This page contains photographs taken in rural Ontario and Quebec provinces during 2000. 

Sandbanks Provincial Park

Sandbanks 1, Ontario 2000

Located on the shore of Lake Ontario in Prince Edward County, about 2 hours drive east of Toronto,Sandbanks Provincial Parkcontains the largest freshwater sand dune system in the world. Though I’ve lived in Toronto much of my life I’d never visited this location until a brief stop there in late March on my way to Quebec for some spring skiing.

Though the day was dreary and the many trees still barren of leaves, this clearly is a fascinating location for photography. My guess is that the best time will be in October when the fall colours are at their peak. I’ve made a diary entry to return this fall and spend a couple of days exploring this fascinating ancient sandbar.

Photographed with a Canon EOS3 and 100~400mm f/5.6L IS lens on Provia F100 film.

Sandbanks 1, Ontario 2000

The sandbar extends for miles and has numerous hiking trails. One side facesLake Ontariowhile the other faces ontoWest Lake. This is the part that we explored during the 3 short hours available to us on our March 2000 visit. 

This view gives a sense of what the place and time of year were like during this visit. Misty, cold and lonesome. In the summer the dunes are dotted with bathers and families enjoying the unique topography. I’ll be back.

Although this looks like a wide-format panoramic photograph it was simply cropped this way from the full 35mm frame taken at a 400mm focal length.

Photographed with a Canon EOS3 and 100~400mm f/5.6L IS lens on Provia F100 film.

The Laurentian Mountains

Sun Rimmed Trees, Quebec, 2000

Every year or two I take a trip toMont Tremblant,Quebec, for a few days of skiing. One of the pleasures of this trip is, once skiing has ended for the day, to take the opportunity of exploring the rural countryside of this mountainous region. 

I’ve driven along this road several times before but on this particular afternoon in late March the sun was positioned just right to illuminate the newly budding branches of these birch trees.

Photographed with a Canon EOS3 and 100~400mm f/5.6L IS lens on Provia F100 film.

Evergreen Hillside, Quebec, 2000

Not far from the ski resort at Mt. Tremblant liesMt. Tremblant Provincial Park. This was my first visit to the park and its beauty is quite startling. Here, the use of a long lens (400mm) compresses the perspective and lets the evergreens on this hillside stand in contrast to barrenness of the pre-spring woodland surrounding them. In a few weeks this contrast will have disappeared. Timing is everything.

Photographed with a Canon EOS3 and 100~400mm f/5.6L IS lens on Provia F100 film.

Rock Face & Birches, Quebec, 2000

The area aroundMt. Tremblant Provincial Parkis mountainous but gentler, with farming valleys and gently rolling hills. Within the park though there are grand cliffs and rock faces. These are covered with birches, a unique signature of this part of the country.

Taken at 400mm this shot needed to be stopped down to f/32 so as to hold depth of field from the large foreground tree to the cliff face.

Photographed with a Canon EOS3 and 100~400mm f/5.6L IS lens on Provia F100 film.

Deer 1, Quebec, 2000

On one afternoon we saw at least 8 deer during a 3 hour period. This young doe was kind enough to pose for me while I braced myself on the hood of the car and hand-held the shot at 400mm.

Photographed with a Canon EOS3 and 100~400mm f/5.6L IS lens on Provia F100 film.

Treescape, Quebec, 2000

Springtime provides some wonderful opportunities for photographing treescapes. The soft new foliage combined with still bare branches offers just the contrast needed for some gentle yet dramatic images.

Photographed with a Canon EOS3 and 100~400mm f/5.6L IS lens on Provia F100 film

It’s interesting to note that the above six photographs were all taken with theCanon 100~400mm IS zoomduring a three day period. I had my complete 7 lens EOS system with me, but this particular lens found itself on the camera almost all of the time. In fact, all of the photographs on this page were taken at 400mm. This was in large measure because shooting in the mountains causes one to be at a distance from most things and a long lens is needed to bridge the gap.