While Waiting on the Tide…

September 13, 2015September 13, 2015 | drawandshoot

Hiking the shoreline of Bic National Park (parc national du Bic) in Quebec, waiting for the water to push out a little further so we are able to pass around boulders and cliffs that are only passable during low tide. While stopped and listening to gently crashing waves and breathing in salty air this little red fox appears from the scattered boulders waiting with us until the water will recede enough for the hike to continue.

We are walking beside the immense St. Lawrence River (Le fleuve Saint-Laurent) as it opens up to the Gulf of St Lawrence, which then flows into the North Atlantic Ocean. The river becomes tidal somewhere around Quebec City, about 300 km upstream of where we are walking and it does feel like being on the cusp of the ocean.

September might be the best month to take a vacation. The best time for missing the summer crowds and peak insect season while still basking in (mostly) gorgeous weather.

The Verdant Copse

June 22, 2015 | drawandshoot

Verdant-Green-of-Summer The fading light of the summer solstice.

[A long exposure with a burst of flash and camera movement]
© Karen McRae, 2015

A Brief Efflorescence

May 26, 2015 | drawandshoot

While we are walking, waking, breathing.

Spring Rush

April 26, 2015 | drawandshoot

A little waterfall along one of the many creeks that rush (or trickle) into the now wide open river. It is only the water that’s in a hurry, it seems ~ spring is still dancing quite slowly across the landscape.

The Softening

April 14, 2015 | drawandshoot

Little glimpses of the softening landscape and the play of light and shadow by roadsides. Spring has been set in glorious motion and there was a collective sigh of relief from the landscape and its inhabitants.

(click on the gallery of square tiles below to view each image individually)

Residual Garden

April 3, 2015April 3, 2015 | drawandshoot

These are macro photographs of some of the little seedheads in my garden that are no bigger than my thumbnail. They have been mostly snuggled under snow for ~~eternity~~ the winter… But today spring actually seemed like it ~~temporarily~~ meant business and it got to work rolling back those white carpets that have been covering the fields and lawns and sleepy flowerbeds. A brilliant day full of warmth, sunshine and riotous birdsong. Who could possibly stay indoors?

[From the series In Transition: Seedhead Series. (click on images to view them larger)]

Spring is Extinct

March 28, 2015March 28, 2015 | drawandshoot

Or, at least, if you lived here you could be forgiven for thinking this is true. It is also true that there are small signs of spring: the pussy willows are indeed popping out of their dark skins, the birds already have a little spring fever, the days are longer, brighter… But it’s still pretty cold. Just yesterday it snowed. Again.

Today the sun was shining, though, with enough warmth to start a slow melt of the little glaciers that line the streets. They are retreating incrementally. I spent hours out in nature but it was only on the walk home, looking at that gritty street-side snow and those small puddles, that I found images I liked. A slow shutter for a slow spring.