In the autumn, there’s a well known ‘thing’ called Indian Summer. There’s some sort of official meteorological description but what it’s all about is a short return to almost summer-like weather before the big plunge into winter.
The same sort of thing happens in the spring but in the opposite direction. After a long, brutal winter, there’s often a week or two in early spring where it seems like we’ve jumped right into summer. We all think that there’s just no way wintery weather can return. Summer must be here to stay.
Every year, we’re wrong about that. That warm spell doesn’t last and we’re plunged into a prolonged period of early spring cool temps, cloud and rain (and sometimes snow). Pretty sure this doesn’t have a fancy name like Indian Summer. I just call it the springtime tease.
So, after a weeks of pretty nice weather, there’s a chance of snow this week in Southern Ontario. I’m not going to complain because summer will eventually arrive. I will relish in the chance to get outside over the last few weeks without bundling up. Below are some images from the many daytrips we took over the springtime tease.
Above is Port Credit on Lake Ontario with the Toronto skyline in the background. This is an easy location to find, just follow highway 10 as far south into Mississauga as you can and you will reach water.
I’d never been to this location before and surprised at the misplaced feeling Port Credit gives you. You’re right in the middle of one of the most densely populated areas of North America. Yet, it feels like you’ve been transplanted to an ocean front town in, say, Florida.
This definitely wasn’t a hidden gem discovery, though. This is an overly popular area during good weather and is quite crowded. A little tip for visitors – you will pay for to park at most spots in the area. There are even metres on the back streets. However, on Sundays there are no fees.
All winter, I tried to convince myself that I should get out in the freezing temps, walk through some deep snow and capture the sunset over a white blanket. It didn’t happen. I’ve also been trying to convince myself to get up for a sunrise or two, now that the temps are up and the sunrise isn’t too early. That hasn’t happened.
I was, however, able to get out to one of my favourite local spots to catch a sunset over the springtime tease. Just south of Orangeville, there’s a transmission tower atop a high point. From the top of that hill, you can see clear across the town.
It was a bit of photographic adventure, though. I don’t normally shoot in RAW but decided to for this. I was bracketing each image (1 shot proper exposure, 1 under exposed, 1 over exposed). Since the exposures get longer and longer as the sun sets, the camera was on a tripod and I was using a remote. I had to focus manually because of the low light – normal. However, I forgot to take off the stabilizer.
I got home and was anxious to merge the bracketed RAW images with my old version of Photoshop Elements for some dynamic sunset shots. Well, it turns out that my version of Elements is older than my camera and wouldn’t read the images. I had to make the choice whether to buy new software or convert all the images to JPEG. I chose to convert.
Also, because the stabilizer was left on, I believe that’s why some of the images were blurred. It’s the only thing that could explain the shake when using a remote and manual focus.
I was able to salvage a few good shots, though…
It seems the wildlife wasn’t fooled by the springtime tease. Other than Canada Geese, animals were few and far between. I did find these Mallard Ducks on the Credit River. There were sitting nicely but as I moved in close for a shot, they got spooked. Luckily, I had the camera set for 1/4000th of a second exposure and was able to catch them in flight as they moved up the river.
I’m always fascinated by the diversity of water in photography. Different exposure times can drastically change the result with moving water. I went a long time with the assumption that long exposure for water meant ten seconds or more. I’m starting to really like the effect of exposures in the area of one second.
The above was taken at a small dam at the Pine River Provincial Fishing Area. The image was taken without the use of a tripod and while standing on a log over the rushing water. The exposure is a relatively fast 1/4 of a second giving it much more texture than the silky water blur from those much longer exposures.
Speaking of not overly long exposure, the above is a full second of action on Highway 10, looking north towards Caledon and Orangeville. This was taken from a walking bridge that is part of the Caledon Trail. The Caledon Trail is built on a former rail bed.
While on the Caledon Trail, I found Snoopy the Goat. There is a farm just outside of the town of Inglewood that backs onto the trail. The chickens roam free right onto the trail but the goats can’t get through the fence. This guy seemed protective of his house.
The above is taken at Pine River Provincial Fishing Area, at the opposite end of the park as the water blur image above. The Pine River is normally about ten feet across at this point and maybe a foot or two deep at the most.
Busy beavers have drastically changed the landscape. This dam was started last year but has now become a rushing six foot high waterfall. As you can see, a new lake is forming above the dam.
Interestingly, Canada was in the news this past week because the country, along with Russia, lead the way in deforestation. Yes, even more forest loss than Brazil. They blame a lot of it on forest fires. However, beavers have to be up there as a cause.
This area has been widely stripped of trees by these creatures and the destruction has been pretty rapid. I always notice, too, that on the journey up to Sudbury, Ontario, not a creek, stream or river is unaffected by our National Rodent. If you haven’t been to the area, there is a lot of flowing water between Toronto and Sudbury.
Warm and sunny almost always means a visit to the Toronto Pearson International Airport. There as nothing massive and unique coming in on the day we went but we also weren’t shivering in the parking lot waiting for the birds to land.
The above is an Airbus A320 belonging to Air Canada. This is the same model that had an incident in Halifax, Nova Scotia just a few weeks before. That plane landed short and crash landed. There were no fatalities but the plane will never fly again. See that plane in our Airliner Directory: Air Canada Airbus A320.
Moving back to Port Credit, this Swan was the centre of attention. I have to confess, the lighting is a bit artificial. There is a blue walled building just beyond that reflects into the water.
Just after taking this image, an elderly lady with a strong Eastern European accent turned to me. As we were standing at the edge of a cement pier, she felt I needed to see what was over the edge. It was another swan. This one was in the early stages of decay, lying dead among the rocks. Not sure why she wanted me, and only me, to see this…
Elsewhere in the Great Lakes, the ice isn’t as quick to go away. This is the harbour in Owen Sound, Ontario on Georgian Bay. The ice fishing huts were still up and the ships were still locked in for their winter hibernation.
