2021-06: Nish And Hali
June is a month of transitions. Students go from lockdown to in-class learing to vacation. Spring begins winding itself up for Summer. I started June in Antigonish County, but eventually made my way to the city. My first photograph for this post is a pretty sunset.
Olympus E-PL9: f6.3, 1/500 sec, ISO 200, -0.7EV
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
On June 10, 2021 I woke up extra early and went for a pre-work stroll to the community park in Williams Point. I caught this panorama of the sunrise breaking over the Western shore of Antigonish Harbour and the fields of Lanark.
Olympus E-PL9: f4.5, 1/250 sec, ISO 400
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
The reason I got up so early was to observe an annular solar eclipse, the appearance of the Moon taking a bite out of the Sun. Alas, the clouds blocked my view. Still, they did put on a sunlitshow of their own!
Olympus E-PL9: f5, 1/320 sec, ISO 200
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
Spring is a season of flowers, and I saw plenty this year. Walking back from my "eclipse" vewing, I came across a lovely contrast of yellow and purple wildflowers. On a separate walk, I came across a tree of vibrant white blossoms.
Olympus E-PL9: f5.6, 1/400 sec, ISO 3200
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
Olympus E-PL9: f6.3, 1/1250 sec, ISO 6400
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
During the Winter, the village of Heatherton has a community rink. Spring transforms it into a little swamp which fills up with purple irises. I've always through it was a gem of a spot.
Olympus E-PL9: f7.1, 1/640 sec, ISO 200
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
There's a wildflower I've been photographing for years. It has bunches of small, close-set flowers, and grows in varieties of white, pink, or purple. Various colours grow together, but typically are the same on each individual plant. The internet suggests that they may be Dame's Rocket, which I must say is a rather spiffy name. I am not the only one who likes them; I found a swallowtail butterfly on one! My sister has been running a family butterfly derby, and crushing me at it. I am glad I finally managed to photograph one of the flighty critters.
Olympus E-PL9: f6.3, 1/640 sec, ISO 6400
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
Olympus E-PL9: f6.3, 1/1000 sec, ISO 1600
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
Sometimes, one just never knows what will inspire a photograph... Returning to my parents' house after a walk, I was struck by the their clothesline. (Not literally, I'm glad to report!)
Olympus E-PL9: f6.3, 1/500 sec, ISO 200
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
I spent the final third of June in Halifax. Covid-19 case numbers declined and vaccinations rose, leading to an end of the lockdown. With the province embarking on its series of reopening phases, my colleagues and I were once more welcomed to in-person work. That meant I got to spend time in the Halifax Public Gardens. It is my favourite park in the city, and home to one of my favourite trees in the world, this weeping beech. It has fascinating compound branches. I don't know if they are a natural feature... A coworker of mine suggested that they may be the work of a cheeky arbourist.
Olympus E-PL9: f4.1, 1/250 sec, ISO 1600
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
As luck would have it, sometime before I got to the Gardens, a wizard came through and supersized several Dame's Rockets into whole trees with four-petalled white-or-pink blossoms.
Olympus E-PL9: f5, 1/500 sec, ISO 200
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
Not far from my office is a portion of the boardwalk known as Sackville Landing. It is home to a monument to sailors who served in the World Wars. Nearby, out of frame, there is a smaller marker that commemorates the Norwegians who fought in the Battle Of The Atlantic.
Olympus E-PL9: f6.3, 1/500 sec, ISO 200
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
Farther along the waterfront is a more commercial area with restaurants and string lights. We Nova Scotians have been spoilt having such a world-class boardwalk all to ourselves for the past year. The same is true of the Public Gardens and its well-known duckpond, which features a Titanic.
Olympus E-PL9: f5.6, 1/320 sec, ISO 200
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
Olympus E-PL9: f6.3, 1/1250 sec, ISO 800
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
I will finish off my June 2021 post with two of the Public Gardens' more bizzare species. There are maroon flowers with strangely-cocked petals, almost like birds-of-paradise, and tall, comically Seussian spherical alliums. As June ends and we transition into Summer, it's a time to look forward to the future.
Olympus E-PL9: f6.3, 1/500 sec, ISO 320
IrfanView: Crop, Colour Balance
