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Selfie Mayhem With The Mona Lisa

September 1, 2015 Jeff Haltrecht 2 Comments

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Best Of Fall

Spectacular colors on Bigwin Island at Dorset, Lake of Bays

Look closely at all the tree stumps in the marsh, giving evidence of a healthy beaver habitat. The locals say there is a cottage tucked into the forest at the back of the bog that only becomes visible once the leaves fall.

Smell that fresh air and soak in those colors! This is one of those moments to savor. Life does move fast, yet here everything holds still. Thanksgiving weekend, Echo Lake

Birch trees mixed in with the requisite vibrant fall colors on echo lake this past thanksgiving weekend. Though never taking the change in colors for granted, it still is fun to see tourists arrive by motorcoach to look at what we Canadians see every year!

Thanks for having a look. This is the last picture taken of the fall season at the cottage. Even with 2/3 of the leaves on the ground, it was still wildly spectacular to take in all the color and shadows. The day was bright, but cool, and completely still. Another reason to love Canada.

Took a walk with the kids and dog a few weeks back through our local forest. With many of the leaves already fallen and a dark haze lingering, the forest had a mystical tone to it. You almost expected a Disney character to come running by – ha!

A ‘real life’ view of the Canadian flag’s maple leaf at the beginning of fall. The photo was taken using the new Lensbaby Velvet 56 lens in macro mode, creating a soft ethurial effect and completely blurring out the background (in case you are wondering why it does not appear in focus). The soft blue is a lake, while the yellow tint are other leaves.

One of the benefits of life in Canada are the 4 seasons, and in particular experiencing the fall colors. This mini waterfall – 2 feet high! – is located next to the big High Falls on the north branch of the Muskoka River. Its a perfect example of nature’s colorful richness and solitude.

Best Of Landscape

This is the peak of Big White looking West to the Monashee mountains across what they call the ‘Enchanted Forest’. The previous day it snowed like crazy, and this next day we skied powder top to bottom. The trees when covered with snow are locally known as ‘snow ghosts’ – great name!

I find this picture both calming and exhilarating at the same time. The stillness of the air and clarity across the snow and between the trees, plus the depth of view makes it easy to look at and pretend you are there in person. And then there is the adrenaline rush from making first tracks through snow as your heart beats and you are screaming with delight in your head!

For all the golf lovers, here is world famous Glenn Abbey golf course at sunrise last year, as the colors were changing. Was a very cool morning with frost on the greens and mist rising from 16 Mile Creek. Taken from the Upper Middle overpass.

Sweeping sunset across Conger Lake while kayak camping early September in the Massasauga Provincial Park with one of our daughters. Two excellent days with sun, mid-teen temperatures, and these fantastic skies after the sun went down.

This is sunrise over Mount Tanner and Mount Cochrane, Monashee Mountains, B.C. week of March 10 while skiing at Big White with the family. Yes the skiing was just as good as this view!

The Rainbow Eucalyptus trees of Maui are found on the drive to Hana. Like good tourists, we read up on them before heading out, and yes they are there ready to be touched and photographed :) Everything about the color is natural. Annually patches of outer bark are shed, leaving the inner bark exposed. This then darkens to a mix of blue, purple, orange and maroon. It looks like someone painted the trunks! The bark is painted by nature across a wide spectrum of colors. Eucalyptus deglupta is the only Eucalyptus species found naturally in the Northern Hemisphere. It is native to Philippines but has been introduced and grows well in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, New Britain, and Hawaiʻi. This tree is cultivated around the world and is harvested mainly for pulpwood used in making paper, especially in the Philippines.

Tamarindo Beach, Costa Rica, is so far my favorite place to watch a sunset (Even better than world famous Oia, Santorini). After a day of learning to surf, we hung out watching the sun set and this guy use his boogie board.

This is Kilauea’s burning crater from January 2017. It was a beautiful night with some activity in the crater as seen by the light flash in the image… this is lava bubbling up. One year later and Kilauea is erupting again with new lava flows.

Akaka Falls, at 442 feet, is the tallest on the Big Island of Hawaii and very impressive – powerful even – when up close. We were told of the ʻoʻopu ʻalamoʻo, an endemic Hawaiian species of goby fish, that spawns in stream above the waterfall, but matures in the sea. Checking with Wikipedia, it says these fish have a suction disk on their bellies that allows them to cling to the wet rocks behind and adjacent to the waterfall. Using this disk, they climb back up to the stream when it is time to spawn. Now that’s impressive!

This is the Kamokuna ocean entry photographed from the helicopter at 7:45am during our recent trip to the Big Island of Hawaii. It is completely surreal to watch lava flow into the ocean! We flew up the lava flows and were able to watch active lava tubes along the way and then the crater itself.

