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207/365: Suffering Soy.

Pulled over on my way home tonight at that abandoned farm on Heritage Road that’s soon to be plowed over for houses. I’m pretty sure these thirsty plants are soybeans, and that they sure aren’t getting enough water (not surprising, as we’re in a drought right now). That cloud formation … rainclouds … haven’t been seen too much in these parts without 100kph winds and hail so we’re all a bit happy to just see a bit of rain around here. Image is 9 photos combined for an HDR (-5 to +5EV) with the D800 and my 10mm lens. What can I say, I’m always up for shooting a dramatic sky.

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206/365: Just a Wheat-le Fun.

Heading home from the office. While I don’t get all the interesting bits of the inner city like graffiti and unique architecture along the way, I do cross a fair amount of farm country. So I can stop during the months and see our food sources in various stages of development. I originally stopped here for the large bales of what I assumed were hay but when I got closer, and saw the unharvested wheat around the field my opinion changed somewhat. Anyhow, here’s a handheld photo on a group of wheat since that was the better photo. Maybe I’ll post the bales tomorrow 🙂

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205/365: Wetland.

Took a mountain biking trip to one of Ontario’s oldest, and more notorious geocaches, GC6004 – On a Wing and a Prayer. The trip was a total loop of 22km across ATV trails in/near Queen Elizabeth II Wild Lands Provincial Park. The trip was rugged, with lots of rocks to avoid and water crossings to boot. This little wetland was about half way to the geocache. With the heat exhaustion I was feeling on the way back (the humidex was well over 40C), I could probably of jumped into this to cool off. All in all it was a great outing but if I go back I’ll do that in September, after the summer heat breaks. 

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204/365: Mossy Rocks and Raindrops.

Took a trip down to Hamilton Beach for a picnic with Kristen today. Only, we found the picnic would be ruined by a visitor … no, no ants. In this case we had a major thunderstorm camped out on the beach. So, it would be a picnic in the car with our Pad Thai. Along the way, I stopped at the Canada Centre for Inland Waters and took a few photos of the storm’s effect on Burlington Bay. Probably not the smartest thing in the world to do with lightning in the area but I managed to get in and out without ill effects. This photo is a 3 exposure HDR – done in Photomatix, not “in camera”. I still find the D800 doesn’t do HDR nearly as well as my existing process. I believe this is the first HDR I’ve posted since I got the D800 though. After taking these photos we watched Eastport Drive flood over two feet deep and we saw Red Hill Creek way overflow it’s banks (I can think of a few geocaches that are certainly gone now). We ended the outing at Sherman Falls which was way, way more pronounced than usual due to the heavy rains. 

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203/365: Pow Wow at Home County.

Went to London’s Home County Folk Festival today, as I do every year with my wife. As we made our way around the grounds, we heard the familiar sounds of First Nations style drums and song. We recognized the Pow-wow group (Pow-wow with Naahii) from last year and knew we would be in for a treat if we settled down at the North Stage. Several different First Nations groups each presented their dances and songs. I don’t have a lot of photos from here, as I opted to take video instead. This was one of the more elaborate costumes presented today. I’ll put the video up tomorrow hopefully. 

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202/365: Queen Anne, At Night.

This is another “bug on Queen Anne’s Lace” photo. Again, it’s a handheld photo with my D800. This time the flower (and bug) are isolated from the background (actually, the ground – I’m shooting almost straight down) by the difference in exposure – I have a high power LED flashlight positioned to backlight the flower. Spotted while visiting geocaches (and Munzees) in Georgetown.

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201/365: Water Tower, by The Oatmeal?

This is Georgetown’s old water tower, which is set for demolition sometime this summer, now that we have a spiffy new water tower just to the right (outside the picture). I am always reminded of The Oatmeal when I see this on my way through town. 

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200/365: Abandoned Pumpkin Coach.

This little “wagon” sits just off the road on Heritage Road in Brampton. I recognize it easily as the little wagon that the local farmer has used for years to host the autumn pumpkin sale. Those “seats” are for pumpkins, not people. Sadly, the wagon sits abandoned in between the trees. The land has been sold to a developer and there will be no pumpkin crop this year. In this case, the coach will see the same fate as the pumpkin. Composed in Black and White in camera using picture mode and live view. 

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199/365: Where Munzers Meet.

Went to Ontario’s first Munzer Meet at the Huether Hotel in Waterloo today. Had a great time meeting other Munzee.com players in the pub, and took a few photos. While we were in there, a thunderstorm rolled through the twilight sky. Here’s a handheld photo of the hotel/pub taken after the rain, on my way to log a couple Munzees with the group and head back to the car.Â