my new Olympus EM5 Mark III to field-test it. I bought this camera specifically for travel purposes, where I didn't feel there was a need to carry my larger and heavier Nikon D750. I shot indoors and out, in bright light and low light and often high contrast scenes. This is a somewhat technical review, so for those who are more used to just viewing my work and (hopefully) enjoying the story I add to the project, please forgive me. Soon, I'll be back to a more storytelling mode.

Here's a brief tutorial on how to configure your watermark when using the recently updated (December 2019) version of Lightroom Mobile.

It had been a wonderful season at the Fortress of Moderate Solitude. Spring, summer and autumn have raced by it seems, but even though the time felt fleeting, I was able to venture out on several occasions to capture the colour of the Kawarthas, in and around the cottage area. The collection here is some of my favourite images from the past few weeks.

This is the 13th year of the Excellent Adventure. We've been to many places over those years, camping, cottaging and the like, everywhere from Lake Superior Provincial Park, to Newfoundland, to California wine country and the Kawarthas in Ontario. Regardless of the location (which have all been fantastic experiences), it's the fellowship and camaraderie of the group that makes each trip so successful and leaves us yearning for the next adventure. We have such fun, laugh all week and share thoughts and ideas about pretty much anything that comes to mind.

Recently, I've been writing a series of articles on the connections between Creative Cloud Libraries and Adobe Stock. I'm very pleased to say that I've completed the series, as Spark Page projects!  Initially, I had written one very long article on the subject. But, Spark Page does not support any kind of internal page navigation (liked named anchors) I decided that it would be easier for people to focus in on their specific challenges by breaking up the article into segments. This idea also inspired another article, focused on collaboration. I'm adding links to all four projects here.

I’m doing my first photography show in more than 2 decades! And this too is quite exciting. It’s been a long time since I shared my photography in analog form; I’ve spent many years publishing and promoting and sharing my work online through various channels. But from January 17 to March 28, 20 of my photographs will be on display (and - ahem - for sale) at the gallery space at Elmhirst's Resort, in Keene, Ontario. 

The first few weeks of cottage season are magical. The landscape gradually shifts from earth tones to verdant greens. The forest floor awakens, delicate plants like ferns and Trilliums pushing upward at a slow, deliberate pace, with seemingly herculean efforts to push through soil and nature's winter coverlet of decaying leaves.

We took a leisurely 2-hour drive along a 9-kilometre section of Settler's Line, this past long weekend, with the intention of capturing a bit more of Kawartha spring glory - not the least of which were the Trilliums which grew abundantly at the roadside and in the forests. Settlers Line did not disappoint!