Nothing was staged for this photo. This was the first of a 6 day sea kayak expedition, starting from Caribo Island, Belize. Having finished a light lunch, I walked through palm trees toward the water and happened upon this setting. And at that moment I thought to myself how yes, this beats a day at the office :)

Best of Life

Good for them! It’s Canada Day and this couple went for a paddle and some fishing on one of the lakes, and she brought her phone. Nothing wrong with that (unless you fall in!) as long as you are outdoors and soaking in what mother nature has to offer.

Delicious! I do like tomatoes, particularly with buffalo mozzarella, olive oil, and a drop of balsamic glaze. This is the perfect image for a kitchen.

One of the fireworks from Baysville, Ontario’s Canada Day celebrations back on July 1

This goes in the books of ‘I can’t do that, and not sure I want to do that, however very cool to watch you do that!’. Skills and attention seeking were on full display near the London Eye – Waterloo train station area on a recent trip to London, England. The 7 guys in the background watching surely add to the intrigue of the moment.

Motorcycles. Harley Davidson Motorcycles. Freedom, raw power, elegance. While a Harley is not in the cards anytime soon, I do love photographic these bikes. They have such a presence in camera, like this one here. Taken at Santa’s Village (of all places – ha!) in Bracebridge, Ontario. Notice the sun sparkling off the air cleaner.

Does this make you thirsty? A great selection to accompany any meal! Two of us grabbed dinner at Cardero’s at the end of a day’s work, choosing to sit at the bar. This restaurant is in Vancouver harbour with sweeping views of Grouse Mountain on the North Shore.

Canada Day 150 firework celebrations in town of Oakville last night.

How does 500 deg F. sound? Stuffed the stove with 7 logs to heat the cottage a few weeks ago and then thought the flame would make a fascinating picture. There is nothing like a hot fire, glass of wine, and time with the family on snowy winter weekend.

Chef David Friesen’s entree special featuring local pickerel on a bed of quinoa, tomatoes, peppers and wilted Swiss Chard, plated high like a tower. Riverwalk can be found in Bracebridge, Ontario overlooking the river.

The scene unfolding in front of the Mona Lisa… complete mayhem with people attempting to take a selfie with the famous picture. This capture is more entertaining than the photo of ‘her’!

Live game shot of the Toronto Raptors vs. Washington Wizards on December 30, 2015, in witch the Raptors won 94-91.

The Thunderbird had its many highs and lows over the years (like the final version from 2005 – yuk!). This 1957 model is truly amazing, and this particular version on show in Baysville, Ontario was in mint condition. How about all that fine chrome across the dash! I really like what Tesla is doing, however there is something to be said for the simplicity seen here.

This is how you celebrate a goal at a soccer match… with smoke bombs, drums, oversized flags, and lots of cheering! Hamilton scored the tying goal for Toronto FC at 90+5 minutes of the game on June 7, 2019.

Food is better eaten than photographed, however this is one of those exceptions. On a walk through Paris’ Marais district, we stopped in a charcuterie to buy some deli meat, and while being served, I saw this hand made artisan pizza that looked delicious. So I took the picture!

This was over the top for a northern canuck not used to life at the beach. Cars, people, surfboards, bikes everywhere. And while this picture has everything frozen in time, you need to imagine it all moving in slow motion. Hanalei Beach and Pier are almost at the end of the road in Northern Kauai, and a favorite stop for tourists (like us!). Beautiful beach worth the visit, particularly if you love people watching :)

Best Of Wildlife

Three Broad-winged Hawks spent a couple of weeks in August on the cottage property before flyer off. They would perch atop the Birch trees along the shore, or behind the cottage at top off forest canopy like this one in the photo.

Credit my daughter for being able to pick out this chameleon. True to it’s name, its multi-shades of green made it hard to see at first. It was in a mid-size dense tree out front of a breakfast place we were eating at. This is my first chameleon to see and photograph in the wild, and can say I’m amazed at the horns, the ability for the eyes to look forward and backward at same time, and how the hands can grip a small branch so tightly.

How about this for excitement… Watching a jaguar eat a chicken’s foot from a human’s hand! Belize’s Caribbean Wildlife Centre rehabilitates injured wild animals, and are known for their jaguar community.

“Come see this dad”, yell the kids, “and bring your camera!”. With the swim platform a few hundred feet off-land, I’m now looking at this majestic Heron standing on it… poking at its eye. Is he – or she – really doing that? Yup, he/she is!

This is one of the very last baby sea turtles to hatch and scurry its way to the sea. We came across him/her early in the morning with 10 feet to go… and yes he/she made it to the ocean! We later found a whole bunch of nests up the beach where this and many others had come from the night before. You see this on National Geographic, but to observe it person is amazing.

Our bald eagle friend here was injured at a young age flying into power lines, rescued and brought back to health at the Mounstberg Conservation Area in Halton. They are known for rehabilitating all species of raptors in Southern Onatrio.

