After years of my photography students telling me about the Hendrie Valley and Grindstone Creek area of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, Ontario - I finally got there yesterday morning. The point of going is the wildlife: nuthatches that feed from the hand (anywhere else, it's only chickadees that would do that); downy and red-bellied woodpeckers only a couple of metres away; less common wood ducks, gnat-catchers, trumpeter swans, all there, plus all the birds, frogs, turtles you would expect to find in southern Ontario.
So what do I key in on? The light, patterns and textures of the cattail marsh fresh from the melted snow. Well, no exactly "fresh" as they are now grey and dinghy-looking. I managed decent-enough photos of the birds, but my passion is the land and its ever-changing moods. So here is my take on an early spring morning...
D800E 18-35mm @ 32mm; ƒ11 @ISO 100 w/ POL; –1⅔EV; LR 5.7 B&W w/ warm split-toning. C&C welcome.