Capturing the Art of Nature
East of the Port (Day 7)
The area around Sparta and Port Bruce was very rich in colour this year a shame it lasts for only a short while
Category
Ontario Adventures
2012
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Today the sun came out in patches as it fought its way through the broken clouds. I left for a drive before noon and had high hopes of finding some brilliant colour in the full sunshine. My first stop was to be Hawk's Cliff road. Upon reaching the end of the short side road I found the place swarming with a couple dozen people who were out watching for the raptors as they flew past.
I wandered along the shoreline noticing how there had been more erosion over the past year and the cliff edge had moved much closer in one spot to the cultivated field. There wasn't much colour along the fields this year but I did stumble into a thicket of branches which were interesting. They looked really quite neat from within their midst. After wandering a short distance along the bank gathering a few flower photos, I decided the area wasn’t doing it for me so I decided to head on out. Driving back along the side road I crossed Dexter line and continued driving away from the lake to the next side road, Roberts Line.
This side road passed through a number of forested patches and here I found large swaths of rich colour. I found one tree that was deep red but it was not in the bright sunshine so I decided to wait until the clouds parted and it was fully lit up. It took 10-15 minutes of patience but I was rewarded with some amazing full colour. Done with that patch of trees I continued east along the road staying just ahead of the bright sun. This allowed me to gather photos of the trees in subdued light and then again in bright light as the sun caught up.
As I came towards Port Bruce I discovered another amazing patch of trees on Jamestown Line but they were not yet in the bright light. I waited some time for the sun to come out but it still seemed a long time off and so I lost patience and moved on. I drove through the roads of the port and found a number of great shots, there were a few more I would have liked to have taken but they were in private yards and not readily accessible. I then started driving back home but took another side road the brought me back to that last clump of trees I had been waiting to shoot on Jamestown Line, this time the sun was shining on them and I gathered a few photos in quick order.
I continued the drive west along various side roads and found a few more photo ops to enjoy before I returned to the inn. Later this evening I noticed that the sky was clear enough for a decent sunset so I drove to the beach a bit before it set. The wind was up and standing on the sandy beach was cold but I did manage to gather a few shots. Then it was back to the car for warmth. A good enjoyable day and I think I managed to find a few brilliant patches of colour.