Ok… the situation is not as intense as it would appear. We are at the Belize Tropical Education Centre for an overnight stay. They care for a number of wild crocodiles in the marsh on-site, and have built a narrow boardwalk as an outlook. Here we watched one evening at sunset – hence the light on the crocs right eye – as a male and female spent time together (not sure what to call this in crocodile language!). Took this shot laying on my stomach, roughly 5 feet above the water and 10 feet away.

Life of leisure! This pair – male and female – are sunning themselves on a single large rock where the Pacific Ocean meets the Gulf of California, at the tip of Baja California Sur, Mexico.

Within minutes of anchoring our Fountain Pajot catamaran in the Sea of Abacos, Bahamas, this sea turtle pops up to entertain us. It was extremely healthy as seen by its colors and clarity of the eyes. To see a wild one within 3 feet of you is a definite highlight.

Had my initiation into the world of hawks and falcons a few weeks back when visiting Hawk Cliff on the north shores of Lake Erie to watch the migration. This is a Sharp-shinned Hawk, distinct for its three white stripes on the tail, plus stripe bands on the underside of the wings. Was fortunate to grab pictures of Red-tailed Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Bald Eagles, and an American Kestrel. And the one I missed while fumbling with the camera… a Northern Harrier.

Best of Sun

This is sunrise over Mount Tanner and Mount Cochrane, Monashee Mountains, B.C. week of March 10 while skiing at Big White with the family. Yes the skiing was just as good as this view!

Daybreak over Mt. Arthurs and Finlayson Ridge, Monashee Mountains, B.C.

Yes this is real :-) We watched from the back deck of the house. Not often the sun burns blood orange while the sky stays deep blue.

Thinking this is my favorite photo from trip to Hawaii. It was our last night, we walked the lagoons behind the hotel and along Anaeho’omalu Beach watching the sun bring end to the day. As the saying goes… picture perfect!

The most amazing sunset Alfresco dinner in Grand Cayman

Right place at the right time, particularly if your seat was on the West side of the place! (Feel bad for the East facing folks!) We were treated to an ever evolving sunset as we cruised at 35,000 feet on way to Aruba. It feels like you could step out and walk across the clouds :) (My spouse took the picture, while I did the post processing)

Like you, I have seen some awesome sunsets over the years – most being of the orange, red and pink color combination. Over the recent Thanksgiving weekend, we were treated to a truly unique blue sky with a yellow fireball. As the sun set, it left this reflective circular glow across Grandview Lake, Muskoka.

Sun sets are a favorite of mine because of the many colors, the emotion, and shadows that are created. Here we are anchored in a bay within the Sea Of Abaco, north Bahamas, having dinner on our boat, watching the sun set across our neighbor.

It was really this good! Calm, warm evening to watch the sun set from the kayak.

Best Of Cities

Had the opportunity two weeks ago to view Toronto’s distinct skyline from the rooftop of the Park Hyatt hotel. There is an outdoor lounge perfectly situated looking south along Avenue Road that allows for this sweeping view of the city, with the CN Tower all lit-up.

View of Paris’ skyline from atop Arc de Triomph

Dubrovnik is a very beautiful city with such rich character. Here we see the old city through a gun turret on the perimeter wall. I gather it was in use during the war 20 years ago, as evidence by the few areas of destruction that remain.

Hong Kong has a dramatic skyline, day or night. On this morning, the skies looked rough, making Hong Kong appear somewhat moody (or hung over after a fun night?).

An incredible full moon to the right of the Eiffel Tower.

This is one fantastic view of Toronto from the CN Tower looking north. We have the Fairmont Royal York hotel bottom right, all the bank buildings, Toronto City Hall, and every other building until the horizon ends.

Best of Night Scenes

Welcome to The Firehall Pizza Co. at Blue Mountain. Known for some really tasty pizza and fresh salads, it is situated in what used to be the area’s fire hall – or so the rumor goes!

Looking up at Toronto’s CN Tower from the platforms within Union Station, we get a glimpse of the old and new. This area of Union is being rebuilt, leaving the metal exposed and an open roof. Fun how they light the tower, creating a glow in the sky at night.

The first week August at our friends cottage on Bay Lake, Muskoka, enjoying the night time view of the milky way while sitting by the fire.

Night scene at the end of a great day, socializing in the courtyard at the beach resort

An incredible full moon to the right of the Eiffel Tower.

What a difference a year makes! This is new year’s eve coming into 2015, with a fresh 2 ft of snow – so much fell that we chose to stay another day to play outside. Fast forward to this new year, and while we had lots of fun with our friends, it did not look quite like this. Happy new year to all.

jeff haltrecht photoblog, toronto & muskoka, canada

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jeff haltrecht photoblog, toronto & muskoka, canada